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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>We have a SD to work with and it is now our job to make as
interesting a course as possible for our students within the broad constraints
of the SD. It is not highly prescriptive, if it was then, as Adrian says, there
would be many more complaints.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So folks: "Put your money where your mouth is" and come up
with varied and stimulating courses that will attract your students and still
stay within the bounds of the SD.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Robert Hind (Semi-retired)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Ex Traralgon and Ashwood</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>From: "Adrian Janson" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:jansona@bigpond.net.au"><FONT
face=Arial>jansona@bigpond.net.au</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>To: "'Year 12 Information Technology Processing and
ManagementTeachers'Mailing List'" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:ipm@edulists.com.au"><FONT
face=Arial>ipm@edulists.com.au</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 4:42 PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] ITA ("IPM 2007")
summary</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial>> Hi all,<BR>>
<BR>> (and BTW - thank you Nick for you retraction)<BR>> <BR>> The VCE
IT study design must be viewed as a two year course - and as such,<BR>>
please do not be too hasty to condemn IT Applications. I am sure that
most<BR>> of us would agree that the current IT 1/2 study has had some
difficulties,<BR>> and across the state, numbers doing 1/2 have been in
steady decline. Let's<BR>> look at the 1/2 course:<BR>> <BR>>
Unit 1: IT in action<BR>> <BR>> Outcome 1: Students use web authoring or
multimedia authoring software to<BR>> transform an existing printed
information product into an on-screen one.<BR>> This could involve a simple
web page, could involve flash or a vast number<BR>> of different
packages....<BR>> Outcome 2: An introductory database task.<BR>> Outcome
3: Examines some contempory issues in IT. Students (in teams)<BR>>
create a multimedia presentation to present those issues. Again,
software<BR>> is wide open - students could make a simple presentation or
could easily use<BR>> a video editing package.....<BR>> <BR>> Unit 2:
IT pathways<BR>> <BR>> Outcome 1: Students develop a programming folio
showing a progression of<BR>> skills. <BR>> Outcome 2: Students
represent a networked information system using an<BR>> appropriate software
package, from web authoring to animation packages.<BR>> Outcome 3: Team task
in which students solve a real information problem.<BR>> The task can be
completed in a programming language or multimedia or web<BR>>
authoring....<BR>> <BR>> There is the scope to include a wide variety of
different packages in the<BR>> 1/2 course and tailor it specifically for what
your students want. The 1/2<BR>> course has been written so that it
links equally well into both IT<BR>> Applications and Software Development,
and a school where one is favoured<BR>> can easily bias their 1/2 course in
that direction. Likewise, the course<BR>> gives all students skills
across both 'pathways'. <BR>> <BR>> One of the problems with writing
a 3/4 course is academic rigour. Firstly,<BR>> one of our initial
concerns was that we wanted to raise the profile of the<BR>> IT 3/4 courses,
as their overall standing had 'slipped' (hence the scaling<BR>> down of both
IS and IPM). There are things that are fundamentals to both<BR>> IPM
and IS - that must be addressed. These core skills have been
included.<BR>> Another factor that must be considered is the ability of
schools to<BR>> implement the course. Despite the ire of some of you
that the course does<BR>> not contain video editing or flash action scripting
or "..", if the course<BR>> specifically mandated something as specialised as
any of these, there would<BR>> be 100's of angry messages instead of a
few. Many would be saying ... but<BR>> what of spreadsheets and
databases??? Like it or not, spreadsheets and<BR>> databases are core
IT skills and are used in a widespread fashion 'out<BR>> there'.
Although the course is not driven by the exam, the exam does play a<BR>> part
and as such, any 3/4 study needs to be explicitly defined and<BR>>
examinable. <BR>> <BR>> The 1/2 course now has the potential to
attract students to the study - if<BR>> you write an exciting course at your
school level that caters to the needs<BR>> of your students (which should be
easy to do). Create whatever courses you<BR>> like at Junior / Middle
school - in fact, we should all be doing our level<BR>> best at these levels
to attract as many students as we can to the study.<BR>> However, at 3/4
level comes a balance between core requirements and creating<BR>> a course
that looks 'fun' to do. We can find ways to make the 'boring<BR>>
stuff' fun, but we should NOT take out the 'boring stuff' because it is
seen<BR>> as boring.... WE ARE THE ONES THAT KNOW BEST... We've been
out there and we<BR>> know what skills students need - they DON'T. <BR>>
<BR>> Adrian Janson<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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