[Year 12 SofDev] VB6.0 in the approved languages list

Sun Aug 8 08:33:51 EST 2010

I agree with you Adrian, but it is about time that the group making these
decisions takes into account the skill set of the people actually teaching
the SD course and not just the skillset of the early adopters of new
technology. Use the advice that we give students when teaching about changes
to an Information System, and include the skills and knowledge of the
teachers who are implementing the new SD course. If this was the direction
that we needed to go, flag that VB would be out several years ago, or flag
that it will be out in the next revision of the study design so that
teachers would know that they are riding a dead horse and need to change if
they want to continue working with SD. This should give more impetus and
hence time to learn how to program using the ideas of OOP.  

Teachers could easily have taught the flavour or OOP using VB6 even though
it is not strictly an OOP and then moved on?

Anyway, bring on the PD for teachers as I suspect there will be a big need
for it.

As people say, "my 2 cents worth"

cheers Don

btw, thanks for all your work Adrian as you do make things a lot easier for
people teaching this course, who use materials that you produce or attend
ISE that you run. I don't agree with all your decisions but you are good for
the teachers of the subject.

From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au]
On Behalf Of Janson, Adrian A
Sent: Saturday, 7 August 2010 12:08 AM
To: sofdev at edulists.com.au
Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] VB6.0 in the approved languages list

Hi everyone,

OK.  So serves me right for not turning my email on today!

I think I should clarify my stance (which is of course mine and not VCAAs)!

The programming language panel had a discussion about whether VB6.0 would be
allowed or not.  For my part - I argued that it was probably time to
'retire' VB6.0 as it is getting fairly old now.  I use VB.Net and always the
most current version - but don't teach all of the OOP concepts (although I
do demo some of them so that my students can see what OO is).  In reality,
the study design just assesses 3GL concepts - but this is not the issue.  In
part the languages in the approved list are there to ensure currency.  Now I
for one am a believer that it ultimately doesn't matter what language we use
as by the time our students a graduating an IT course - there will be
something else out there.... a new version or a new language?  What we give
our students is an understanding of logic and syntax and they can apply this
to languages beyond the one they use in SD.

So when languages are being considered for the approved languages list - the
first question is always - does the language allow all aspects of the course
to be taught and assessed?  Some languages do not pass this test.  The ones
that are left are then considered - and I think it is wise that the list is
not too large.  Consideration is given to current popularity and use.  I do
feel that we should at least be making an attempt to teach languages that
are currently being used and this is where VB6.0 is/was on the cusp.  Can
you teach all aspects of the course with VB6.0?  The answer is definitely
yes - but I think that there are OO things in VB6.0 that are not the same as
the OO things in VB.Net - and VB6.0 is not a true OO language.  I think that
if we were discussing the inclusion of Cobol in the approved languages list,
then it would be a non-argument and everyone would agree that it is too old
a language to include.  

I also feel that we should be making every effort to make the course as
attractive to students as possible and potential SD students will probably
not be excited about VB6.0.  Students have a pretty good idea about what is
being in industry and have an expectation that they should be using current
tools.  There are also definite advantages in using the most current version
of a language as there is more support for it on the www and the Express
Edition can be downloaded and used for free.  There are great resources out
there to support all of the languages in the list so the transition should
not be too difficult.  I for one am very willing to assist anyone who needs
help going from VB6.0 to VB.Net. 

Cheers,

Adrian

Adrian Janson B.Sc, Dip.Ed, M.Ed
Director of ICT
Melbourne High School, Forrest Hill, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 Australia.
Phone: 03 9826 0711 International: +61 3 9826 0711
Fax: 03 9826 8767 International: +61 3 9826 8767
E-mail: janson.adrian.a at edumail.vic.gov.au
<https://www.edumail.vic.gov.au/mail/janson.adrian.a/Drafts/janson.adrian.a@
edumail.vic.gov.au> 

Website: http://www.mhs.vic.edu.au <http://www.mhs.vic.edu.au/> 

Blog: http://jansona.edublogs.org <http://jansona.edublogs.org/> 

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