[Year 12 IT Apps] A research question...

[Baas, Benjamin B]

So one of my students just passed me this article.

https://codehire.com/runtime/2015/05/27/aussie-pm-thinks-coding-is-a-joke/

Might explain a bit.

Cheers,

Ben
-Alkira.

From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of ken price
Sent: Thursday, 28 May 2015 7:45 AM
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
Cc: sofdev at edulists.com.au
Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] A research question...

Hi Tracey,
The phenomenon you observe is not unique to one state or country or sector. There has been much speculation about the cause, but its certainly bigger than local scaling. It is indeed a serious issue.

Media portrayal is possibly a significant factor.  Certainly media emphasis has resulted in increases in interest in other areas.

Ken

On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, Tracey Hubert <traceyhubert at gmail.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','traceyhubert at gmail.com');>> wrote:
Hello,

I am a pre-service IT teacher and long-time lurker. I am working on an assessment investigating issues and debates around the implementation of the (proposed) Digital Technologies curriculum and the implications for schools and teachers. In the Donnely and Whiltsire review, they propose that IT remain a general capability and the standalone subject be scrapped or made optional. One of the arguments is there are not enough suitably qualified teachers and that it can be taught across the disciplines. They obviously miss the point that ITC != computational thinking.

I am curious to hear what practicing IT teachers think about this assertion. I went to a school tour on Friday and was surprised to learn they didn't offer IT as a subject at all, not even in VCE. No electives in Year 9. Nothing. I had a look at the overall statistics for VCE IT apps and VCE Software Development and saw enrolments are significantly down from their 2000–2001 peak. During the online PD for the new VCE subjects, Paula Christophersen mentioned they have increased this year by 10%, but it still seems quite low given the ubiquity of tech and the push for STEM subjects in general.

I was wondering if anyone has any insight as to why they think the numbers have dropped in they way they have. It can't only be explained by the scaling down, can it?

TIA
Tracey


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Dr Ken Price MACS CP ACCE Professional Associate.
President, TASITE http://www.tasite.tas.edu.au

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