[Year 12 SofDev] Mobile devices in SD

[Mark]

Yes, the new design is less prescriptive than the current one
(e.g. prescribed data types are no longer listed in each unit).

I think we're being given a little more leash from VCAA.

It's a pleasant change - but may be a bit scary to those who like to know
exactly what needs to be taught and what will be examinable. A short leash
and specific assessment parameters let teachers and textbook writers use
their limited class time and pages much more efficiently.

I've heard that VCAA is frowning on:
(a) the inclusion of glossaries, and
(b) the use of "including..." in the key knowledge of new study designs.

This means that theory becomes more vague and increases the chances of
textbooks and teachers teaching theory than the examiners won't be
considering.

As you mentioned, Adrian, teaching broad topics like "creative thinking
techniques" raises many possible factors. The study design does not mention
de Bono's six hats but it seems logical to cover it, but the exam cannot
name that method or examine it directly. So teachers and writers have to
wonder what to include and what to leave out. Fingernails will be bitten.
Many posts here in 2016 will begin with the words, "Should I be teaching
<theory topic> for this outcome?"

And yes - Informatics U4O1KK02 "techniques for generating design ideas"
also made me wonder whether to include de Bono's hats in the Informatics
textbook.

I did.

But then again, I also included the technique of locking people in a small
room and beating them with a cricket bat until they contributed a good
design idea.
The editor at Cengage made me take that out. Sigh.
Adrian, you're lucky being your own editor.

This is how I feel, sometimes...




On 21 August 2015 at 13:27, Adrian Janson <janson.adrian.a at gmail.com> wrote:

> That's right - no mobile devices or constraints like there is in the
> current study. Having gone through it all in a very granular fashion -
> there is much more that has been taken out than added (IMO!)
>
> Adrian
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 1:21 PM, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>
>> Greetings, ethos-promoters,
>>
>> I've just noticed something.
>>
>> In the current (2010-2015) study design, programming focuses on mobile
>> devices.
>>
>> While mobile devices have done nothing but proliferate in the past few
>> years, the new (2016-2019) SD study design does not even mention mobile
>> devices or the constraints of their interfaces.
>>
>> That's odd. I wonder why.
>>
>> --
>>
>> *​Everyone you meet knows something you don't. You're surrounded by
>> ​potential ​teachers.*
>>
>> Mark Kelly
>>
>>
>> mark at vceit.com
>> http://vceit.com
>>
>> --

*​Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you're an idiot
who makes really bad decisions.*

Mark Kelly


mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com
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