[Yr7-10it] re : "purists" (was no subject)

[Costello, Rob R]

i don't think anyone is against web2 - all very cool and useful
 
i think the issue on this list a while ago was when the wonders of  'web 2' were used to imply that any semblance of 'IT as computer science' was not really needed in school or in the world of ICT education ...and could be shelved as old hat
 
but if kids or teacher are going to produce as well as consume in these environments then some technical skills are possibly needed  (html  / Actionscript, php, python, whatever  ...) : for some percentage of kids this *mindset* should be cultivated by school  (which technical branch is almost beside the point) 
 
just as we wouldn't want to water mathematics down to just numeracy for all ...as good as that is, we also aim to go deeper for those who will love the inquiry into abstract patterns etc - and should give all a taste of what that might mean ...why i like scratch etc
 
ICT in schools needs both, IMO - both practical use of the tools,web 2 etc; and also the depth that comes from going a bit deeper - 
 
we  lose out if the whole system just aims no higher than 'information literacy' (and is falsely impressed with the idea that digital natives just can pick up deeper concepts themselves ..i have kids this age and i'm impressed with what they pck up ...and also know there is a lot they and 98% of students don't self teach.. including some of the more powerful ideas) 
 
i'm not teaching this year - am designing widgets for maths learning amongst other things ...and though others do most of the heavy technical work, every obscure thing i've learnt and wrestled with is still useful ...
 
(to use your example i also wouldn't write a page in html these days if i could avoid it ...but sometimes the skills are valuable - they open possibliities when the blog won't format properly or the widget won't embed properly or you want to write a dynamic application that spits out html formated information to the web ... or want to bend the system beyond the standard menu options ...) 
 
....when we accept numeracy in place of mathematics (as reasonable as that would be for many), then i think we can accept info literacy in place of any computer science ideas in the curriculum
 
(not that you are suggesting that i know)
 
i know i'm preaching to the choir in responding to this ...so just a random thought dump  
 
cheers
 
rob 

________________________________

From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of mppascoe at bigpond.com
Sent: Fri 7/10/2009 5:15 PM
To: Yr7-10it at edulists.com.au; yr11it at edulists.com.au
Subject: [Yr7-10it] (no subject)



(Apologies for any cross posts).

 

Hi everyone, 

 

Hope you enjoyed the holidays. 

 

I know I certainly did, especially Kevork's great Actionscript 3.0 course, complete with healthy subway lunch, and poker machine building fun !

 

Recently I have started a Google Blog for the purpose of PD'ing teachers at my school in Web 2.0. 


I thought it might be useful to share, and the site is located at this URL: 

 

http://elearnweb2.blogspot.com/  

 

The purpose of this website is to allow anyone to learn a number of Web 2.0 applications. Many of these applications will be useful to teachers and students alike, as well as web developers, and other users of the Internet. 
The site contains plenty of education based examples and detailed step by step instructions. 


Best of all, getting started in these applications is 100% free, and only requires an email address, and a bit of time learning what to do. 


A number of "Purists" in the IT world will argue that Web 2.0 applications are just noisy, and time wasting distractions, without any real learning or educational merit.

Certainly the applications are a lot easier to work with than Visual Basic, C++, Adobe CS3, Actionscript, and other development tools. However ease of use is not a reason to discredit these tools from being valuable and useful resources. 

For example, building websites in "Wix" is far easier and rewarding for beginner students than raw HTML or Adobe Dreamweaver..... so why not use it.
Even better, it's 100% Free ! 

In the spirit of Web 2.0, feel free to use, download, share, distribute, etc any of the materials from this site; provided they are used for strictly non-profit purposes. 

Hope you enjoy Learning Web 2.0,

 

Paul Pascoe   (aka "Passy") 

 

IT / Maths Teacher 

St Francis Xavier College 

Berwick  



mppascoe at bigpond.com

 

http://passyworldofict.blogspot.com/  

 

http://elearnweb2.blogspot.com/  

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________ 
http://www.edulists.com.au <http://www.edulists.com.au/> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe 
Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by 
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au <http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and 
http://www.vitta.org.au <http://www.vitta.org.au/> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc 

Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/yr7-10it/attachments/20090710/c3938376/attachment.html