[Year 12 IT Apps] REVIEW OF VCE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

[Gales, Graham W]

The name of the course is Information Technology Applications.

There are two meanings we can ascribe to 'Applications'

1.  Applications - as in software programs.  

If the course now has two outcomes as databases, then the course is really limiting the number of applications the students use. 

Perhaps consideration could be given to opening up the applications students use rather than limiting them.

We could even use a Word Processor as an application in an Outcome.  There are many features of Word Processors that students do not know about and that lend themselves to  Outcomes e.g. table of contents, footnotes, mail merge, hyperlinks, styles.

2.  Applications - as in uses of IT

Yes, databases are a major use of IT in the 'real world', but there are lots of things out thing that are not databases as well - publishing, graphics, webpages, games.  I believe that we should provide a broad range of experiences of IT for our students.  

To concentrate on databases will, in my opinion, shrink the pool of prospective students at my school and may see the demise of the subject.  I have found that students gain greater pleasure and satisfaction from the spreadsheet and web-page work than databases. 


Graham Gales
Bright P-12 College

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