apparently A lever IT is better, I'll find out in a year <div class="gmail_quote">On 26 August 2010 12:48, Paul Tansom <<a href="mailto:paul@aptanet.com">paul@aptanet.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">** Matt Sturdy <<a href="mailto:matt.sturdy@gmail.com">matt.sturdy@gmail.com</a>> [2010-08-26 09:50]: <div class="im">> On 26 August 2010 09:37, Matthew Daubney <<a href="mailto:matt@daubers.co.uk">matt@daubers.co.uk</a>> wrote: </div><snip> <div class="im">> > My experience of GCSE IT was that it was "This is Microsoft Word, write > > a 2 page document including a table, a graphic and a footnote." which is > > _not_ what IT should be about. I lost _huge_ amounts of marks in one > > part because the project was "Create 4 linked webpages in Microsoft > > Front Page blah blah blah" which would have been a nightmare for any > > sane person to maintain, so I wrote it in PHP with a SQL backend and > > none of the markers understood it :( > > > > IT should be more about computers less about office work! > > > > -Matt Daubney > </div><div class="im">> I attended an excellent school for GCSE/A-Level and had a very similar > experience, and consequently had absolutely no interest in computing until > after I had finished my degree. The thing that got me hooked was problem > solving. Having an issue, researching it, and then fixing it is one of the > most satisfying things for me, and I guess for a lot of you guys too. > Furthermore it teaches you to take any problem (even problems IRL!), and > break it down into manageable, logical steps, and I think that's a great > skill to foster. > > I don't know, so I'm asking... Is there any time given to this in the > current GCSE syllabus? In my mind teaching kids an attitude and approach > towards solving a problem is what should be concentrated on. > > I think it could be difficult to assess and grade students on, and that is > something that would need to be considered... and I guess there are plenty > of other issues too, but I think it would be an excellent place to start. > > Matt </div>** end quote [Matt Sturdy]