The Vital Blog

 

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The A4 ICT Curriculum revisited

Posted by PeterT on 14 Jul 2012

The A4 ICT Curriculum revisited

Building on feedback to my initial bash at a Programme of Study for ICT which fits on to one side of A4 I have created a new draft PoS for ICT. 

I have formatted as per the draft PoS that the DfE published for the core subjects (i.e. with PoS on the left and notes/guidance on the right).

ICT Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 to 4

The National Curriculum for ICT aims to ensure that all pupils are able to operate effectively as a citizen in the 21st century. 

Further steps in the right direction

Posted by PeterT on 12 Jul 2012

Further steps in the right direction

At the ITTE Annual Conference last week I had interesting discussions with a range of folk, including Simon Peyton Jones from CAS, about the Naace/CAS/ITTE joint paper. I think we made significant progress in addressing some of the concerns that I have expressed about our joint statement (I say ‘our’ because I am a member of all three organisations!).

Wither ICT in the National Curriculum?

Posted by PeterT on 09 Jul 2012

Wither ICT in the National Curriculum?

The subject associations for ICT (Naace) and Computer Science (CAS) and the Association for IT in Teacher Education (ITTE) recently published a joint statement about their view(s) on how ICT in schools should be reformed, and in particular the relationship between ICT and Computer Science.

What's in a name?

Posted by PeterT on 07 Jul 2012

What's in a name?

Ok, so I am somewhat evangelical about thinking we need to define key terms related to ICT (see http://www.vital.ac.uk/blog/what-do-you-mean-ict). I genuinely believe that many of the problems we have had with ‘ICT’ in education come down to us talking at cross-purposes because we use terms sloppily. 

Leadership and the ICT curriculum?

Posted by PeterT on 23 Jun 2012

Leadership and the ICT curriculum?

The DfE is taking a hands-off approach to ICT as Gove promised that they would do in his BETT speech in January and reiterated by Vanessa Pittard at the Westminster Education Forum on the 12th June.

Creating the A4 ICT Curriculum

Posted by PeterT on 15 Jun 2012

Creating the A4 ICT Curriculum

I’m working on the assumption that the ICT PoS will reflect the view of the Royal Society Report on Computing in Schools, which recommended that all pupils should have a broadly based Computing curriculum - the Royal Society explicitly equates Computing with ICT, so they are recommending a broadly based ICT curriculum, which should include elements of IT, Computer Science and Digital Literacy. Pupils should then (at Key Stage 4) have the option to study Computer Science as a specialism.

To blog or not to blog

Posted by ClareFenwick on 15 Jun 2012

To blog or not to blog

There is much debate out there about blogging and its value within education; for educators and for children. The majority who express an opinion on blogging particularly via blogs are enthusiastic proponents and those who are more reserved tend not to blog or use social media so their voice is more difficult to track.

A minimalist ICT curriculum?

Posted by PeterT on 14 Jun 2012

A minimalist ICT curriculum?

At the Westminster Education Forum on the 12th June 2012 Vanessa Pittard spelt out the DfE’s current position on ICT in the National Curriculum. Here is a summary of the key points:

1. The ICT Programmes of Study (PoS) and Attainment Targets (ATs) are being suspended from September 2012.

2. Schools will continue to be required to teach ICT across all Key Stages.

3. Schools are free to continue to use the PoS and ATs if they wish.

What do you mean by ICT?

Posted by PeterT on 08 Jun 2012

What do you mean by ICT?

One of the major problems surrounding the use of ICT in education, and in particular the current debate about the role of new technologies in the revised National Curriculum, is that we talk at cross-purposes. This is because we use the same words to mean different things. Thus, for example, people criticize the teaching of ICT when what they really mean is the teaching of IT at Key Stage 4, or [more…] they talk about Computer Science in one breath and ‘knowledge age skills’ in the next as if they were the same (or even similar) things.

The ‘ICT’ Curriculum Debate – current state of play

Posted by PeterT on 06 Jun 2012

The  ‘ICT’ Curriculum Debate – current state of play

Progress has been made in clarifying the debate and moving towards agreement about how to address problems with the teaching of ICT in schools. However, there are still areas where effort is being wasted in arguing at cross purposes or  about issues which are ‘academic’ and ignore the practical realities of the review of the National Curriculum (NC).

Re-vitalising the blog

Posted by PeterT on 01 Jun 2012

Re-vitalising the blog

In this first post in our revitalized blog I thought I should update you on what is happening with Vital as we move into our third phase. Yes, we have funding from the DfE for another year (taking us to the 31st March 2013). Happily, we are no longer trying to become self-funding, which means we can go back to truly collaborating with other providers of support to schools. Here are the things we are focusing on as we move forward.

 

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