[Year 12 SofDev] A discussion question : how deep should we teach technical details?

[Ben Hines]

Great question Mark,

I know that in teaching SD for the first year, my students would not have the super technical understanding of the OSI model. And they would have a basic overview of networks. So I wonder as you are wondering, am I disadvantaging my students in this regard?

Ta


Mr Ben Hines

VCE Maths/ICT Teacher
Senior School Campus - Christian College Geelong
*(03) 52411577 (ext. 180)



From: sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark KELLY
Sent: Friday, 17 August 2012 10:09 AM
To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] A discussion question : how deep should we teach technical details?


Hi all. One question that has come to mind recently while going through VCAA, CSE, VITTA and other SD exams is how deeply we should be covering key knowledge like...

- SD U3O1 KK03 - a brief overview of the concept of the OSI model for network protocols
- SD U4O2 KK01- technical underpinnings of intranets, the Internet and virtual private networks
- SD U4O2 KK02- characteristics of wired and wireless networks

My kids have had no more exposure to the OSI than along the lines of, "These are the OSI stages, and these a few of the main things that happen in each stage. Data to be transmitted passes through these stages like a car being methodically stripped down to its parts, shipped overseas, and then reassembled again. This is what the physical layer does." I don't expect them to memorise the protocols that operate at each level.

For wired/wireless communication, I don't go much beyond covering the relative strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of CAT, FOC, WiFi ("Code-named 802.11 with 4 different flavours"), microwave, and infrared.
I don't drill down into fine technical detail.  Do you do more on OSI and networking technology than this?  I'd be keen to hear.

Some questions I have seen make me wonder: I feel that they are too deep and specific for the specified key knowledge, especially when only a "brief overview" is asked for, and the only named OSI level is the physical level.
I don't want to criticise authors, but I have seen questions like...

- At what level of the OSI does HTTP operate?
- Why would Telnet not be a good idea for secure remote access?
- Which of the 802.11 protocols are compatible with each other?
- What's the difference between bridges, routers, switches etc with reference to the OSI model

I would find it hard to justify the time needed for such exhaustive coverage of these topics, and since the VCAA exams have not examined students in such technical detail, I doubt it's really useful.

How far do you go covering the technicalities of the technologies?

--
Mark Kelly
Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area
McKinnon Secondary College
McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
Direct line / Voicemail: +613 8520 9085<tel:%2B613%208520%209085>, Fax +613 9578 9253<tel:%2B613%209578%209253>
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VCE IT Lecture Notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist

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The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn - Alvin Toffler.


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