Cheers, Ollie! November 29, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, personal , 1 comment so farFound a couple of things on Ollie Bray’s blog today that might interest folk. Firstly, for flickr fans there’s the excellent Splashr for presenting your online albums. Have a look at mine here!
Secondly was some of the material from the recent MGS CPD session on using images in the classroom - read Ollie’s full post for more on this.
Oracle Academy November 26, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support , 1 comment so far
Had a really productive meeting at North Berwick High School on Friday, where we were given a presentation on the Oracle Academy Programme by Jane Richardson, the Regional Development Manager for Scotland.
For those who do not know, Oracle are one of the largest software companies in the world. Specialising in Databases, they work “business-to-business,” hence their public profile is low unlike Microsoft et al.
Jane’s presentation was very informative, taking us through the content of the course, what would be expected in terms of teacher training (around 120 hours work), the benefits to the students who take it, and how it interfaces with the SQA Information Systems courses at Higher and Advanced Higher.
Perhaps what impressed me most of all was Oracle’s commitment to making sure teachers themselves recieve quality training before being certified to teach the course. This means firstly having to pass the oracle course itself and become certified with Oracle (an intenationally recognised IT certification), then going to a training centre in Brussels for any remediation, being taught how to deliver the course (all the materials and software is web-based) and finally sit the all-important exam.
Many thanks must Also go to Carl Roderick, PT Computing at NBHS for organising the event.
One last outcome of the presentation was that it also made me think about what we are doing in Scotland when we teach Computing. But that’s a post for after dinner…
BCS warns of skills shortage. November 17, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council , add a comment
There’s an interesting article on the BBC news website today, quoting the head of the British Computer Society as being concerned about the decline of Computing graduates over the past three years.
The full article can be read at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6155998.stm
I am very pleased with the quote from Prof. Shadbolt:
“It’s a little bit like [the government] stating that to supply the requirements for doctors and medically trained staff in the country we teach increasing numbers of people First Aid”
What I feel he is pointing out is what I have said for a long time: It’s a bit like the school thinking that to properly prepare students for a career in IT we teach increasing numbers of them PC Passport.
While I have no gripe with PC Passport, ECDL or other ICT qualifications I feel strongly that Computing and Information Systems as discrete subjects is the only way to prepare students properly who wish to work in the industry.
I also liked the comment about the quality of teaching - another reason for making sure that students get as much exposure to computing qualified teachers as much as possible!
Computing is a science - not a general skill that can be taught by all and sundry.
Bebo video November 14, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing , add a commentEwan McIntosh and Ollie Bray have posted a link to a very interesting video that dramatises many of the implications of social networking sites, using bebo as an example. Have a look for yourselves here.
My first thought was how well it fits into the implications section of SGCS networking! What’sthe chances it’ll be blocked at school though? (might have to look out that old stream capture software!!)
SARDA November 13, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Mountain Rescue, personal , add a comment
I had a busy and enjoyable weekend helping the great folks at SARDA - the Search and Rescue Dogs Association - with their monthly training. Basically it involves settling down on a hillside somewhere with a bivvy bag, a book and a flask of tea and simply waiting for a dog to find you! Needless to say, liquid refreshements were also enjoyed on the Friday and Saturday nights :-)
It was good to see so many new dogs doing well in the training. Corrie, the collie donated by children’s TV show Blue Peter, is turning into a great search dog. It’s great to think that some day these dogs will end up saving a life somewhere, often not even in mountainous terrain due to the increasing use of search dogs in urban and semi-rural settings.
Prelims November 13, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support , add a commentManaged to have a meeting on Friday with some other computing teachers to discuss the use and provision of commerical prelim papers. Only six of us were able to attend because of school commitments, but nevertheless I found it a very useful meeting. What we concluded from the recent Appeals results was:
- The perfect papers prelim did not seem to stand up well to SQA appeals procedure
- P&N was only used by one department, but seemed overall to do only slightly better.
- Both papers were deemed not to have enough ‘A descriminator’ questions.
- Perfect Papers did produce a much better Info Sys paper than last year
- Writing all our own papers would be desirable but would require an impossible time commitment - this is perhaps a Subject Support issue for next year.
Many thanks to all who participated. We agreed that if finances allow we would like to purchase both P&N and Perfect Papers and allow departments to make their own mind up about which to use, or indeed use the questions as a basis for writing their own prelim. Despite the misgivings about commercial papers that some people have, I am convinced that they offer a good standard often in excess of what a busy class teacher could write, giving pupils a similar standard paper to the exam and thus represent excellent value for money.
The Principal Assessors report from the SQA is available here.
Thanks again must also go to the Old Clubhouse, Gullane who reguarly host our meetings. 01620 842008.
Wikis for free! November 7, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing , 1 comment so farYes, you’ll spot a recurring theme in many of my posts - the word Free!
Well it is my favourite price :-)
Anyway, the people behindthe excellent WikiSpaces have announced that they will upgrade any wiki’s used for K12 (i.e. kindergarten to Secondary) education to a full, advert free, account. This would normally cost $50 per annum, so a pretty generous offer.
As you may know, I have been using a wiki for revision with my Standard Grade classes, so you can see what’s possible at dgscomp.wikispaces.com.
Mirgration isn’t just for birds! November 7, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing , add a commentWell, the migration onto Wordpress appears to have gone pretty well. I’m still trying to get to grips with a few options, but so far, so good! However, if anyone can help me with the following I’d be very greatful:
- How could I get my flickr banner to show up in a sidebar?
- How do you get the RSS etc. buttons to show up in the sidebar (see Don’s blog for an example).
Apart from those two wee niggles, well done David!
Higher Computing & Info Systems - Viruses November 1, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing , add a commentOne of my favourite activites when teaching any current issue such as viruses, hacking and denial of service is to get students to search the web for recent incidents. I often use the
BBC and
PCW magazine as two prime sources.
Once again, this technique came up trumphs, with pupils discovering a wide range of articles relating to ethical and legal issues in ICT. My particular favourite is this one from the BBC: (more…)