[Yr11 Information Technology] [Year 12 IT Apps] Unit 2 languages?

[Mark]

Hi David.  Did you mean to post this query to the year 11 list? I have
crossposted there as well, in case those folk have further advice.

While there is no list of approved programming languages for unit 2 IT (see
study design, page 26) it would be wise to be guided by the list of approved
languages <http://www.vceit.com/p/00-SD-approvedlanguages.htm> for Software
Development Units 3+4.

While Scratch is a good beginner's language, IIRC it does not support
things like arrays, internal documentation, data types etc which are
important basic programming concepts.
Its limitations may prove difficult to overcome in satisfying an outcome.

You could perhaps use Scratch as a stepping stone to introduce some
fundamental ideas (e.g. modularity, loops, logical structures, parameter
passing) and segue into a more traditional language (e.g. Basic) to show
how these concepts from Scratch are universal across languages while more
superficial things like syntax will vary.

Cheers
Mark



On 14 August 2014 10:11, David B. Thomas <david.b.thomas at rmit.edu.au> wrote:

> Hi,
> I am teaching IT unit 2 for the first time but I have got a vast
> background in IT itself.
> Outcome 2 requires the students to use a programming language and although
> I know Basic and an object oriented language called Ada inside out; there
> may be quite a steep learning curve for me if I was to return to c++. I
> haven't used it for a while.
>
> I was wondering if there was any stats about what languages are taught in
> Unit 2? Is it OK to use something like Scratch? One of my students
> suggested Processing.org and although I haven't had a good look it seems
> interesting.
>
> Basically, I have a small class who have English as a second language and
> they haven't programmed before. Is it ok to use what I regard as a more
> visual language? Perhaps even a "in browser" language?
> Regards,
> David.
>
>
>
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-- 

Mark Kelly
mark AT vceit DOT com
http://vceit.com

*The two most important things to remember in order to become powerful are:*
*1. Never tell your competitors everything you know.*
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