apparently A lever IT is better, I'll find out in a year On 26 August 2010 12:48, Paul Tansom <p...@aptanet.com> wrote:
> ** 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/ >
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