[Year 12 SofDev] Fwd: The draft study design is on the table!

Mon May 12 17:41:15 EST 2014

Thanks, Stephen, but please elaborate.  Thanks for - what?

All we have had so far is evanescent tumbleweeds on this issue...  passing
breezes of insubstantial comment that barely raise a millibar of
atmospheric pressure in these turbulent times.

VCAA has proposed *seismic* changes to the philosophy and practice of VCE
IT and these lists (which are probably the main non-VCAA fora of opinion)
have so far largely sat mutely.
We sit like kittens stoically waving our paws in the air at tea time after
we've been told that we will be fed only gherkins from now on.

They (from VCAA) say "Oooh, OK then. No comment from the teaching
community. Fine. Fine. Dat's OK. We must be right, then. Let's publish the
draft then..."
VCAA will rubber-stamp the draft since noone has complained or commented.
They will publish it and *you* will have an OFFICIAL *2016-2020* IT STUDY
DESIGN...

And then the tornado of the new study design hits and the teachers go
"But... but..." when it's too late.

- And you know EXACTLY what the tornado is like. You can *see it coming. *You
have been *told* by the friendly tornado that it is coming.
- It even tells you where and *when* it will land.
- You know that everything will be *canon*. *Immutable*. *Unarguable*. For
*years*.

- But people will still sit in their deckchairs watching it approach, and
say "Well, let's see what happens... hell, just because we're sitting
comfortably in deckchairs in a quiet street in Pamploma on July 14, what
can go wrong?"

This is the only metaphorical tornado that *can* be fought because it
honestly tells you in draft form what it intends to do to you, your school,
your classes, your career... This is the tornado that you *can* and *need
to* tackle.

*You have five days.*

Well, *four* now. It took me quite a few hours and glasses of Cab Merlot to
draft this. I'll charge VCAA separately.

Mark

On 12 May 2014 16:29, Stephen Rosicka <Stephen.Rosicka at galen.vic.edu.au>wrote:

>  Mark,
>
>  Thanks…
>
>  Stephen
>
>   From: Mark <mark at vceit.com>
> Reply-To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List <
> sofdev at edulists.com.au>
> Date: Monday, May 12, 2014 at 4:20 PM
> To: Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <
> yr11it at edulists.com.au>, Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing
> List <sofdev at edulists.com.au>, Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing
> List <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Fwd: The draft study design is on the table!
>
>   Psst. Hey, you. Yes, you. The IT teacher.
> But mainly *you* - the *ITA* teacher.
>
>  Remember that *feedback on the draft IT study design* stops on *17 May*.
> See below for quick links.
>  Five days to go.
>
>  If you teach *ITA* and you love the idea of teaching *databases* for
> most of the year in *Informatics*, you need do *nothing*.
>
>  But here's a hypothesis...
>
>  - If you do nothing you *won't* end up teaching databases for most of
> the year. Yay! What?
>  - This is because when students hear that 'Informatics' == 'Databases',
> *none* of them will enrol for it.
> - You will be teaching *Woodwork*. Or two *Year 9 Health* classes instead.
>
>  Of course, that's just a hypothesis. But sharpen your chisels and unwrap
> your condoms - just in case.
>
>  We know that *IT Applications* enrolments have been trending down for
> the past 5 years.
> And I'd suggest this largely because databases have been mandated for the
> past 5 years in ITA.
> And the new *Informatics* course wants to compound the injury by
> increasing the database component.
>
>  Dammit, people. We've always had an *understanding:*
> - *Software Development* has always been for the unashamed IT lover who
> would watch "The Big Bang Theory" and laugh at the quantum physics jokes.I
> know I do.
> - *ITA* (formerly IPM - Information Processing and Management) was for -
> let's be honest - the students who liked using computers but couldn't get
> into Media Studies. It was a fun, easy subject with low skill expectations
> on arrival, and a useful skill set on graduation.  It was marked down as a
> VCE study, but everyone knew that and accepted that. It was *understood*.
>
>  The draft study design seems to want to make ITA an ultrageeknerd study,
> chockablock with *pure database science...*the sort of study that would
> not be "marked down" and would stand proudly against a "real science" like
> physics or chemistry.
>
>  But is that what *Informatics* is supposed to be? A rigorous,
> intellectually-demanding, highly academic investigation of esoteric theory
> that tertiary graduates require for a career in a narrow corner of the IT
> industry? If so, it destroys the attraction of a subject for general ICT
> skill development.
>
>  VCE Maths has all sorts of streams for students who (1) want to get
> through year 12  and (2) want to become a maths/science professional.
> Why can't VCE IT do the same, as it has always done?
>
>  Let's retain a unit 3/4 IT subject for those who couldn't give a flying
> fuschia for fancy further specialist studies. How many students would
> choose VCE Biology units 3 and 4 if three of the four outcomes were on *cellular
> slime mould*, and the other one was on *everything else*?
>
>  These lists have been a whistling desert breeze, a lonely rolling
> tumbleweed of discussion on the crucial issue of this draft IT study design.
>
>  - Are people passionately in favour of increased database content in ITA
> and are silent in anticipation of its arrival? (Yay! More databases!)
> - Are people writing passionate feedback in defence or defiance of the
> draft to the VCAA survey <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRDVJ25>, and are
> silent here?
> - Are people just passively waiting to be fed whatever VCAA pushes into
> their cages, and quietly grumble "I don't like that much" for the next 5
> years?
>
>  Your only chance is *now*.
> And you have only *five* days.
>
>  If you have an opinion *express it here on the Edulist forums* as well
> as on the VCAA survey site <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRDVJ25>.
> You might *inspire others* to think and respond.
>
>  But I don't have to worry.
> - *I* have the beach, red wine, and a thousand fine (and bad) old movies
> to amuse me during periods 3 and 4 on a Tuesday.
> *- You *will have year 12 *Informatics* with yet *another* database
> outcome coming up, and the kids still don't really understand how 2NF
> differs from 3NF even after your eleven prior attempts to explain it, even
> with your hand puppets.
>
>   So, if you teach VCE IT...
>
>  Read the draft -
> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/infotech/ComputingSD-consultation-draft.pdf
>
>  Read the Summary of changes -
> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/infotech/VCE_InfoTech_summary_changes.doc
>
> *But for Dog's sake, whether you agree with me or not, go here and say
> something -*  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRDVJ25
>
>  Otherwise, you know what the next 5 years will be like for you:
> *Countersinks*. *Chlamydia*...
>
>  --
>   Mark Kelly (amateur troublemaker)
>  mark AT vceit DOT com
> http://vceit.com
>
>  *Everything new draft study design is a chance to make the VCE world a
> better place. - *Mark Kelly
>
>    --
>
>  Mark Kelly
> mark AT vceit DOT com
> http://vceit.com
>
>

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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