[Yr11 Information Technology] RE: about SCRATCH for Unit2?

[Hubbard, Jenna J]

Hello, 
Does anyone have any work leading up to the Unit 2 Outcome 1 that would
be good to get the students to work through before they begin the actual
sac.
Does anyone have any Power Point slides they can send to the list as
well.
Thanks

Jenna Hubbard
Cobram Secondary College
-----Original Message-----
From: yr11it-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:yr11it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Greyruin
Sent: Thursday, 19 June 2008 12:51 AM
To: Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Yr11 Information Technology] RE: about SCRATCH for Unit2?

Hate to sound like an arrogant prat here, but why use a pretend language

like Scratch to illustrate sequence, iteration and branching when those 
concepts are so clearly modelled in a "real" programing language?

Why spend a year teaching students a language that has no practical 
value outside of the lower secondary classroom?  A language that 
students can actually use is no more difficult to teach (or to learn to 
teach). {Once again, we are watering down the course - not so that 
students can understand it, but so that teachers can teach something 
they understand.}

On another note - Y 10 Subject choices information sessions today. I 
gave them the guff about doing IT 1 & 2. Told them that, for those 
considering a career in IT, 1 & 2 were probably far more useful than 3 &

4. Since you have 1 & 2 under your belts, why not take on 3 & 4, then, 
since it will be easy after that?

When I finished, I got applause. Nobody else got applause. Goody.

Greg
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