[Year 12 IT Apps] itapps Digest, Vol 110, Issue 16

Tue Apr 15 22:38:38 EST 2014

The proposed VCE IT Apps Study Design... opinions?

To put it lightly, I'm very concerned.

We just got kids picking U1/U2 IT and U3/U4 IT Apps again after a couple of years without a class in either - 22 kids across both classes in a small senior school was something we were quite proud of - and will now lead them elsewhere (probably towards VCE VET IT, SD or perhaps even VET Digital Media).

Do the people at VCAA (the IT writers anyway) ever consider the skills and interests of teachers/students when making changes to courses? We are working hard to learn all aspects of this study design, with databases being an area of weakness. Everytime I go to a VCE IT Conference it is filled with a) Gurus who know everything and b) Suckers who are battling for the good of their kids. I think I fall somewhere in between currently but I will quickly become a 'B' if this draft passes through.

Really disappointed. I was hoping that the current topics would be updated to meet modern demands. I understand databases may be what the industry wants but surely it would be better to give students a wide range of skills to increase their confidence and skills. Then, when they go to university, they might choose specialisations in areas of industry need. It also takes away the attractiveness of this subject for those who are not looking for an IT career but see the value of having these skills for other occupations (Commerce etc.).

Sorry for the strong language but I'm really frustrated about this.

Matt
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Sent: Monday, 14 April 2014 12:00 PM
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Subject: itapps Digest, Vol 110, Issue 16

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Draft study design feedback (Andrew Shortell)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 11:52:46 +1000
From: Andrew Shortell <shortell at get2me.net>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Draft study design feedback
To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
        <itapps at edulists.com.au>
Cc: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
        <sofdev at edulists.com.au>
Message-ID: <38642E4D-7097-4506-96C4-1AC28B3744E1 at get2me.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

It is nice to have a fresh set of eyes read the document

When you read the  Computing: Informatics  units of the Study remember the purpose of the whole study is to promote learning. Anyone can learn bits about any application but the old IPM and ITA did not step far beyond that.

CI  does more.

Here is a great opportunity for some people to produce teaching resources for those teachers who are afraid of databases.
And a great opportunity to move away from MicroSloth (Hat-tip to Mike Brookes) if one wants to work with good databases.

I hope everyone reads it all carefully especially the new SAT which will make authentication clearer as most students will work with different data-sets in CI and with a different user interface in software Development.

I like  CI  as a name.

Imagine how good it will be to challenge students to think and then reflect on their thinking rather than just doing something simple with a piece of software and then another piece of software and then another piece of software. SAC after SAC after SAC

Exciting times ahead

Andrew

Andrew Shortell
CRC Melton

On 14/04/2014, at 9:31 AM, Mark wrote:

> G'day, working class.
>
> I've gone through the draft study design's glossary and Informatics sections so far. There's quite a bit to think about there.
>
> I suspect SD will be less problematic than Informatics - it always has been in the past.
>
> http://vceit.com/p/draft-feedback-2016.htm
>
> Go to town, chums.
>
> --
>
> Mark Kelly
> mark AT vceit DOT com
> http://vceit.com
>
> Everything that used to be a sin is now a disease - Bill Maher
>
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