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 commentHi 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.
I’m alive March 9, 2007
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Uncategorized , add a commentWow - talk about a lapsed blogger! It’s been nearly 3 months since I last posted. It’s not like I’ve lacked things to say, guess I’ve just been to busy. Ah well… here goes…
Merry Christmas December 20, 2006
Posted by Mark Tennant in : Uncategorized , add a comment
Well, it’s been a very busy December! Now that the end is in sight I just thought I’d take this moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas, a relaxing - and well deserved - holiday, and a Happy New Year when 2007 arrives.
In the meantime, to keep you all amused while you are waiting on Santa’s arrival:
http://www.banditos.info/speles/sobersanta2.swf
Merry Christmas!
The first Blog entry! The challenge! February 21, 2006
Posted by David Gilmour in : Uncategorized , add a comment
Well, what a weekend. Sitting down to an enjoyable curry on Friday night, beeper goes off! Cue 28 hours of scrabbling around through farmland looking for a missing person - not exactly
rockface , but it often isn't! While leaving the curry was a pain, the real problem was the huge everest-proportioned pile of marking I had intended to do before going for a quick pint or five in the Black Swan. Ah well, I will volunteer for these things.
And that leads me to what you're reading now! Volunteering for 'The Weblog'. Blogs. Web. What the. Did I really sign up to this? How drunk was I? Can I get out? No! oh sh…
No, seriously. The aim of this weblog will be to share information about how I go about bringing myself into the 21st century and integrate ICT into my teaching and learning in the classroom. Sounds daft coming from a Computing teacher, I know, but seriously: ICT resources have been seen (and used) as a bolt-on to classroom practice for the past 10 years. I am as guilty as the next person of treating it this way. I've been bemoaning this problem since I became a teacher, but done little positive about it. Probably too busy playing with my
rescue team mates to notice the quiet revolution going on in Scottish education.
And this is what makes it interesting - teachers of any subject getting in on the act, and showing how ICT should be used. I can only applaud
Ollie Bray's
GEOCAST project - click on it and see for yourself. What is Computing in East Lothian doing along these lines? Nothing yet, but here's the challenge…
I have decided that, within the next year, I will commit myself to developing an online portal for Computing students in
Dunbar Grammar School - and possibly the whole of East Lothian. This should be an all-encompassing site covering revision notes, online assessment, access to discussion forums, multimedia content and more!
That is where the 21st century part comes in. Come next year, I intend to have implemented this. Watch this space. Or better yet, if you are a computing teacher, get in touch. Let's show people how to use the very technology we are supposed to be experts in! Anything else is just scratching the surface of what ICT can do.