I was excited to hear that ICT in schools will be replaced by an open source curriculum in computer science and programming. Still, the more I read about it, the more the doubts crept in.
The first appeared on reading that the curriculum will be designed with the help of universities and industry. Most programmers acknowledge that at least some of the information that makes up University computer science syllabi is outdated, if not totally superfluous. Several of my peers freely admit that they didn’t go to any lectures in their final year and still passed with very respectable degrees.
I was also struck with fear that self-serving corporations would strike, rushing to push heavily branded products, programmes and hardware. However, the news that Google is one of the companies that will be helping to shape the curriculum put my mind at ease, to some extent at least, and went some way to dispelling my concern that the broad term ‘industry’ would refer to tired corporations who have little interest in innovation. Hopefully they will provide a balance to the technical, theoretical information contributed by University experts. It also remains to be seen whether or not some of the outstanding British talent currently on the scene will be working on the project…
Michael Gove, the education secretary, has high hopes for revitalisation, replacing children “bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers”. However, it is important to remember that the only thing worse than a bored teacher is an incompetent teacher – unless rigorous training accompanies this new curriculum, the majority of them won’t stand a chance.
Is there another alternative? Imagine a world in which up-and-coming entrepreneurs and mentors help to teach schoolchildren to code, and use their services to help with the development of their own apps. If the project is successful, the kids could get a cut of the profits – whether this comes in the form of software, grants or even a job straight out of school is all up for discussion.
Gove’s vision of sixteen-year-olds who understand formal logic and can write their own smartphone apps is an intriguing one, but questions not only how to mold a new curriculum that reflects not only the basics, the workarounds, the quick fixes and the cheats, but also how University courses in computer science will evolve to fit with this new world.
It may be that, with the schoolchildren of Gove’s future already educated to (or even beyond) degree level, computer science and business degrees need to form a much closer bond – all the technical skill in the world won’t be much use without the business acumen to back it up. Some (read: too many) people come straight out of University with an idea for a website or an app and think they can turn it into the next Facebook overnight.Modules related to product development and iterating on new versions could run alongside those about the history of social media (a subject, in my eyes, far too young to warrant the entire degrees that are being dedicated to it…) and how to market new products and gain traction. The result? A new breed of tech savvy graduates with knowledge of how to pitch, develop business models and much more.
Of course, that’s a lot of ifs and buts, and I’m probably asking too much, but it’s certainly a tantalising preview of a future that could come to pass.
Scrapping ICT is just the start | | Independent Notebook - A selection of Independent views - Blogs
Scrapping ICT is just the start
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