<div dir="ltr">Some years ago I was involved in a project that included the participation of women in ICT. One of the project leaders wanted a profile of successful young women working in ICT, in terms of their school education.<div>
<br></div><div>Most had studied minimal computing in school (in most cases, none) and there was only one common pattern - a very odd one.</div><div><br></div><div>A significant number of these young women had studied hard to get into veterinary science, then once into that course at Uni found out that it was not as pleasant as they thought it would be - dealing with sick, wounded and maimed animals, putting down livestock, etc etc.<br>
<div><br></div></div><div>So they abandoned Vet Science and, having the intellectual skills and having achieved the prerequisites, gave computing a shot.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm not suggesting that is a recommended pathway :-) , but it does to some extent suggest that all is not lost if someone wants to enter the ICT field having avoided it in school education.</div>
<div><br></div><div>It would indeed be more comforting to see a better gender balance, and also a wider base in terms of student interests, ambitions and intentions. It does seem that there are some stereotypes at work in many computing courses in many parts of the world.</div>
<div><br></div><div>kp</div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">DoE Tasmania<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 2:11 PM, Christophersen, Paula P <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:christophersen.paula.p@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank">christophersen.paula.p@edumail.vic.gov.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Hi Janet and colleagues<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">We have surveyed a group of students in the past four weeks through the auspices of review panel members and received useful student feedback in response to
my earlier request for comments. As you would expect there are some areas where we got responses at either end of the spectrum, but the students have expressed some clear messages that the review panel need to take on board.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">We are very mindful of the gender situation in our study, as well as the decline in enrolments in some units. Interestingly, however, Software Development experienced
a 28% increase in enrolments this year, and as a percentage of the total VCE cohort, all VCE IT units experienced a slight increase.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">We have done an extensive review of a large body of data and research information. We have analysed enrolment and performance VCE data, not only for IT, but
for other studies, as points of comparison. A benchmarking report has been completed reviewing 10 national and international IT curriculum, and we have reviewed publications such as the
<i>Horizon Report</i>, <i> </i>(Royal Society, UK) and <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The Department of Business and Innovation’s
<i>ICT Skills Snapshot report</i>. I am also a member of the Victorian ICT Skills Steering Committee, comprising industry and educational representatives, who provide advice to the national body on strategies for attracting more students into further study
and the IT profession, particularly females. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">We would welcome any feedback – to date we have used a SWOT proforma to organise responses and we are collating a set of clear messages that are emerging from
a range of sources. Of course, we also need to take into account the Australian Curriculum Digital Technologies, and as a consequence of this I expect that there will be some big changes in some of the VCE units. Having said this, we are always mindful of
the extent of change in any curriculum and the potential impact that has on teachers developing and implementing teaching and learning programs. It’s about finding that right balance between stability and innovativeness. All up it’s a challenge, but an interesting
one!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">All ideas greatly appreciated.<u></u><u></u></span></p><div class="im">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Regards<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Paula<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Paula Christophersen<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Curriculum Manager, Digital Technologies<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">2 Lonsdale Street<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">MELBOURNE 3000<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(03) 9032 1724<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">0407 043 110<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:itapps-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">itapps-bounces@edulists.com.au</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:itapps-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">itapps-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Bane, Janet A<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, 2 December 2013 1:06 PM</span></p><div><div class="h5"><br>
<b>To:</b> Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] [Year 12 SofDev] Web authoring software<u></u><u></u></div></div><p></p>
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</div><div><div class="h5">
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">Like everyone else, I have noticed a steady decline in the number of students choosing IT, especially girls. It concerns me that girls don't see IT as a possible
career or something that they would enjoy or be good at (even though they have a female IT teacher and a female IT technician working on the network). I am not teaching year 12 this year, but my Year 11 class only had 1 girl last year, and 21 boys. Now we
have "stepped up" to 2014, we have about 36 Year 11 IT students, but only two girls. Year 10 classes have shown the same trend.<br>
<br>
I think its time that IT had a "makeover", in terms of finding out what things would appeal to girls. From my experience they tend to enjoy projects where they can explore their creativity, rather than being overly technical. I think its time to acknowledge
that some aspects of the current course are turning students off (male and female) as VCE numbers are in decline. Our digital natives are using ICT every day in many different ways and they aren’t making spreadsheets and databases! <br>
<br>
We need to have a serious think about how we can attract students back to IT, in particular girls who make up 50% of the VCE cohort otherwise we will all eventually be out of a job. One good way to find out what kids want to study in IT is to ASK them. Maybe
we could set up a SURVEY on google docs and ask teachers to do it with their Year 10 or 11 students so we get a wide cross section of opinions. We shouldn’t be starting the process of writing the new study design until we get some GOOD data. Isn’t that what
IT is all about? <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">What do others think????<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""><br>
<br>
Janet Bane<br>
Patterson River SC<br>
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</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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