Future Qualifications May 1, 2008
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , 1 comment so farUpdate 7/5/08 - the full speech and following questions are available here:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0424-02.htm#Col7863
Did anyone else read the speech by Fiona Hyslop to parliament regarding the new Qualifications that will come in with CfE?
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/news/this-week/speeches/smarter/natqual
Certainly, there is not a huge amount of detail in Fiona Hyslop’s speech but what is there I think is quite reassuring. I certainly agree in principle to the introduction of standard literacy and numeracy tests, though I wait to see how they will be implemented. Again, her words on the qualifications at SCQF levels 4 and 5 are well chosen, and I would welcome a new, simplified course structure that will hopefully take the best bits of Standard Grade and Intermediate qualifications. Again, her reiteration of Higher remaining the “gold standard” and also the importance she places on Advanced Highers is welcome. Lots of people may question the removal of examined courses equivalent to Foundation, but is there really any point to testing pupils of this ability anyway?
Interesting also her comments about allowing pupils to bypass lower-level qualifications where it is clear they could do highers say, at the end of S3. The idea of a winter diet of exams also appeals to me in principle, though it probably has anyone involved in timetabling clutching their chest right now. 18 month higher - great idea, but again what about those who are perfectly capable of sitting it in 12 months? Can you run both options in one school
Anyway, that’s my $0.02 worth for the moment!
Ex-Student views on Computing April 30, 2008
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar, Uncategorized, future of computing , 2commentsI got an interesting email from a former student of Dunbar Grammar who went on to study Computer Science. He had seen some of the press coverage about the future of computing and decided to let me know his thoughts. He’s kindly allowed me to reproduce the contents of his email here.
Hi Mark,
I saw your letter in The Herald last week and thought I would write a short note of encouragement/support.
I left Dunbar Grammar School in 2001 to study Computer Science at Edinburgh University. My formal Computing education up to that point consisted of studying at Standard Grade for about two weeks, before deciding it was far too dull and defecting to Technological Studies. (A friend of mine from the same year also went on to study CS at Edinburgh. He didn’t even bother trying Standard Grade.)
So I am very familiar with every point you made about the computing curriculum and how badly it represents computer science. I don’t know about the current curriculum but when I took the subject there was no programming and no mathematics in the subject. In maths I had to know how to derive the quadratic formula from first principles; in physics it was velocity, acceleration, current and voltage; and technological studies added the properties of materials, stresses and strain. But in computing? As ever, word processing, databases, and more databases. It was treated as an “easy pass” subject at the time, totally at odds with its higher-education cousin.
I’m glad that you and others are making noise about this. I flirted with the idea of teaching maths when I left university but didn’t even consider teaching computing. How much has the curriculum changed since my day?
If there’s anything you think that a recent graduate with an interest in promoting their chosen subject can do, please let me know! I was fairly keen on the computing aspect of things at school (I designed and administered the school’s first website back then, as well as running a Silver Surfers club in S6) and I’d be happy to get back into the advocacy role! :-)
On a lighter note, I found your blog and noticed you posted about getting an Eee PC. I got one last week and they’re awesome…
Cheers,
D
Thanks D, the encouragement and support is much appreciated.
Subject Promotion posters January 24, 2008
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Dunbar Grammar, East Lothian Council, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , 2commentsNow that course choices are starting to get nearer I have decided to make up some flyers/posters this year to promote the subject. I’ve posted the PDFs below if anyone wants to use them - I can send the MS publisher files on request if you wish to adapt them.
Happy selling :-)
- compspotting.pdf (with apologies to geography, ollie!)
- compspottinga4.pdf
- ipod.pdf
- telephone.pdf
- wii.pdf
My $0.02! November 28, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , 5commentsAs I mentioned below, I have written a letter to the TESS following up on the article about Computing Science Inside. In the letter I (try to!) outline what I feel is a big problem with Computing right now - the misunderstanding at all levels as to what the subject is actually about. Comments very welcome as always, I’ve got the asbestos suit on!
“I was very pleased to read your article about “Computing Science Inside” in last week’s TESS. I am a self-confessed convert of Dr Cutts’ refreshing work.
I did feel however that the article only touched on what is perhaps a real problem facing Computing in Scotland: a lack of understanding of what the subject is actually about. It’s not just the fact that “…we are becoming a nation of tool users, not tool builders…” but also the case that the two areas – ICT skills and Computer Science – are seen as one and the same by those who are responsible for the curriculum.
For several years now, there has been a great focus on developing ICT use amongst staff and pupils; the so-called “digital literacy” that enables people to communicate and make use of the technology. Unfortunately, what this has not addressed is a real need to foster “digital creativity,” i.e. the ability to understand and further develop the technology. This is what really matters to businesses, giving them the ability to develop new IT products and maintain a technological advantage.
This confusion of ‘true’ Computing with ICT skills has led to the typical situation in many schools around the country where Computing is taught in the first and second years as part of a general ICT course. The normal topics are based around application use and the time is shared between two or even more departments. Some pupils don’t even see a Computing department until Standard Grade! Ultimately, Computing has lost it’s identity as a distinct – and scientific – subject.
On this problem though the ball is firmly in our court: Computing teachers must reassert this lost identity, and CPD such as that offered by the “Computing Science Inside” project is a step in the right direction. What would also be a positive step would be for national subject promotion and development opportunities: several subjects already have this to varying degrees.
If Computing is to develop in schools and the decline in students applying to study at universities is to be reversed, it is vital we promote the difference between IT and Computing. Senior Management and Local Authorities can help us too: they must take on board this crucial difference and give Computing its’ rightful place in the curriculum.”
Computing Science inside… November 27, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, East Lothian Council, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , add a comment 
It was great to see the Computing Science inside… project get some much deserved publicity in TES this week. I think the article conveyed the real usefulness of these sessions well. I’m going to be working on a letter to the TES regarding the situation in Computing (as I see it anyway!) which I’ll share on here when it’s finished. Who knows, they might even publish it :-)
Quick reminder too - the next CSI session that Edinburgh Uni are holding is on the 11th December. Full details are available from me, or by contacting Raymond Simpson (Edinburgh Lead Teacher). Hope to see some more of you there! Further details are in my previous post if you need them.
CS Inside workshop October 25, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , 1 comment so far
I was one of two teachers from East Lothian (the other being Emma Webster from PL) who attended the CS Inside workshop at Edinburgh Uni’s School of Informatics last night.
I’d first learned about CS Inside at the Future of Computing conference in May, and have been keen ever since to try out some of the ideas. Broadly speaking, the CS Inside project is an attempt to convey important Computing Science concepts in fun ways in the classroom. Computers are not required, and pupils learn about the concepts through role-plays and games that link back to the core concept you are teaching.
Our first challenge of the evening was to design and implement a simple communications protocol, Under the auspices of governers in an ancient city sending massages to each other on stone tablets. Of course, only a certain number of words can be etched on a tablet, and the slaves who deliver them can be notoriously unreliable!
In a room of 13 computing teachers no one actually managed to get a message transmitted, which is of course quite concerning! However, good fun and an excellent example of how something relatively dull like communications protocols can be made more interesting with some imagination. What’s more, all of the resources needed, lesson plans, and powerpoints are downloadable from the CS Inside Website. Great for busy teachers!
The second workshop was aiming to demonstrate what algorithms were using the idea of trying to write down instructions for drawing a mystery shape and getting another person to follow them. Unfortunately I was unable to complete this workshop as I had to leave for the long drive home, but again this idea showed great promise and interest.
In short, I’d thoroughly encourage all Computing Teachers to try and get to some of these sessions. The next ones are on the 11th December, 16th January and 21st February at 4:30pm Appleton Tower. Raymond Simpson, Lead Teacher at Edinburgh City Council is co-ordinating them, so you should contact him to ‘book’ your place (free!)
Hi folks, Haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth (yet) Just very busy. The second day’s notes from the conference will be up shortly, I promise! Interesting articles today in Computing magazine - The front page leads with ‘Employers want IT graduates with business skills‘ Also inside is ‘China hot on UK skills’ Heels’. Finally the editorial this week - ‘A balance needs to be struck‘. I certainly think these articles are very relevant to our thoughts on the future of Computing education in Scotland. This will be a slightly shorter post than the last one, honest! This session heard from Mark Pendleton about a project called “languagezone” in East Ayrshire. In 2002, East Ayrshire Council was becoming concerned about the languages uptake and attainment in secondary schools. The decision was reached to set up a ‘virtual school’ of languages. Technology had changed, young people had changed, and digital multitasking is now the norm – ‘Digital Natives’. With all this in mind ‘languagezone’ was set up. Languagezone was designed to unite a number of schools from local authorities, including remote schools in Argyll and Bute, on one interactive website. The languages curriculum was delivered through chatrooms, articles, podcasts and traditional web pages, all under the control of classroom teachers. Being based on the internet, it was also possible to get real speakers of the languages in other countries involved. The project has been a success and has increased both languages uptake and achievement. I have already spoken of a desire to set up a similar scheme in my very first blog post back in February 2006. However, with Glow (distant glimmer?) on the horizon I have been holding off. Having now seen Glow, however, I may rethink that decision! Whatever my views on Glow however, it will truly be a national resource, and me must not miss the opportunity to engage learners using this. If it doesn’t work in Glow, we will just have to go it alone. This presentation was given by Quintin Cutts from Glasgow University, who is developing an initiative called “Computing Science… Inside” for schools. Full details of which are on the website: He started off his presentation by talking about initiatives. Firstly, suggesting we need a genuine website that acts as a computing science portal in Scotland. Secondly, he asked whether we can affect and question the current thinking of Curriculum for Excellence. Our aim must be to influence change in Scotland – If Microsoft are coming out and saying “it’s not okay” then we know we are in trouble! Quintin went on to talk about his CSI project in more detail. The rationale was that pupils found ICT boring and didn’t take computing at Standard Grade because they did not see the difference or relevance. CSI consists of workshops built around key concepts. They work like this: Further information and materials are available on the website given above. To me, it certainly looked like an interesting and fun concept. Other subjects already use roadshows and workshops to get their message across, so we can maybe learn something here. I know Edinburgh University is looking at a similar project. Quintin then went on to the main focus of his presentation – introducing us to the theory of Computational Thinking. Jeannette Wing, an American Computer Scientist, has theorised that this is a modern way of thinking that is universally applicable, derived from the Computer Science domain, and should be taught as a 4th ‘R’ ! There are a number of themes to computational thinking, which are explained in a paper on the web: Computational Thinking (Wing, J. 2005. CMU). Broadly speaking, the themes are: Computational Thinking, her paper argues is about conceptualising, not programming. It is about fundamental understanding, not rote skill. It complements and combines Maths and Engineering thinking. It’s applicable to everyone, everywhere. “Intellectually challenging and engaging science problems remain to be understood and solved” “One can major in Computer Science and do anything” Quintin mentioned two other resources that may be of interest: Quintin began summarising by giving us his suggestions about what we need to do in schools. Firstly, we need to invert the courses, giving pupils the ‘wake up call’ first, i.e. explain the concepts then build on the skills and technology. He also suggested the we must separate the science from the technology and make the divide obvious. An excellent summary, I thought! Next Speaker of the 1st Day was Ian McChesney, a lecturer and teacher from Northern Ireland. He broadly agreed with what Adrian had said were issues with the English system, as the NI system is based on this. Qualifications are delivered by the QCA exam board in England. In NI ICT is again the dominant area in the secondary curriculum, with GCSE ICT, applied GCSE ICT, DIDA, and A level Applied ICT being offered, while only A Level Computing was offered at KS5, though this had do be done by following the English course and sitting the English exam – it is no longer a recognised NI course. GCSE ICT focuses on skills in NI, which Ian believes is ‘diffusing’ the distinction of computing as a unique subject. A level ICT has a strong ‘Information Systems’ flavour, with around 10% uptake. Applied ICT at single or double award has a 13% uptake, totalling about 23% of students studying an ICT course. Of all the IT courses offered, (English) A level computing represents only 19% - a very small proportion. Ian also presented the conference with his observations of the NI system which he divided into those he experienced as a teacher, and those he experiences as an Undergraduate Course Director. Firstly, teaching: Now, his observations as a UG Course Director: Ian had one key message to get across, which was also backed up during discussion by the admissions officer for Computing at St Andrews University, Dr Ishbel Duncan: ICT/IS is giving pupils the wrong impression of Computing at HE level. Hear, Hear!Future of Computing Education, an interlude, and today’s news…
June 15, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, Uncategorized, future of computing , add a comment
Future of Computing Education, Part 8 - Creative Computing
May 11, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, future of computing , add a comment
Background
The project
What can we learn
Future of Computing Education, Part 7 - Computational Thinking
May 11, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, future of computing , 2comments
Computing Science … inside
Computational Thinking (J Wing)
What is Computational Thinking
Her Message
Other resources
Suggestions
Summary
Future of Computing Education, Part 6 - The Northern Irish Perspective
May 9, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Computing, Subject Support, future of computing , add a comment
Promoting ICT in NI
Observations
Summary