[Year 12 IT Apps] What Future IT?

[Laurie Savage]

FWIW here's my two bob's worth:

1. The present ITApps course is no less dreary and uninteresting
that its unlamented predecessor. Why would a student choose it if
they were interested in IT? It is however a very good support for
Accounting/Business Studies types.

2. School students in Victoria study almost no geology in the
junior science syllabus and none in the senior school, but
Monash, Melbourne and Deakin still support healthy world class
Earth Sciences departments. This translates neatly into the IT
situation.

3. If we had senior courses that leveraged the geek factor more
and built on student strengths would we necessarily see stronger
canditature? I don't know.

4. Should we be looking more at a process and skills focussed
syllabus? How about the development of a real-world solution
as the final outcome of a course? 

Laurie

On Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 05:23:29PM +1000, Keith Richardson mentioned:
> I have read with interest the many contributions to this ongoing
> discussion.
> The REAL situation out there in the workplace...
> One of my sons is a software engineer who has worked in the industry for
> around 10 years.
> They are desperate for skilled and qualified IT system engineers,
> programmers etc. People with the necessary qualifications can almost
> name the salary they want.
> I think that we are all suffering the extended backlash from the
> tech-bubble-bursting. Immediately prior to it, many hopeful
> wannabee-millionaires studied IT, some of whom were really unsuited to
> it either psychologically or intellectually or interest-wise, so some in
> the industry welcomed the clean-out that happened, but it has gone too
> far, and people's memories are long.
> Sorry, these observations are no solution, but I would like to know what
> is going on in the hundreds of brains who would have chosen IT in the
> past, but now are not.
> FACT - there are plenty of good-paying jobs out there for everyone who
> get IT qualifications.
> NEED -  we need to get this message through to all and sundry - career
> advisers, parents, friends & relatives who give ill-informed-advice, and
> the kids themselves.
> Cheers, Keith
> Keith Richardson
> 
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-- 
Laurie Savage
====================================================================
Markbook/Moodle Coordinator::Pascoe Vale Girls College::03 9306 2544

Don't plan any hasty moves.  You'll be evicted soon anyway.