** Matt Sturdy <matt.stu...@gmail.com> [2010-08-26 09:50]: > On 26 August 2010 09:37, Matthew Daubney <m...@daubers.co.uk> wrote: <snip> > > My experience of GCSE IT was that it was "This is Microsoft Word, write > > a 2 page document including a table, a graphic and a footnote." which is > > _not_ what IT should be about. I lost _huge_ amounts of marks in one > > part because the project was "Create 4 linked webpages in Microsoft > > Front Page blah blah blah" which would have been a nightmare for any > > sane person to maintain, so I wrote it in PHP with a SQL backend and > > none of the markers understood it :( > > > > IT should be more about computers less about office work! > > > > -Matt Daubney > > I attended an excellent school for GCSE/A-Level and had a very similar > experience, and consequently had absolutely no interest in computing until > after I had finished my degree. The thing that got me hooked was problem > solving. Having an issue, researching it, and then fixing it is one of the > most satisfying things for me, and I guess for a lot of you guys too. > Furthermore it teaches you to take any problem (even problems IRL!), and > break it down into manageable, logical steps, and I think that's a great > skill to foster. > > I don't know, so I'm asking... Is there any time given to this in the > current GCSE syllabus? In my mind teaching kids an attitude and approach > towards solving a problem is what should be concentrated on. > > I think it could be difficult to assess and grade students on, and that is > something that would need to be considered... and I guess there are plenty > of other issues too, but I think it would be an excellent place to start. > > Matt ** end quote [Matt Sturdy]
>From what I've seen of current IT lessons (mainly from sitting at the back of a classroom working on the school server!!) it seems to be more the computer side of Business Studies than anything to do with the computers themselves. I mentioned Alan Turing to an IT teacher once and they didn't bat an eyelid that it was a name they'd heard or should have heard! Mind you, there must have been a fairly short period of proper IT education. Back when I was doing Computer Studies (as it was called) O Level - none of this new fangled GCSE stuff ;) - the teachers were learning only about a week ahead of what they were teaching. There were a couple of us in the class that knew far more on the practical side of things (not so much the history) and kept being roped in to help out since we'd done the work and they couldn't provide anything more because they hadn't learnt it yet! The fact that initially we only had one CBM Pet, and by the time I left that thad only grown to 2 CBM Pets and 3 BBC Micros (2 Mod A and one Mod B iirc) didn't help much, although coding on paper first did add some discipline. Thankfully they were pretty short programs, although my project failed to compile because I couldn't load it as the same time as the compiler in my 48k Spectrum - not that it needed to thankfully. I often say that if it wasn't for Linux I would no longer have any interest in computers. There's a massive amount of potential in education to make use of the flexibility and openness of Linux. -- Paul Tansom | Aptanet Ltd. | http://www.aptanet.com/ | 023 9238 0001 ====================================================================== Sponsor me in the Moonlit Memories Walk for Rowans Hospice A 12 mile walk along Southsea seafront starting midnight 19th June Visit: http://www.justgiving.com/MoonlitTansom2010 ====================================================================== Registered in England | Company No: 4905028 | Registered Office: Crawford House, Hambledon Road, Denmead, Waterlooville, Hants, PO7 6NU -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
