[Year 12 IT Apps] Year 12 Info Tech

Thu Dec 8 09:29:24 EST 2011

I really like to emphasis the teaching of creativity and thinking skills. I endorse and encourage the 'think outside the box' mentality.

Unfortunately I have to keep reminding myself that if students haven't encountered these qualities before, how can I expect to see it in a classroom. If they haven't heard Mozart or seen Picasso, or even used their own legs to run a marathon, how can I expect them to yield something of that nature.

The Industrial Revolution saw robots take over many jobs. The Digital Revolution, in my opinion, will remove a number of our white collar jobs.

So if all we have done is teach the use of the present, how are these people going to cope with the future?

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Bicknell, Paul P
Sent: Wednesday, 7 December 2011 10:38 PM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Year 12 Info Tech

Yes, i agree as well.

Paul Bicknell
Maribyrnong SC

Royce Williams <roycew at netspace.net.au<mailto:roycew at netspace.net.au>> wrote:

I am on his side

Sent from my iPad

On 07/12/2011, at 9:27 PM, Andrew Shortell <shortell at get2me.net<mailto:shortell at get2me.net>> wrote:
In many ways this encapsulates my worries.

I learnt programming at Uni in 1977. We used assembler and MONECS fortran and used punch cards.

BUT (BIG BUT) I still use the concepts now as I teach the LOGIC of programming, the logic of problem solving.

Design, logic, planning etc is in Computer Science  the use of non-humans to do the tedious bulk work so that we can do the thinking.
In Computer Science we use machines at the moment.
To paraphrase M.Smart : nano-computers and molecular computers are "that close".

What are we doing to enthuse students about possibilities with thinking and with using other things to do bulk repetitive tedious crunching to get out the things that we find interesting?
In the old days very few humans could do enough number crunching etc to be able to come up with "unusual or left field ideas"
Now thanks to computers many more people are able to process the sort of data that can lead to great ideas.

Are we ENTHUSING them to do so? Are we giving them the thinking tools?

In mY opinion in VCE IT apps we are NOT. So why do we do it?

Teaching kids history is not meant to prepare them to work in an office doing word processing. It is meant to make them think.

Teaching microsloth old fashioned pathetic software prepares them to work in an office. It does NOT make them think

If we want to prepare them for industry, to work in a business office then let us make this a VET subject and call it office skills/ business skills.

And then lets get back to computer science and call it a science

So , off my soap box.
This might be a rant but I feel that I want to teach computing : thinking advancing, not office skills.

Andrew

--
Andrew Shortell

mailto:shortell at get2me.net
Leaving the
Heidelberg Teaching Unit at the end of 2011
Ph 9470 3403
Fax  9470 3215

On 7/12/11 1:17 PM, "Roland Gesthuizen" <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
Here is a good link to a UK Observer article via @lindymac that resonated with me and my thoughts about boosting the profile of computational thinking in our schools.
Programming and Computational Thinking should take pride of place in our schools
http://www.diigo.com/annotated/18e448bc88f295a362bf5967726506b9 (to my Diigo annotated version)
Curious what others think of this comment about the government:
".. they're making the same mistake as those who saw ICT as a way of preparing kids for the world of work by training them to use Microsoft Office - ie designing a curriculum by looking into a rear-view mirror. What we ought to be doing is giving the kids the ability to operate in - and perhaps help to create - industries that nobody has even dreamed of yet."

Regards Roland

On 7 December 2011 13:12, Donna Benjamin <donna at cc.com.au> wrote:
On Tue, 2011-12-06 at 22:42 +0000, Anderson, Stuart L wrote:
> I think it'd be impossible to separate the two areas because they have
> grown together. There wouldn't be so many people using ICT if not for
> business (and marketing!). They are not mutually exclusive and can't
> be separated from each other.

Computing serves purposes other than business though...

eg. scientific research often has no commercial application - but serve
medicine, population modelling - computing has even lead to outright
disruption of business models...

Then again, I could be thinking of 'business' too narrowly.

:)

--
Donna Benjamin - Executive Director
Creative Contingencies - http://cc.com.au
ph +61 3 9326 9985 <tel:%2B61%203%209326%209985>  - mob +61 418 310 414 <tel:%2B61%20418%20310%20414>

Drupal Downunder - 13-15 January 2012
Jasper Hotel, Melbourne - http://drupaldownunder.org

_______________________________________________
http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
IT Applications Mailing List kindly supported by
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/infotech/itapplications3-4.html - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>
http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc <br>
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools - Swinburne University

--
_______________________________________________
http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
IT Applications Mailing List kindly supported by
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/infotech/itapplications3-4.html - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>
http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc <br>
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools - Swinburne University

Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

________________________________
This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by replying to this email and then delete the email from your system. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and not necessarily those of Lavalla Catholic College. Thank you for your cooperation.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/itapps/attachments/20111208/b7b69771/attachment-0001.html 