BETT Review
on the types of skills employers require is exactly what we need to see more of. Our own research has shown that there is a gap between what businesses need and what businesses get when it comes to education standards.
“If the private sector is to drive and grow the economy in the future we need well-educated innovators and entrepreneurs who can deliver in key growth areas such as IT.”
James Bird, CEO at Stone said: “Michael Gove’s decision to keep ICT compulsory at all key stages, but provide schools with the freedom to tailor ICT to their specific student base, should allow schools to develop more engaging lessons that teach a wider range of ICT skills. However, despite his call for an expansion of ICT use into more areas of the curriculum, research carried out on behalf of Stone in December 2011 highlighted that today just 9% of schools provide all pupils with dedicated access to a laptop PC; while in well over half (54%) of schools, less than a quarter of pupils have dedicated access to a laptop PC even before the budget cuts.”
Budgets under pressure Continues Bird: “The Education sector is under increasing pressure to reduce expenditure but simultaneously increase access to ICT in the classroom. It therefore falls to the IT industry to be innovative with their offerings and proactively provide finance options that are flexible enough to meet the diverse challenges and particular pressures of the education sector. The BETT Show demonstrated that there are plenty of trusted and highly capable suppliers of ICT in the market place, but ICT decision makers need to be cautious when looking to invest in new equipment and seek references from proposed suppliers. If they still have reservations they should also seek advice from their Local
Education Authority before making any large financial commitment.”
The Royal Society report “It is quite astonishing that basic computer literacy and coding are not part of our schools curriculum already,” said Anthony Rushton, co- founder of Telemetry - the world’s biggest online video delivery and analysis firm. The Royal Society – which supervises all UK sciences – has suggested that computing should be divided into separate disciplines like computer science and digital literacy. There has been a startling drop in the number of students achieving IT qualifications in British schools – there was a 57% decline between 2005 and 2010, a report by the society has revealed.
The society’s report is the result of an 18 month study, led by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, involving the education, higher education and industry sectors, learned societies and professional bodies. The study was undertaken with support from 24 organisations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, BCS, CPHC (The Council of Professors and Heads of Computing), Google, Microsoft Research and several of the UK’s leading universities.
Professor Steve Furber, Fellow of the Royal Society and Chair of the report, said: “Although we were heartened to hear that Michael Gove intends to radically overhaul the National Curriculum programme, we remain concerned that other problems still need to be addressed. The most significant factor affecting how well young people learn is the teacher in their classroom. The majority of teachers are specialists, but ICT is an exception to the rule. Our study found some fantastic examples of
teaching, but the fact remains that the majority of teachers are not specialists and we heard from young people that they often knew more than the teacher giving the lesson. Action is needed not only on the curriculum itself, but also to recruit and train many more inspiring teachers to reinvigorate pupils’ enthusiasm for Computing.”
The report was released at the launch of the Department of Education’s consultation on plans to remove the statutory programme of study in ICT, whilst keeping ICT a mandatory part of the National Curriculum at all levels. The Royal Society’s report recommends radically overhauling ICT in the English National Curriculum, replacing it with a programme of digital literacy for all from age 5 to 14, alongside opportunities for all pupils to experience the creative side of Computer Science from primary school age onwards. From the age of 14 students should have an entitlement to study a pair of GCSEs, similar in structure to English Language and English Literature in which Computer Science is the language element (how computers work) and Information Technology is the application element (how we use them).
UK must save its computing heritage In support of the report, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google, said: “The UK has an extraordinary computing heritage, but now risks falling behind. The state of computing in schools lies at the heart of the problem. Most ICT teaching focuses on learning how to use software, rather than giving insight into how it’s made. Too few UK students have the opportunity to study true computer science, resulting in a workforce that lacks key skills needed to help drive the UK’s economic
BETT a showcase for new learning opportunities M
icrosoft pledged to help 300,000 young people improve their academic attainment as part of its three year commitment to create a Brighter Britain. The campaign aims to equip young people with the real world skills and experiences they need to succeed in today’s technology-led society.
Over the next three years, the ‘Brighter Britain’ campaign will focus on helping schools, teachers and students to use technology improve their results, working to provide a fair chance for all. This will include introducing the motivational principles of gaming to inspire students in the classroom, launching a new gaming design qualification and providing deeper technology experiences to foster better skills. The introduction of these initiatives will be supported by teachers who are part of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning programme.
Steve Beswick, Head of Education at Microsoft commented: “In a world where information is just a search away for any child, we all acknowledge that the ways of teaching are changing and education should not be just about passing exams but developing skills for life. Technology, and the way that students play computer games can be the catalyst to
February 2012
www.education-today.co.uk 15
encourage students to get more excited about learning and ultimately be more successful in the future. When we interview at Microsoft we look for people who can problem solve, think broadly, take risks and question the status quo – that’s where some of the principles of gaming really
come into their own. If you can motivate a team of your friends to victory online, you’ve got a good chance of making it in the boardroom.” To kick start the Brighter Britain initiative, teachers belonging to Microsoft’s Partners in Learning (PiL) network will be working with over
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