The CAS website is here - http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/. Whilst I'm not familiar with the politics of education in the UK, and therefore what drives their curriculum, the CAS mailing list I subscribed to features a lot of discussion about Greenfoot, Scratch, Alice, Java, Small Basic, Star Logo, RoboMind and others.
http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/index.php?id=computing-is-a-discipline is a great article from their site that anecdotally supports my observation. With the technological change ever present on the horizon - I'd humbly suggest it's not just a timely conversation, but a critical one. Paul From: Margaret Lloyd Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 7:17 PM To: QSITE ICT Teachers Subject: Re: [qsiteict] A list of relevant skills Hi everyone I think this is a timely conversation. Later this year, we are going to have the opportunity to comment on the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies paper due out late 2011. We are on the drawing board but, as we have seen in Queensland, are in the same space as 'Design and Technology'... not necessarily a bad predicament, but a tricky one. I am particularly interested in the reference Paul made to computer studies in the UK, "Our comrades in CAS (Computers at School - a UK group) are heavily focusing once again on programming." Could you please point me to a source for this? Oh, and not only is the shaping paper not yet written, the committee to do so hasn't been appointed! The conversation about ICT as a general capability is open for discussion on the ACARA site if you are interested in having your say on this. Open to early August. Cheers Marg Lloyd Margaret Lloyd, Ph.D Associate Professor, Faculty of Education Phone: +61 7 313 83758 Fax: +61 7 313 83985 http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Lloyd,_Margaret.html CRICOS No. 00213J On 13/07/2011, at 8:30 AM, Rex Boggs wrote: Maybe the phrase “rich, engaging AND relevant” should be changed to “rich, engaging OR relevant”. For example, one skill that is absolutely critical for anyone using a computer is backing up data. Now this skill usually isn’t considered rich or engaging, but it is certainly relevant. And almost no students (or teachers, for that matter) do it as it should be done. Maybe even ICT teachers. Here is a one-question quiz. If your house caught fire at 3am tonight, and you had to rush out of the house with no time to take anything with you, and your house was completely destroyed, what data would you lose? The correct answer is: none. A correct answer is worth 10 marks. What score would you give yourself? Cheers Rex From: paul Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 4:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [qsite-ipt_qsite_edu_au] A list of relevant Hi after seeing this video again (http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/e7728af1-3fe4-4e25-a907-3dbf689fe11a), it caused me to reflect on a question that often runs through my mind - "What are the relevant skills we should be teaching our students for tomorrow?" I'm not talking about about skills like critical thinking or collaboration, but hardware/software skills that they'll need to survive into the future. And that will still be relevant to them? I talked to my students about "burning a CD" recently. Specifically, I was talking about burning an ISO, and they looked at me like I had 2 heads. No-one could tell me what burning software they had on their PC. Obviously not relevant for them!!! Our comrades in CAS (Computers at School - a UK group) are heavily focusing once again on programming. So my quest is to compile a list of relevant skills that could be woven into our ICT/ITS/IPT curriculum that will be rich, engaging and relevant. Would anyone be able to help with ideas? Paul --- You are currently subscribed to qsiteict as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.edna.edu.au/u?id=705839.2bfb40e909b850b563a91fcb0ea45a26&n=T&l=qsiteict&o=1919879 or send a blank email to leave-1919879-705839.2bfb40e909b850b563a91fcb0ea45...@edna.edu.au --- You are currently subscribed to qsiteict as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.edna.edu.au/u?id=705949.9a10fb3d2e82589ca7ebb66775cc8495&n=T&l=qsiteict&o=1920215 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-1920215-705949.9a10fb3d2e82589ca7ebb66775cc8...@edna.edu.au --- You are currently subscribed to qsiteict as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.edna.edu.au/u?id=705742.d42ea647e85be3beb25392eea1a77f09&n=T&l=qsiteict&o=1920228 or send a blank email to leave-1920228-705742.d42ea647e85be3beb25392eea1a77...@edna.edu.au
