Future of Computing Education, Part 5 - The English Perspective May 9, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, future of computing , trackbackThe conference continued with a talk from Adrian Jackson, a teacher from England who took us through computing education in England. He started by explaining how the curriculum is structured in England, outlining the different Key Stage (KS) levels used. Pupils there also have to sit SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) in different core areas, including ICT. In 3rd-4th Year pupils choose their subjects from a menu of some 16 GCSEs, in 5th Year they can choose from 18 A levels. Although there is a national curriculum in England, local authorities can deliver different courses, usually designed to meet the examination needs of one of the exam boards in England.
English, maths and ICT are compulsory until KS4 (end of S4). SATs in Computing are also being introduced from next year. Schools are also under pressure from league tables showing ICT attainment, meaning that a large amount of coaching goes on. Adrian emphasised that the decisions pupils make at KS3 (our equivalent to the S2 choices) appear to have a major bearing on the career path that pupils go down – an interesting thought. Is this replicated in Scotland?
DIDA – Diploma in Digital Applications – is also becoming more popular in England, though there is very little computing content involved. New DIDA units include film and game-making, once again with little computing theory involved.
Until the end of S4 (equiv. of) there is no chance to Study computing as a subject, only ICT. At A Level, both Computing and ICT are offered.
Where is England Going?
There has been much media coverage of the replacement to A levels in England, with an exit certificate, “The Diploma,” being considered. This will be based around an updated A level curriculum with fewer units, less coursework and more examinations.
There are 5 lines of learning identified that will make up “The Diploma,” interestingly IT is one of them, though how this will relate to Computer Science remains to be seen.
Observations
Adrian presented a number of personal observations about the English system to the conference. These are summarised below:
- Much teaching makes use of full commercial software which is comples and inappropriate for learning the principles.
- League tables have encouraged ‘coaching’
- Plagiarism is a problem
- The is no accepted body of knowledge for ICT in Secondary Schools
- Teachers of other subjects do not yet have skills to use and teach ICT to any more than a basic level (eg word processing)
- Most students think ICT = Computer Science and thus do not wish to enter further/higher education following an ICT course.
Summary
Adrian summarised by telling delegates there was significant change on the way in England with an increase in skills-based content (ICT), and currenly no Computing below KS5, only ICT – this was not about to change.
As a personal observation, many delegates suddenly seemed glad they taught in Scotland!
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