 Earlier this week I was very fortunate to do a presentation then have a really good conversation with a group of about 40 secondary ICT teachers in the Waikato region, discussing current challenges and some recent changes.
As you may or may not know, a significant amount of work has occurred over the last three years in redefining what ICT means in a secondary education sense, culminating in the release of the first new NCEA ICT Achievement Standards this year (or "Digital Technologies" as they're calling them).
The story so far
This whole process began back in mid 2008 when NZCS released a comprehensive review of the Achievement Standards used for the assessment of computing in schools. The report found that none of the standards were suitable for the assessment of computing (for either specialists or users). Youcho.
Following the report the Society advocated strongly for change, resulting in the formation of the Digital Technologies Expert Panel (DTEP) by the Ministry of Education. This was made up of NZCS plus other representatives from industry, teachers, schools, principals, the tertiary sector and others.
The Expert Panel recommended a number of changes to ICT education in schools, mostly identical or similar to the NZCS recommendations, and defined an agreed timeline for the process.
The first major outcome of this earlier work came into play this year with the new NCEA Level 1 (Year 11, or 5th form) Achievement Standards.
These new standards cover 40 NCEA credits across the following five areas:
- Digital Information
- Digital Media
- Programming and Computer Science
- Electronics, and
- Digital Infrastructure
Given that the previous Achievement Standards were generic in nature and were effectively used to assess "food technologies", "soft materials", "hard materials" etc alongside computing, this marks a fundamental shift in ICT education in schools and we're pretty excited about it!
Why did we need these changes?
While some schools were doing it well, computing in many schools had become a "soft" or "non-academic" subject for those that weren't necessarily strong in "traditional" academic subjects such as maths and science. In many cases the best and brightest were being actively discouraged from considering it.
It's no coincidence that the number of enrolments at tertiary level, and number of people entering the industry, dropped alongside the move away from ICT as a discipline in schools as the lighter approach took hold. In many schools "Computing" was more or less "learning to type".
Again, some were doing it well but this was very much down to exceptional teachers - despite the lack of standards and guidance rather than because of what was in place.
New standards: 3,147 new ICT students
As mentioned earlier, this was the first year of the NCEA Level 1 Digital Technologies standards.
The take-up of these new standards has been excellent. As an example, 2011 was the first year these were offered and saw a total of 3,147 students undertake the Programming and Computer Science stream of the Achievement Standards in 107 schools. Pretty good for the first crack at it and massive when combined with the other streams.
When you think about it, that's 3,147 students that were exposed to this area. How many will be "bitten by the bug" of technology? How many will follow on from this into a well paid, challenging and exciting profession crying out for more smart people?
They're not all going to end up in our sector of course, however the net result is that ICT is becoming a serious subject in schools once more, and that can only be good for the flow-on effect for ICT and for New Zealand.
The three "Programming and Computer Science" Achievement Standards
Giving them a taste for code
Probably the most misunderstood area of all of this is the "why" part. The biggest critics say that we shouldn't be creating programmers at school, they'll never learn enough to be good in a commercial sense from what they learn at school and they'll pick up bad habits.
Probably quite true.
Those that express these views are missing the point of the whole exercise. It's NOT the job of schools to "train" students in programming, or any other area for that matter. There's a huge difference between "education" and "training" (just put "sex" in front of those two words and see which you'd rather your kids were doing in school).
In the same way that someone who's completed Accounting at school isn't then qualified to be an Accountant, someone doing ICT at school shouldn't expect that to mean a direct new career without tertiary study or actual training.
But that's not the point. Future Accountants get to try out Accounting at school and find they love it (or not!). Future ICT Professionals now get a taste of real technology (and i don't mean just the programming bit) and get the chance to be bitten by the bug as well.
Through this work and these new standards, far more of the best and brightest kids across the country will discover technology and how they can use it to change the world while still at school. Far more will cross the divide between "users" and "creators" and frankly, that's a great thing.
Challenge to Teachers
It's excellent we have the new standards and body of knowledge, however one thing that's very VERY clear is that teachers have had a heck of a job making the change.
Many of those teaching Digital Technologies in schools don't have a technical background and have really struggled with the significantly more technical nature of the new standards. To compound the issue, there's certainly a feeling that there's been a lack of support and PD to help get them up to speed in these new areas.
There are other issues around teacher capacity and capability as well. A great many technology teachers are scheduled to retire over the next five years and it looks like there's no serious planning on how to deal with the shortfall.
So on one hand, thousands more students are likely to want to do the Digital Technologies stuff over the next few years but we're going to have hundreds FEWER teachers able to teach it.
Oh dear; that can only end in tears.
We're only partway through our review but at this point it looks like the biggest threat to the success of ICT education in schools will be a lack of teachers who can teach it. We're going to need more PD for existing teachers and we're going to need a coordinated strategy to get more to take up teaching.
So how do we get more tech people to take up teaching in the field? Is that even possible, given the high pay rates etc in the private sector?
Another approach
While down in Christchurch recently I caught up with Renea Mackie, Project Developer of UPT Digital at Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti School. They have a different idea about how this gap can be bridged.
UPT Digital is a tech class with a difference, focusing purely on student-led programming, design and development and Mackie is the first to admit she's a facilitator rather than a teacher in the traditional sense.
Two things are immediately clear about UPT Digital. First is that they're doing truly remarkable things down there, more advanced than many schools in an ICT sense. And secondly, Renea doesn't have any form of technical background whatsoever and she's the first to admit it.
So how are they so successful at driving digital learning without any technical background?
Much of the answer is the "student-led" approach they take. While they do provide some structure in terms of moving things forward over the year, her students are tasked with "figuring out" what they want to achieve and how to use tools like Visual Studio in a loose class setting.
The students decide what they want to achieve then go about achieving it, working together in self-selected teams and regularly presenting to the rest of the class and others along the way.
You know, like the real world.
Mackie's view is you don't need to be technical-minded to help students learn ICT and programming and makes the very good point that many project managers, team leaders and others involved in facilitating technology-based solutions don't have a technical background either: They rely on the initiative and skills of their team.
The other component to their success is engagement. They have a bunch of mentors from industry that come in and spend time with the kids and that makes all the difference.
So will it work? Time will tell, but the fact the approach focuses on the skills future employers are constantly crying out for (communication, teamwork, presentation, etc) certainly sets it in good stead. And I know it's not school's job to just prepare kids for working, but it's life-long skills we're talking about here.
Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti School is a somewhat unique school and it'll be interesting to see whether the success of this approach is due to their unique culture or whether it's something that can be replicated in other more "traditional" school environments.
They're currently looking at rolling the model out in several other schools around the country, so stay tuned and we'll let you know how it goes. Good on 'em I say.
Well done Datacom
I mentioned at the start that I had the opportunity to discuss many of these things with a good group of ICT teachers in Hamilton this week.
I don't normally single out individual companies, but I really want to congratulate Datacom on supporting this grassroots effort by providing the dinner and refreshments to this teacher meeting.
It's not the sort of "sponsorship" that gets their name up in big lights or that many people would normally even know about, but their support meant the event went ahead and was a success. And it's this sort of grassroots support from our industry that will drive change and make a real difference to teachers and their students in schools.
So well done Datacom, excellent stuff. It's great to see companies doing what's right to change the big picture, even without a short-term commercial gain.
The future
One thing that's very clear is we're seeing a resurgence of "real" technology education in schools and that's fundamentally important to the future of our sector and, in fact, the future of New Zealand.
And something you can be sure of is that NZCS, YOUR Society, will always be at the forefront of helping the ICT education community weave their magic. That's one of the reasons for our very existence.
Teachers and schools have a fundamentally important role to play as "gatekeepers" of knowledge and education and we think it's great that more and more of them are helping the IT professionals of the future find their passion.
And if we as a sector are serious about technology-led innovation we need to see this through, for the good of technology and for the good of New Zealand.
Paul Matthews is Chief Executive of NZCS, the professional body of the ICT sector.
Other news...
Keen to help Government plot out the future?
Following on from DIA's Directions and Priorities for Government ICT launch, Government is reaching out to our industry for ideas, guidance and partnership to help define what the future of Government's online efforts will look like.
The new approach, called "Rethink Online", gives vendors and other interested parties the opportunity to submit ideas and views on how Government can get the best out of their online presence.
This is a fantastic opportunity and we strongly encourage all members to consider getting involved.
Here's a document outlining this in detail. When you're ready, use the Notice to Prospective Suppliers to have your say.
Rutherford Innovation Showcase events
NZICT and others have put together a series of "showcase" events to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, intended to illustrate some of the great things happening in IT in New Zealand.
If you haven't checked it out already, head on over to http://rutherfordinnovationshowcase.co.nz/events for more information and to register - all events are free!
From software to science and robots to trade, the Rutherford Innovation Showcase will celebrate and exemplify the New Zealand ICT and Hi-Tech industries.
Come and join us as we celebrate and showcase our abilities to the world. The first event is on September 8, 2011 and the final event is on October 13, 2011.
The future events that make up the Rutherford Innovation Showcase are below. Attendance is free.
- SKA Research and Industry Forums - September 22/23, Te Papa, Wellington
- Digital Content Forum - September 23, Te Papa, Wellington [FULL]
- NZ Technology Trade & Investment Forum - September 26/27, Langham Hotel, Auckland
- Innovation Showcase event - September 26 - 29, Langham Hotel, Auckland
- Future Cities Forum - September 28, Langham Hotel, Auckland
- Technology Jobs Fair - October 11 - 13, The Cloud, Auckland
- Schools Robotics World Cup - October 11 - 13, The Cloud, Auckland
Want to show off your wares?
Interested in exhibiting at the Showcase event on September 26-29?
NZCS members and partner organisations can now grab an exhibit stand for the reduced cost of $2000+GST (normally $3000+GST).
This will be an excellent event with much of what New Zealand has to offer on show. If you're interested in this offer please contact Michaela Clark directly.
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Contributed content is the opinion of the author only, and not necessarily the view of NZCS.
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