[Year 12 Its] VELS and IT

[frankm at sjcs.melb.catholic.edu.au]

Thanks Robert,
I assume you see no merit in learning programming, or robotics? Do you believe using the "tool" well means having students being taught the basics of ICT in several different ways by several different teachers in other KLAs where the teachers have little or no interest in teaching ICT skills? I see the work produced in many KLAs..masses of Word Art, no formatting to speak of, backup procedures unheard of, and of course, how could I forget, the hand written name on the hard copy. Some knowledge about how IT works would surely be beneficial in our schools. I am sure you would not be surprised, but there are many students who love knowning about how the hardware works.

Far too often, the excuses used will be "could not get into a computer room"..or..."we ran out of time". What happens is that those students in classes where ICT skills are taught well will be advantaged; those in classes where the teachers are not so keen miss out. Is this the sort of basic ICT foundation we want for our studnents?

Regards,
Frank


"Robert Timmer-Arends" <timmer at melbpc.org.au> on Fri, 2 Jun 2006 18:04:18 +1000 wrote:
> Hello Frank
> 
> While I too lament the loss of teaching 'real stuff' about computers, I think the answer to your questions is "when was the last time you taught someone how a pencil works, or a calculator, or a car?"  When viewed as a tool for use across a variety of situations - and IT is - then how it works isn't considered important. What is important is "can I use the tool well?"
> 
> I don't have a problem with the use of ICT being seen as interdisciplinary, but I think the effective loss of technology as a whole in the curriculum is a problem.
> 
> Regards
> Robert T-A
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Frank Merlino 
>   To: yr7-10it at edulists.com.au 
>   Cc: is at edulists.com.au 
>   Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:46 PM
>   Subject: [Year 12 Its] VELS and IT
> 
> 
>   Dear Colleagues,
>   Maybe someone can share their knowledge about this one with me....
> 
>   In the design of VELS, where did the "planners" think such areas as computer programming, robotics, learning about how computer systems work, etc were going to fit? One would imagine that in this day and age, it would be considered essential learning to know something about how hardware works, how programs work, how robotics is implemented and its basics, etc. Do the "planners" in their wildest dreams think these topics will be covered well in the "disciplines"? What's your opinion?
> 
>   Regards,
> 
> 
> Frank Merlino
> Technology (IT and Systems) Co-ordinator
> Web Site Manager
> St. Joseph's College
> 135 Aphrasia St, Newtown
> Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 3219
> Phone: 03 52 268100 
>   _______________________________________________ 
>   http://www.edulists.com.au IT Systems Mailing List kindly supported by 
>   http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and 
>   http://www.vitta.org.au - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc


---
Frank Merlino
St. Joseph's College
135 Aphrasia St
Newtown, Geelong, Vic
Australia, 3220
(03 52 268100)