On 05-Aug-03 James Edward John Taylor wrote:
Should we be pestering examination boards to put "installation and configuring and familiariastion of different platforms" onto their sylabus.
J
Not a hope, I fear. ICT ("Information and Communications Technology") at school level means "learning how to do stuff by pointing and clicking in Windows", in practice. It's basically the equivalent of teaching ironing in "Domestic Science" (whatever that's called these days, oh, yes, "Home Economics" comes to mind).
Decent Computer Science courses at University expose students to Unix systems and teach how to use and manage them. This is advantageous in studying Computing scientifically because you can get into the system and actually see what's going on, and play with it. You can learn the principles of how computers work better on Unix systems precisely because the bottom level is accesible and you can see where you are.
However much you "pester examination boards" you won't get them to listen because they won't know what you're talking about. You only have to look at QCA and the National Curriculum to see what these agencies think it's about, and neither schools nor exam boards are going to break ranks in the face of expected attainments for Key Stages.
Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 167 1972 Date: 05-Aug-03 Time: 12:32:24 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------