[Year 12 IT Apps] itapps Digest, Vol 123, Issue 50

Thu May 28 14:12:37 AEST 2015

Re: A research question...

I am the only "IT" teacher trained in my school also, teaching an allotment
of Year 9 IT, Year 10 IT, 2x Year 11 UT and IT Applications. I have built
the curriculum from the ground up in both Year 9 and Year 10 - offering
what i believe to be engaging and fun elements of IT. This is the first
year i've had side by side year 11 classes which is fantastic for looking
towards the future for numbers in Year 12 (5th year teaching, 4th year of
VCE IT).

My Year 9 consists of Animating in Flash, Game Development in Gamemaker and
a theory unit titled Computers & Society which has a strong focus on how
technology is used and how it changes our lives. This unit also has as
strong focus in video games and their impact on adolescents.
Year 10 is Webdesign and Development, using HTML/CSS/Dreamweaver/Photoshop,
and Networking(which is just theory  /yawn). For next year i'm looking
at modifying my curriculum in both year levels, replacing Gamemaker in Year
9 and Networks in Year 10.

What are other IT teachers out there teaching at these levels that is fun
and engaging for students? I've looked at Unity as a possible replacement
for networks in Year 10 but not sure at this stage. I don't want their to
be much of an overlap with the Year 11 study design as a lot of my year 11
students are finding doing networks again a bit dry and it makes it tough
to teach some of them. 9 and 10 are also just semester long subjects so
they are restricted by time.

Cheers

On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 12:00 PM, <itapps-request at edulists.com.au> wrote:

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>    1. Re: A research question... (Garth, Lucas A)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 28 May 2015 00:54:37 +0000
> From: "Garth, Lucas A" <garth.lucas.a at edumail.vic.gov.au>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] A research question...
> To: "itapps at edulists.com.au" <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID:
>         <
> 0CCB00C5CA614C4D80168A79548CBCB728707CD3 at EDUMBX03.education.vic.gov.au>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi,
>
> "sexy": Psychology, Outdoor Ed, HHD, VET
> Nah, not necessarily sexier - though there is a better spread of genders.
>
> But: perceived easier. Absolutely.  Add Legal Studies and PE to the list.
>
> Information Technology is perceived to be harder, because it involves the
> computational thinking Abbott believes we don't need.
>
> There is a huge need for schools to at least have quality and trained IT
> teachers for junior and senior year levels, and also to offer not just
> Apps/Informatics, but Software Development as well.
>
> The problem is that school timetables are cramped, and generally the HHD
> and PE element on the school organisation (lots of coordinators, managers
> and curriculum developers are from the PE faculty at least in my school)
> ensures that the squeeze is on and therefore IT is removed and teachers can
> "integrate it into subjects" - a process that is not always audited and
> therefore not at the quality expected by senior IT teachers.  It's a lot
> easier to not offer Information Technology at junior levels (7 and 8) and
> to offer lipservice training at middle years.
>
> In Year 9 and 10 lots of students are disengaged with the entire learning
> process, so it remains key for us as IT teaching professionals to ensure
> that the content is delivered in a quality manner, by people who are
> trained and capable.  If we deliver great electives at Y9 and Y10, we can
> offer pathways to Informatics and Software Development in the future.
>
> I'm the only IT teacher at my school, teaching Year 10, Year 11 x 2 and
> Year 12 Apps x2.   I don't have any more timetable space to get into the
> Year 9 and 10 "Multimedia/IT" subjects to improve the content, let alone
> ensure computational thinking is integrated into Year 7 and 8 by teachers
> who think showing a Youtube clip at the start of a class is integrating IT.
>
> The only solution I see is to create brilliant and fully documented
> subjects for Year 9 and 10 (e.g. Game Design, Web Design, App Development),
> get them massively oversubscribed and create the pathway to Year 10-12.
> Big oversubscription should lead to another qualified IT teaching graduate
> being hired and we can work as a team.
>
> >From little things, big things grow.
>
> And on Donnelly/Wilkshire, if this is seriously where they are at in
> relation to ICT general capability vs the Digital Technologies subject,
> then I ask for Abbott to please call an early election. Now.
>
> </rant>
>
> Lucas
>
>
> From: "Lewis, Jane L" <lewis.jane.l at edumail.vic.gov.au>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] A research question...
> To: "Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List"
>         <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Message-ID:
>         <
> 1320699634BA94479BC8E7BF5A91856C50A432DE at EDUMBX05.education.vic.gov.au>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hello,
>
> A fellow lurker, but keen observer. I have taught IT in various forms
> since the days of typing and information processing. What I have noticed is
> that the growth of ?sexy? subjects like Psychology, Outdoor Ed, Health &
> Human Development, VET etc has taken away many who would traditionally
> choose this subject. The junior IT subjects offered in schools is usually
> an allotment filler (if offered anymore) and thus people who are
> uninterested  and unqualified have allowed the subject to decline into
> Kahootz worlds. The interest in wanting to learn how to use applications
> has waned and the general skill level (if my students are any indication)
> has declined so much that if a subject appears difficult (to the slacker
> crowd), it will not be selected. The boys who do choose it love devices and
> their games (playing them, of course) but have little to no inclination in
> learning the features and fundamentals of applications.
>
> The problem is exacerbated by students coming in with only ipad
> experience, a significant
> candy-crush/phone/Facebook/YouTube/Instagram/Snapchat/overnight gaming
> session/?next new game? addiction. Any subject would have difficulties
> attracting students with such high expectations of life! The IT of
> 1990-2000 was new and different and thus it was easier to attract students.
> Engaging students many years ago was much easier because high schools had
> computers ? this differentiated us from Primary and home.
>
> Jane
>
>
> From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:
> itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Tracey Hubert
> Sent: Wednesday, 27 May 2015 11:10 PM
> To: itapps at edulists.com.au; sofdev at edulists.com.au
> Subject: [Year 12 IT Apps] A research question...
>
> 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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-- 
*Benn Pollock*
VCE Information Technology Teacher
e-Learning Coordinator
*Ph.* 9801-9700
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