[Year 12 IT Apps] Potts Ch 3 and Study Design

[Mark Kelly]

Russell Edwards wrote:
> Hello list,

Hello Russell.

> I just finished my last set of powerpoint slides for Ch 3 of Potts.
> 
> I have a few questions; please excuse the naive ones as I am new to 
> teaching.
> 
> Firstly, I did not expect to be giving lecture-style presentations to 
> secondary students, but in ITA there seems to be so much guff they're 
> expected to memorise with no real practical activity possible to cement 
> it, that lecturing and encouraging revision seems the only way to go. I 
> have been doing 20 mins of theory at the start of each double and then 
> have them go on with practical work (at present, Dreamweaver). Do others 
> follow a similar format for ITA? (The 20 mins looks to be too little 
> actually)

That's why my site is called "IT Lecture Notes" - exploratory learning 
can be great but it chews up classtime.  The 'Lecture Tolerance Limit' 
of your kids can vary from year to year, but I mix lectures with 
practice whenever I can.

> Secondly, a few things in the book seem outdated. I'm no network 
> engineer, but it's my understanding that hubs and token ring networks 
> are a thing of the ancient past. Yet, both receive a fair bit of 
> coverage in the Potts book, especially hubs. Likewise, you'd be pretty 
> hard pressed to find anyone still using 10BASE2 these days.

It's funny how conservative IT folk can be.  Yes - hubs and coaxial are 
history; so, effectively, are bridges and repeaters.  Token Ring is a 
rare oddity.

To save time, I just teach CAT6, switches and Ethernet and basically 
ignore coax, hubs and Token Ring.  Be wary with ITA - the depth of 
networking knowledge is way less than it was in IPM: no topologies or 
protocols are needed now.  The most technical stuff remaining is cables 
and wireless.

> 
> Thirdly and related, how can I tell *specifically* what things students 
> will need to know for the exam? (Will hubs and token ring nets be in 
> it?) The study design mentions switches and not hubs in the glossary 
> under network architecture, and bus, star and hybrid, not ring, under 
> network topologies. Does that mean they're guaranteed not to be on the 
> exam? It seems fairly tricky for teachers and students with a brand new 
> study design and no past exams to go by.

If a key knowledge dotpoint or the glossary says "including X,Y and Z" 
it means that X,Y and Z are examinable.
If it says "for example", it is just an example to clarify what is 
intended by a point.

No topologies are listed in U3O2 key knowledge so could not be justified 
as examinable.  Topologies and protocols belong in Software Development now.

> 
> Fourthly, the approach taken to network communications standards and 
> transmission media both in Potts and in the study design seems a bit of 
> a dog's breakfast, i.e. there is no concept of layers. Readers won't 
> know that IP runs on top of a data link layer protocol like the data 
> layers of ethernet or 802.11, that TCP runs on top of IP and so does 
> UDP, etc etc. I can't see how they're supposed to know what the random 
> bits and pieces they are exposed to are for and how they fit together if 
> they're not given the big picture.

Fear not.  Such complexities are irrelevant for ITA.

> Is that a fair comment? So, in my slides I am presenting the TCP/IP 
> five-layer network model: physical, data, network, transport, 
> application. I will then go on and cover all the bits mentioned in the 
> book plus a few more examples for clarity, but all in the context of the 
> layers. Students will be told that they only need to know what's in the 
> book but that the five-layer model is a good way to learn it.

None of that is needed for IPM.  Just stick to the study design.  Don't 
overcomplicate things: IPM students are FAR from technical geniuses  :-)

> Thanks in advance for any input I can get
> 
> Russell Edwards
> Whittlesea Secondary College

-- 
Mark Kelly
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