I have two conflicting views on top-down decisions in organizations like schools:
- sometimes the PHB messes up everything, or
- sometimes it’s necessary to break things.
School’s out on this one, literally. The UK is commanding a new curriculum in high school: More on a deeper understanding of how computers work and less on running non-Free software like that other OS, its office suite, PhotoShop TM etc. That makes sense to me. Throwing a bunch of teachers off the end of the dock to teach them to swim is doubtful. That technique works for technological sponges like me but good teachers who have been “preparing students for the workplace” may or may not do a good job of getting down to basics.
I rejoiced when the Western Canadian Provinces got together and revised the maths curriculum to use computers and calculators in teaching. I had been using computers in that role for 25 years but most teachers had never done it. They took two years of “professional development” to indoctrinate the teachers. The UK has given the teachers just months for radical change. I predict “uneven” results…
In ICT courses in Canada I have always been giving students the basics. I stretched “how to sit at a PC and turn it on” into disassembly/reassembly of ATX PCs with nomenclature and on-line shopping for parts… Instead of teaching them how to use M$’s office suite, I gave students a list of tasks to do with five different office suites and asked them to compare ease and performance. Instead of teaching students 300 features of Excel TM, I gave them real-world problems that could be solved several ways with spreadsheets and computer programming and had them learn the kinds of things that were better done with different methods. I exposed students to several spreadsheets and, yes, paper and pencil… Instead of limiting students to one PC with one hard drive, I showed them what they could do with thin clients, servers and clusters of servers, databases and web applications…
There’s just no reason to limit students to using pre-installed software from one supplier. I showed students how to install GNU/Linux on a PC and network several PCs. I had every student at least understand the basics of computer programming a few steps past “Hello, World!”. They all got to see how incredibly fast computers are compared to any other means of creating, finding, storing and presenting information.
Well, now the UK will catch up to my classroom. I hope my province pays attention. Manitoba is about ten years behind Alberta and Alberta is mostly fixated on M$’s stuff. Many jurisdictions still treat mathematics as a mental exercise and not something used to solve real problems. Many jurisdictions treat ICT as preparation to walk on the Wintel treadmill.
“Schools, he said, needed to ditch lessons on how to use Powerpoint in favour of getting the kids designing apps and learning to code.
The speech took ICT teachers by surprise and many are still no clearer about what is expected of them when schools return for a new academic year.”
I recommend schools use Debian GNU/Linux to teach ICT. It has a huge repository of Free Software meaning schools and students can install software on any number of PCs without restriction. There’s plenty of software there for anything in the new curriculum and tools to create more software.
See BBC News – How schools will boot up a new ICT curriculum.
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Teaching every kid to program is like teaching every kid to paint or sing.
Some can do it well, most poorly. Being forced to do it will turn kids off it for life.
Sounds like education dept jumping on the “Apps” fad bandwagon.
Tar “Some can do it well, most poorly. Being forced to do it will turn kids off it for life.”
When I went threw school all my class was taught how to program. Did not turn those off for the skill for it.
Mind you it was micro bee computers you had code your game in. To pass.
Most of the current generations of senior coders are around my age when programming was taught on crappy 8 bit things.
Programming is part art part science. We need more more hardware designers and programmers. How we get them that is the big question.
Tar wrote, “Teaching every kid to program is like teaching every kid to paint or sing.”
Everyone should know how to do those things, Tar. A society is stronger to be inclusive. When you tell this kid or that kid what they have to learn and what their career options are you are enslaving them. That was one of the things that went wrong in the USSR. China and USSR got past that. You should too.
Everyone should know how to do those things, Tar.
versus
When you tell this kid or that kid what they have to learn and what their career options are you are enslaving them.
Am I the only one who sees the contradiction here?
Phenom how does a person know what they like if they have not tried it.
Everyone tries painting sculpture …. normally as part of education. IT sections need to be the same.
Basic programming to find who likes it and who has the attributes for it is a good thing.
I am not the best painter even that I was forced to paint in school I still paint a little for fun. Never really be a great artist I know that.
Important is how todo the introduction. The need in future says we have todo the introduction to find those with the attributes.
Funny enough I have won some art competitions with computer produced art. This is why I say programming is part art part science.
Tar and Phenom without having them do some how will you find those with the attribute. Yes it could be a simple class where you just have to copy a program in then expand on it. From that you would find the ones with the attributes.
In my class in high school we had 45 kids programming as part of the mandatory computer education class for 3 months. That is when I was in highschool. Lot of students did show attributes for doing it. Most of the class did not hate it. Most even today have a very good understanding of the logic devices. Yes a lot did not do any more program after that class. A lot still take about the class as one of the most interesting classes they ever did. It was not a graded class. So if you wanted to just study you could. Number of students who took the study option back then zero.
Reason we started with Sperry XT computer hockey. Art of case harmonics to break the computer friction to the table. Other wild and otherwise non practical usage of computers. They did cover the basic ideas.
My problem is working out how todo it in a fun way.
Phenom knowing how todo the basics does not mean you have todo it. You know how to basically paint a picture right Phenom but you are not a master artist.
Knowing to program does not mean you have to go on to be a master program. Writing programs also teach planning and other useful skills in the process. The skills learnt writing a program formal style can be a mix of team work, planning and programming.
This is my problem what style should the students be exposed to. Tar and Phenom. ideas. Remember we need more programmers and hardware designers.
I do agree with Robert Pogson should know enough programming to understand that a device/computer is not a magic black box. That is mostly enough. Without teaching programming I don’t see how a person really going to understand what a computer does and why blaming a computer does not work. A computer is normally not at fault of anything is normally a human somewhere that stuffed up.
There’s no contradiction. If you tell kids they should neither learn GNU/Linux nor programming you are telling them they should be slaves of M$. FLOSS opens up possibilities for young people and lowers the barrier to entry into IT.
I think that you have a very wrong view of things, Mr. Pogson. Being able to conjure up “Hello, World” in some C-language trivia is woefully short of being able to create useful computer programs. A toddler with a cut-down putter at the miniature golf range is the equivalent when the goal is to win the US Open.
If you think that learning how to do the ancient C-language is even in the same class as learning how to use MS Office or Quicken or Adobe, you are grossly mistaken and should not be allowed near any policy decision making group.
Clarence Moon a person has to start someone. Some of the great golfers started on miniature golf course getting the basic ideas and found the like the idea of the game.
The problem you have not given where to start.
Rasbery PI starting Language is python, http://scratch.mit.edu/ and C.
Yes scratch is a very interesting starting language.
Learning MS Office to get the most out of it needs to learn programing ideas somewhere.
Intergrating Quicken to a business website at times can require learning coding.
Clarence Moon so they are releated. The question currently is what should be taught and how.
Thinking most of the current day coders started on basic. Scratch and python could be very good starting locations.
Those going on to 3d amination python would be a highly useful skill. Full progams do exist written in python.
Hello world does not have to be C. Embedded systems still have a habit of being C.
Clarence Moon basically I know programming should be at least shown and the basic ideas explained. So people understand how computer really work.
The problem I have is the how Clarence Moon. The basic ideas could be got accross with most programming langauges that can directly control hardware. Next is cost. Cost of doing .net is not particularly budget friendly to all schools.
There are many possible selections for languages. Python up there for a basic language to start on that is fairly netural. Good formating and tidy code production was design into python.
Please don’t say macros inside office there is too much black box there for students to really understand everything that is going on.
ICT is also applied in developing countrie like Nepal and Uruguay to name of few. Project OLPC is actually a success on that part.
The use of calculators in the UK maths teaching has left many children unable to count properly. Computing teachers shouldn’t have a problem getting down to basics. At least in Scotland they’re supposed to have a degree in Computer Science or something similar before they are taught how to teach computing. But then again Computing Studies in Scotland has always had a broader scope than Windows, Office and Photoshop.
Clarence Moon wrote:
” A toddler with a cut-down putter at the miniature golf range is the equivalent when the goal is to win the US Open.”
Hey look everyone! Clarence the salesman thinks he’s a teacher. Do the World a favor Clarence and stick to selling things.
Kevin Lynch programming forces algebra at times.
“The use of calculators in the UK maths teaching has left many children unable to count properly”
Yes that not knowing how to count properly is only part of the problem. When they hit algebra its a more important skill. So many A equals so many B equals So many C.
Maybe bring programming in that the students are making there own calculators and have to optimise the code is a solution here.
Calculator shows the problem of having a computing device in a class room that is a black box that students don’t have a clue what is going on inside it. Students get to avoid learning the basics.
Clarence Moon forgot with Golf its not just getting the ball to the green its getting the ball in the hole. Mini golf focuses on the final step of golf of the green with a bit of its own fun thrown.
The shocking part to some people like Clarence Moon is that some progolfers had there coaches use mini golf to point out their putting needed a lot more work.
Mini golf is a really good example of what starting out students need. Something to get a feel of what programming is about. Something they can laugh and joke about. Of course just like most people who play mini golf most will not go on to the full game. But very few have bad memories of it. But the few that do is what the process is looking for.
Some of the just for fun stuff does not end when you are grown up.
Problem is achieving what is required in ICT there is many different ways.