“Who is the teacher and who is the student?”

Quote from Assassins Creed Revelations.

What has been known for years, but only just making the news, ICT in Schools in England is a ‘mess, demotivating and dull’ it does beg the question; in an ever changing technological environment which doesn’t stay still for 5 minutes who is the teacher and who is the student?

• Who were the first people to start using MySpace, Bebo, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ en masse? Teachers or students?
• What was the age group for those responsible for the hacking incidents of 2011? 40+ or 16-25?

While learning about how a computer works, the 5 components of the CPU, the difference between RAM and ROM is important initially, the curriculum in England hasn’t kept up with the times in teaching what is relevant in computing today for the modern teenager/ student. Does the average student really need a full year to learn about Microsoft Office?

The majority of young adults by the time they reach 16 will already have a good sounding in how to use most of Microsoft Office, Social Media Sites and if they are into PC gaming, will be able to spot very good specs for a machine.

A quick survey round our office found that the majority of the people here found Computing at school very boring or they already knew the course by the end of the first month, but looking back had it been taught in a more interesting and interactive manner, they might have learned more about it.

However with the long awaited news that the curriculum will be overhauled here are our topic suggestions which we think will be more interesting for students choosing ICT, click here for more information on Stonebridge’s IT Curriculum

Hardware

Knowing what type of machine you have and what specifications it has is very important. Therefore an essential part of the course therefore every student should know how a computer works, the internal components, how to connect to additional devices and setting up networks with other computers and devices e.g. printers.

Microsoft Office

The most common used package for documents, emails and presentations is Microsoft Office. Most schools throughout the UK use this package and therefore most students and teachers will grow up learning the basics of how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. However in the business and academic world Microsoft Office is used extensively from reports and dissertations to reporting on financial results of a company. Therefore the new curriculum should include in depth tutorials on how to make the most out of Microsoft Office e.g. how to intelligently set up reports in Word, creating Macros in Excel and dynamically linking any graphs that are made in Excel to update in PowerPoint etc.

Social Media

Can much else be taught to students about Social Media that they might not already know? It may be hard to do so, as a lot of students already know how to Tweet, Post on Facebook, upload albums etc. but what about everything else that you can do on Social Media Sites? Do students know how to create a page for a company or cause? Do they know how to link all of their social media profiles together? Do they know the dangers of social networking sites? Not much needs to be discussed in this topic but showing students how to do things they might not have known will help them in the long run especially into business life and might spark an interest in programming.

Programming

One of the most boring parts of school, in my opinion, but at the same time, one of the most exciting. Taught well programming can be exciting as you are able to create new games, programmes that make other subjects easier and can lead to a very profitable and comfortable lifestyle – Facebook anyone? Programming is initially a long and arduous task of learning all about variables and almost every second step brings about an error but once you are competent at programming the world is your oyster. Teaching programming is quite hard but by making it more interactive rather than sitting at a desk and not practical trial and error will put more people off programming than excite them, therefore with the curriculum shake up, an ideal solution would be to make programming 80-90% practical. There are many different educational programs which have been designed for programming for all levels to help improve their skills; this should be under serious consideration to introduce across England to help create a generation of programming literate which will then in turn boost the UK technology industry.

Photoshop & Web Design

With a sound footing in programming, one of the next stages to introduce is using Photoshop. with so many advertising/ marketing agencies and companies who are always wanting to design the next big thing for websites or products, being able to use software which allows you to create what you want, can also create an interest in a whole new line of designers. Students with creative flair but aren’t the best with a paintbrush can become fantastic designers using a PC and as such this is an area which is best suited to be taught alongside programming. Being able to code up a simple website with the images you have created is extremely empowering and as such should be included in the new curriculum.

Applications & Games

Finally, with knowledge of programming, Social Media, Web Design it all leads to Applications and Games. The UK Gaming industry has some of the world’s best programmers and has worked on many of the world’s biggest selling titles including GTA and Call of Duty. Being able to create a simple computer game or application at such a young age can lead to being involved in programming the next instalment of World of War craft, FIFA or could lead to a career with Microsoft or Zynga who are two of the world’s most powerful gaming companies.

With most students now able to learn Microsoft Office in under a week, the current ICT programme is extremely out of date and in such need of an upgrade. We have recommended 6 parts to the ICT course from Microsoft Office to designing and building your very own games. From being the boring subject that students would rather forget, computing can be transformed into the subject that students want to do as it could lead to a comfortable lifestyle and a job in Facebook, Google, Microsoft and so many more multibillion organisations.