[Yr7-10it] Year 7-10 IT structures

[Bill Kerr]

Colin Sutton:
> It seems unbelievable that in the Information Age students are not
formally taught ANY ICT

Leanne Wright
> I too am puzzled at the idea that 'integrating'  IT into other subjects
will allow anything approaching an adequeate skills base for the
'information age' and current employer expectations. Why not 'integrate' the
teaching of English into other subjects - after all we can all read and
write, and unlike IT, most if not all of us have done Year 12 English!



I'm interested in this argument about the "information age" and "IT is
equivalent to English", which has come up before on these lists

The term "information age" is too vague now IMO. The "information age" did
not start with the computer - it started with the printing press.

tony forster pointed out that the novel did not develop for hundreds of
years after the printing press. And then it was argued that the novel would
corrupt women and should be banned. The computer is just starting out now,
has a history of about 50 years - we haven't seen yet what will develop, how
society will end up using the computer

When I was young there were books and radio. Now kids have TV, movies,
mobile phones, ipods as well as computers.

The argument that "we can all read and write" implies that IT is another
form of literacy (equivalent to reading and writing) and so deserves an
equal place in the curriculum to English

That argument might turn out to be correct, eg. we could argue that students
could learn to program the computer to represent dynamic systems (eg. the
spread of AIDS or a traffic jam simulation or global warming) and that this
systems theory knowledge is a new form of literacy required by the modern
citizen. If we understood systems theory better then society would have
picked up on global warming earlier or developed other perspectives on
global warming to our current ones (ie. panic)

But it's wrong to equate the ability to read and write English with the
ability to learn basic computer skills.

The English curriculum does not or should not justify itself in secondary
school on the basis of learning to read and write. It might justify itself
on the basis that the study of Shakespeare for example provides students
with new insights into the human condition.

"Computer science" (which is perhaps not a real science yet) could only
justify itself on this sort of basis - that it provides new unique insights
into the human condition.

Integration of computers into the rest of the curriculum (and computing
being phased out as a stand alone subject in the middle years) is proceeding
on the basis that all computing has to offer is basic (computer) literacy
skills and that the "digital natives" will pick that up anyway. The
comparison here is with oral literacy. Humans learn to talk without formal
teaching. They don't learn to read and write without formal teaching. That
process is meant to happen in primary school and is the major focus of
primary school. The ability to read and write then opens doors to the
collected wisdom of humanity, be it through books or the web.

So, what is the argument that computer skills are somehow equivalent to
English - the subject which provides the underlying basis for all of modern
human knowledge, post Enlightenment?

Maybe there is such an argument. But the fact that IT teachers haven't
developed it coherently is the underlying reason why they are losing their
subject.

-- 
Bill Kerr
http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/




On 10/14/07, Leanne Wright <barbarloot at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I'm feeling fortunate to be at a school where IT is still a core subject
> at Year 7, 9 & 10 where It runs for 3 periods a week for one semester. Year
> 8s do a workshop subject and are timetabled in a computer room for 1 period
> where they use drawing programs to produce working drawings for their
> workshop projects (our technology teachers are all IT qualified). Next year
> these arrangements will remain substantially unchanged except for Year 10
> which will lose about of quarter of its present time allowance in the
> transition to 72 minute periods.
>
> When the status of IT was originally being discussed, I presented a list
> of *all* the ICT skills that VELS required students to have, at which
> point the committee involved realised very few non IT teachers would have
> all these skills.decided to keep IT as a separate subject.
>
> I too am puzzled at the idea that 'integrating'  IT into other subjects
> will allow anything approaching an adequeate skills base for the
> 'information age' and current employer expectations. Why not 'integrate' the
> teaching of English into other subjects - after all we can all read and
> write, and unlike IT, most if not all of us have done Year 12 English!
>
> Leanne Wright - Epping SC
>
>
> *Colin SUTTON <oz.sutton at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> My school, Montmorency SC, has NO compulsory ICT!
>
> A student can go through 6 years of schooling here and do NO formal IT.
>
> No other school I have ever taught in (2 in Vic, 3 in QLD and 4 in the UK)
> have ever had this!
>
> It seems unbelievable that in the Information Age students are not
> formally taught ANY ICT.
>
> They have to learn another language, do wood, metal, cooking and sewing -
> useful and even essential - but the ONE thing none of them can avoid is ICT!
>
>
> Sure, many can play games and surf to sites, but they are not formally
> taught a wide range of other useful or essentail skills.
>
> Schools I have taught in elsewhere had at least one semester of ICT at
> Year 7 (Yr 8 in QLD as secondary starts in Yr8).
>
> Most had an elective system that required them to do at least ONE or more
> units at 8/9 or even again in Yr 10.
>
> Comments anyone?
>
>
> Regards
>
> COLIN _______________________________________________
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