Present a reflective analysis of developing a digital outcome

Digital Technologies | Level 3 | AS 91909 (3.10) | 3 Credits 

*** In 2026 this external will be an Online Examination held on TUESDAY 10th NOVEMBER - PM ***

This exam is looking at students discussing the decisions and considerations made during the development of the digital outcome, and being able to evaluate both the outcome and the development process they undertook. 

Giving an overview of the whole process whilst giving some specific examples is key to being sucessful. 

From the NZQA 91909 Assessment Specifications 2025:

Candidates will be required to respond in short and / or extended answers (800–1500 words in total) to questions relating to a digital outcome they have developed within the past  12 months. Candidates must have developed the outcome themselves. It must not be selected or sourced from AI, the internet, or anyone else’s digital product or work. 

The digital outcome must be based on Level 8 of The New Zealand Curriculum (see the Teaching and Learning Guide for Digital Technologies). Outcomes at this level demonstrate complexity, depth, and independence in both design and technical implementation.    

Examples include but are not limited to: 

• a fully functional and content-rich website with custom HTML / CSS / JavaScript components 

• an interactive game with original assets and coded mechanics 

• a design for a manufactured product developed as a parametric CAD model, and validated through digital testing within software and / or physical testing 

• a multimedia package with integrated digital assets 

• a film / video / animation with original footage, editing, and post-production techniques 

• an electronic device with custom-programmed microcontroller code, circuit design, and a purpose-built housing.  

Each outcome should include at least one substantial digital component that has been created, tested, and refined by the student using appropriate tools and techniques. 

The questions will require candidates to discuss the decisions and considerations made during the development of the digital outcome and evaluate both the outcome and the development process (see Explanatory Notes 4 and 5 of the standard). 

The discussion will require candidates to focus on how the following considerations were considered during development of the digital outcome: 

• selection of tools and techniques 

• ways of addressing implications and end-user considerations 

• influence of stakeholder feedback. 

Relevant implications include: social, cultural, legal, ethical, intellectual property, privacy, accessibility, usability, functionality, aesthetics, sustainability, future proofing, end-user considerations, health and safety. 

Special notes  

As this is an online digital examination, candidates are not required to prepare or submit images, unlike in previous years. 

The school may be required to provide a link to evidence of the candidate’s digital outcome (e.g. working files), to show the development process undertaken to create the digital outcome in the software used.  

Teachers are encouraged to help their students to develop answering techniques to ensure they are able to respond clearly and concisely within the total recommended word limit of 1500 words. 

Why you should look at the Assessment Report

Every year an assessment report is released to support teachers and students understand how the exam was marked. For the DCATs there is some quite specific detail which is worth reading through to help support students with not only this exam but their level 3 project. 

We recommend reading through the whole report yourself. These are found under the different years below but here are some of the key points:

• To be successful students need to have a project that meets Level 8 of the NZ curriculum to allow them to develop a complex outcome 

• Where there is a mix of technologies, candidates need to refer to the digital aspects of the outcome – i.e. for 3D printing, candidates should refer to the CAD (created on the likes of Fusion360) not the created model (the 3D print), and for robotics they should refer to the code and not to mechanisms

• Responses that demonstrated a thorough grasp of the chosen context, addressing it, and incorporating insights beyond the standard resources, achieved at higher levels. 

• Successful candidates distinguished themselves through their ability to integrate stakeholder feedback, justify decisions with clarity, and critically reflect on the development and impact of their outcomes. 

• Overall, candidates who displayed technical understanding, applied stakeholder feedback effectively, and demonstrated critical analysis, achieved at higher levels. 

• However, candidates who failed to provide comprehensive, detailed responses often struggled to meet the standard. Encouraging deeper reflection, broader stakeholder engagement, and iterative development will help students reach their full potential in this standard. 

Assessment Reports, Assessment Schedules, Exemplars (and the blank exam)

In the drop downs below you will find the Assessment Report, the Assessment Schedule and any exemplars NZQA provided

Note: previous to this year 91909 was a DCAT run at the end of term 3, start of term 4 and three images were prepared as part of this. 

Task 2 - Practice Your Answers

To help pull together clear examples of your project to use in the exam make a copy of this g.doc Gathering Project Information for 91909

• Use your planning, design and development documentation to help you find this information. You can copy and paste info in but make sure you edit it so that it is specific, to the point and most importantly answers the question

• Think about what images might be helpful to support