MANAGING ICT
A month ago, Michael Gove unveiled plans for a new
computer science GCSE to be in place by September. David Clarke reacts to the plans and discusses how we should be developing the ICT curriculum
T
HE RECENT announcement by education minister Michael Gove endorses the importance of computer science as part of the school curriculum. Meanwhile, the recent Royal Society report, Shut Down or Restart
– The way forward for computing in UK schools, echoes Mr Gove’s announcement and identifies three strands to ICT education: digital literacy for five to 14-year-olds, information technology, and computer science. It is essential children are taught how to create
digital technology and software for themselves, starting at primary school. However, we must not forget that children also need to be digitally literate in just the same way that they need to be able to read and write. Digital literacy encompasses vital skills that allow
children to be effective users of IT, but which are distinct from the academic subject of computer science, which instead looks at learning how computers work and how to create software. There is no doubt that the digital revolution is
accelerating, not slowing down. The web is the latest phase of this revolution. The total value of internet sales by UK non-financial businesses employing 10 or more people in 2008 was £222.9 billion, up 36.6 per cent on 2007 (Office for National Statistics), which shows in economic terms the pace of this change.
Creating
computer science
IT is the profession of the future. It is already the
profession which underpins much of today’s business world and society and its influence is only going to continue to grow. IT impacts on almost every element of our lives today; it enables business change and evolution, contributes to scientific discovery and has transformed communication. At BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, our interest
in education is part of our Royal Charter to promote the study and practice of computing and to advance knowledge and education therein for the benefit of the public. Putting this into practice means that we believe
that digital literacy skills, computer science and computational thinking should all be part of every child’s education. School children need to be taught not only how to use technology but should also be given the opportunity to be the entrepreneurs of the future by having the opportunity to study computer science.
We already support schools in the delivery of digital
literacy through our own qualifications in areas such as e-safety and digital skills, as well as the European Computer Driving Licence. As schools look to consider their ICT curriculums
from September 2012, we are looking to continue working closely with schools to help them understand the options open to them; from providing essential digital literacy skills to incorporating computer science. To help teachers achieve this, one of our partners,
Computing at School (CAS) – together with input from Microsoft, Google, Cambridge University’s Computer Science Department – has created a model computing curriculum to which Mr Gove referred to in his announcement and which also features in the recent Department for Education consultation document on the subject of ICT in schools. CAS is an open group in which members collaborate to promote the teaching of computer science at school.
Its model curriculum describes important principles and concepts that are suitable for schools and is available to download for free. CAS is also able to offer advice through its regional network to teachers who want to teach computer science. Computer science is a rigorous intellectually
challenging subject and is educationally important. Just as we give every student the opportunity to learn the workings of physics, chemistry, and biology, because they live in a physical, chemical, biological world, so we should offer every student the opportunity to learn the workings of the digital systems that pervade their world. This knowledge is empowering, enriching, and inspiring; computers are good servants but poor masters. If the UK is to retain its tradition of leading
innovation, it needs professionals who can invent new digital technologies, professionals who can integrate those inventions into technology platforms, and professionals who can build software applications that address business needs. We also need professionals capable of protecting our information, our digital infrastructure and our intellectual property. The best way to make sure we have those
professionals is to teach the underpinning principles of computing in school, which are made exciting and relevant through projects based on the latest technology. Although technology changes at an ever faster pace, it is based on underpinning computing principles that change slowly over the long term. Knowledge about those principles will be useful for school children long after they leave school and become professionals. There is a myth that all the great IT pioneers
taught themselves computing and dropped out of college to build corporate empires. In fact 85 per cent of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley have a university degree, according to a survey in 2010, and 40 per cent of them have a degree at Master’s or Doctoral level as well. Given all of this, it seems obvious that teaching
children not only how to use computers, but also how computers work and how to create software, is the right thing to do.
SecEd
• David Clarke MBE is chief executive officer at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Visit
www.bcs.org
Further information
The CAS curriculum can be downloaded at http://
www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/ ComputingCurric.pdf
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