What should a curriculum for ICT look like in 2013?

ICT capability & digital media literacy

ICT QuestionnairePlease take 5 minutes to complete the questionnaire (make sure you specify in you are male or female).

Important InformationICT Conference - 15th March 2013

Assignment Due In - 26th May 2013

theslate.org

Current PracticeWhat experiences did you have of the use of ICT

across the curriculum during your final placement?

E1602

Students to discuss the ways in which young children’s skills, knowledge and understanding of technologies can support positive dispositions towards learning within the 2007 Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum for Key Stage one. Appropriate references should be made to experiences on school-based or complementary placements, relevant theory, research, policy and practice in ICT.(2,000 words)

E1603

“Enabling children to develop ICT capability is far more challenging than teaching a series of techniques in applications which will soon be redundant in a fast changing context.” (Sharp et al, 2002, p3) Discuss this notion of ICT capability, drawing upon your school based experience, your knowledge of recent policy and your understanding of the impact of digital technologies on learning and teaching.(2,000 words)

Why do we need to teach ICT?

Introducing the book

What should we teach?

Where are we going?The current policy context

Eric SchmidtGoogle Chairman

“Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it’s made. That is just throwing away your great computing heritage”

Next Gen.Livingstone Hope Review

This review criticised the school ICT curriculum, saying that it focuses more on “office skills rather than the more rigorous Computer Science and programming skills which high-tech industries like video games and visual effects need”.

The review received support from key Government ministers.

ICT in SchoolsOfsted Report 2008-11

ICT was rated good or outstanding in nearly two thirds of primary schools inspected during the period; however, the media reporting focussed on the poorer performance in secondary schools.

Lack of teacher capability in ‘key topics’ such as programming is singled out as a particular concern, along with a “lack of attention to the needs and interests of more able students”.

64% decline in those taking GCSE ICT (from 2007 - 2011).

Royal Society ReportComputing in Schools

Key recommendation is that ICT should be ‘restructured’ into three distinctive components:

• ‘digital literacy’ (“the ability to use computer systems confidently and effectively”)

• ‘Computer Science’ (“the study of how computers work”)

• ‘Information Technology’ (“how computers are used to solve important problems in business and industry”)

Recommends that the term ‘ICT’ is no longer used.

DfE ICT Policy5 things you need to know

1. The existing Programme of Study for ICT has been disapplied from September of last year.

2. ICT remains compulsory at all key stages, and must still be taught at every stage of the curriculum.

3. The old Programme of Study will remain online ‘for reference’.

4. ICT will be a foundation subject in the revised National Curriculum from September 2014.

5. A draft PoS for ICT (now called ‘Computing’) has just been published for consultation.

The new Computing curriculum

How does this compare to what you think should be in the curriculum?Discuss this with the person next to you

Algorithms

AlgorithmsActivity:Battleships

Algorithms

What is an algorithm and what might it look like in KS1 or KS2?

Read:Loveless, A (2003) “Questions for Teachers: Why ICT?”

Ager, R (2003) “Why all this concern about ICT?”

These are both available to download from the ICT area on studentcentral

Reflect:What does it mean to be capable with ICT?