http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/11/michael-gove-boring-it-lessons
Michael Gove to scrap 'boring' IT lessons Schools to be given freedom to run cutting-edge computer classes under plans for open source curriculum The teaching of computer science in school is to be dramatically overhauled, with the existing programme of study scrapped to make way for new lessons designed by industry and universities, Michael Gove<http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/michaelgove> will announce on Wednesday. In a speech, the education secretary will say the existing curriculum in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has left children "bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers". Instead he will, in effect, create an "open source" curriculum in computer science by giving schools <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/schools> the freedom to use teaching resources designed with input from leading employers and academics, in changes that will come into effect this September. The announcement follows pressure from businesses critical of a shortage of computer-literate recruits<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/09/computer-science-courses-digital-skills> – a deficit highlighted by a Guardian campaign<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/series/digital-literacy-campaign> launched this week. ICT will remain compulsory and will still be taught at every stage of the curriculum. In a speech to BETT<http://bettshow.com/bett/website/Default.aspx?refer=1>, a trade fair which showcases educational technology, Gove will say Britain should revive the legacy of the mathematician and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alan-turing> by creating a generation of young people able to work at the forefront of technological change. He will say: "Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum. Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch. "By 16, they could have an understanding of formal logic previously covered only in university courses and be writing their own apps for smartphones." A consultation on the plans will be launched next week. Ministers are keen to see universities and businesses creating a new computer science GCSE and developing a curriculum that encourages schools to make use of computer science content on the web. IBM and Microsoft are already working on a pilot GCSE curriculum. The British Computer Society <http://www.bcs.org/> (BCS) has developed a curriculum for key stages three and four – the years leading up to GCSE – which has had input from Microsoft, Google and Cambridge University. In the speech, Gove will set out the government's thinking on computer science and cite its transformational impact on other disciplines. He will say: "Twenty years ago, medicine was not an information technology. Now, genomes have been decoded and the technologies of biological engineering and synthetic biology are transforming medicine. The boundary between biology and IT is already blurring into whole new fields, like bioinformatics. "Twenty years ago, only a tiny number of specialists knew what the internet was and what it might shortly become. Now billions of people and trillions of cheap sensors are connecting to each other, all over the world – and more come online every minute of every day." He will pay tribute to Turing as a hero who "laid the foundation stones on which all modern computing rests". The speech will be critical of the failure of existing ICT provision. He will say: "Our school system has not prepared children for this new world. Millions have left school over the past decade without even the basics they need for a decent job. And the current curriculum cannot prepare British students to work at the very forefront of technological change." Outlining the changes, he will say: "The traditional approach would have been to keep the programme of study in place for the next four years while we assembled a panel of experts, wrote a new ICT curriculum, spent a fortune on new teacher training, and engaged with exam boards for new ICT GCSEs <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gcses> that would become obsolete almost immediately. We will not be doing that. Technology in schools will no longer be micromanaged by Whitehall. By withdrawing the programme of study, we're giving schools and teachers freedom over what and how to teach; revolutionising ICT as we know it." The reform of ICT in schools was welcomed by industry. Peter Barron, Google's director of external relations for the UK, said: "We are delighted that the government has recognised the importance of computer science teaching in schools. Too few UK students have had the opportunity to study true computer science, resulting in a workforce that lacks the key skills needed to help drive the UK's economic growth. We look forward to seeing how these new educational resources develop, based on teaching how computer software works rather than simply how to use it." Richard Allan, Facebook's director of policy in Europe, said: "Facebook welcomes the government's plans to make ICT teaching in schools more interesting and relevant for young people. We need to improve our young people's skills in this area for the UK to be truly competitive in the digital age. "Businesses also need to play their part in helping to equip young people with the digital skills they need." Bill Mitchell, director of BCS Academy of Computing, which was set up to promote computer science as an academic discipline, said: "BCS is extremely pleased that Michael Gove has publicly endorsed the importance of teaching computer science in schools." Genevieve Smith Nunes, an IT and business studies teacher at Dorothy Stringer high school in Brighton, also welcomed the announcement. She said: "In my own school we have developed our own programme of study anyway, because of the constraints that ICT has – but still incorporating all of the elements that are there [in the existing curriculum]. "If they scrapped ICT, then a lot of teachers might feel that their jobs are at risk – depending on how Gove presents that. That wouldn't be a worry at my school because we're quite forward- thinking about what students need. "By taking away what is prescriptive, it would allow the teacher and student to develop the [computer science] curriculum together and make it effective, creative and thoughtful … If universities are going to help us develop the curriculum content that can only be a benefit from the classroom teacher's perspective." -- To unsubscribe from and detail about this group http://portal.mosc.my/osdc-my-mailing-list-information OSDC.my Discussion Group In Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/osdcmalaysia/ Malaysia Open Source Conference 2012 MOSC2012 http://portal.mosc.my/
