Miles Berry

University of Roehampton

28 June 2013

Primary Computing Workshop

1. Curriculum

What is the curriculum for?

What is the curriculum for?

What is the curriculum for?

Beauty or utility?

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

William Morris, 1880

Finding things out

Developing ideas and making things happen

Exchanging and sharing information

Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses

Children use and apply their ICT knowledge, skills and understanding confidently and competently in their learning and in everyday contexts. They become independent and discerning users of technology, recognising opportunities and risks and using strategies to stay safe.

(QCDA, 2009)

ICT Capability

Their Space

Information gatherers

Everyday communicators

Creative producers

Digital pioneers

Green and Hannon, 2007

TfL

UsersConsumers

CommunicatorsDigitally literate

SafeSkills

MakersCreatorsCollaboratorsDigitally criticalResponsibleUnderstanding

Next Gen

Recommendation 1

Bring computer science into the National Curriculum as an essential discipline.

Eric Schmidt, Edinburgh International Television Festival, 2011

Shut down or Restart?

Recommendation 6

The Department for Education should remedy the current situation, where good schools are dis-incentivised from teaching Computer Science, by reforming and rebranding the current ICT curriculum in England. Schemes of work should be established for ages 5 – 14 across the range of Computing aspects, e.g. digital literacy..., Information Technology, and Computer Science.

ICT to Computing

Michael Gove, BETT 2012

Mr Gove thinks again

The Government has made clear that it considers ICT to be an important subject that should be taught to all pupils. As a clear statement of the importance that it attaches to ICT education, the Government has decided that ICT will continue to be a National Curriculum subject, with new statutory Programmes of Study at all four key stages, from September 2014.

BCS and RAEngIn late August 2012 the DfE invited BCS and the Royal Academy of Engineering to coordinate the drafting of a new Programme of Study for ICT. In discussion with DfE, BCS and the Royal Academy of Engineering decided to follow the following process

• Form a small working party to write a first draft.

• Publish this first draft in late October, and seek broad comment and feedback.

• Revise the draft during November and December in the light of that feedback.

• The DfE will publish the revised draft, along with the Programmes of Study for other subjects, for full public consultation in the Spring of 2013.

ProcessAugust invitations

‘straw men’

September memorandum of understandingiterative development

October more developmentDfE/BIS round tableopen consultation

November consultation meeting2nd drafting groupsubmitted to the DfE

Dec/Jan DfE reviewfurther expert advice

More information: bcs.org/ictpos

And then...

Ministers reviewed the draft ICT curriculum and requested several amendments:

• shorter statement of subject aims

• increased emphasis on computer science and programming content at Key Stages 1-3

• stronger links to mathematics curriculum

• digital skills content to be edited and condensed

Department officials worked with appropriate experts to make these changes – final version published 7th February

DfE

Gove, 7th Feb 2013

“We have also replaced the old information and communications technology curriculum with a new computing curriculum, with help from Google, Facebook and some of Britain’s most brilliant computer scientists.”

A high-quality computing education equips pupils to understand and change the world through computational thinking. It develops and requires logical thinking and precision. It combines creativity with rigour: pupils apply underlying principles to understand real-world systems, and to create purposeful and usable artefacts. More broadly, it provides a lens through which to understand both natural and artificial systems, and has substantial links with the teaching of mathematics, science, and design and technology.

DfE 2013

Computing

0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%# 100%#

Skills#

Knowledge#

Understanding#

None#or#very#limited# Basic#grasp# Competent# Proficient# Expert#

• can understand and apply the fundamental principles of computer science, including logic, algorithms, data representation, and communication

• can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems

• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems

• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

Aims for computing

Computing CurriculumAt the core of computing is the science and engineering discipline of computer science, in which pupils are taught how digital systems work, how they are designed and programmed, and the fundamental principles of information and computation. Building on this core, computing equips pupils to apply information technology to create products and solutions. A computing education also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.

CS, IT, DL

Foundations

Applications

Implications

KS1understand what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs execute by following a sequence of instructions

write and test simple programs

use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs

organise, store, manipulate and retrieve data in a range of digital formats

communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private, and recognise common uses of information technology beyond school.

organise, store, manipulate and retrieve data in a range of digital formats

communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private, and recognise common uses of information technology beyond school.

communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private, and recognise common uses of information technology beyond school.

KS2design and write programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts

use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output; generate appropriate inputs and predicted outputs to test programs

use logical reasoning to explain how a simple algorithm works and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs

understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world-wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration

KS2 continueddescribe how internet search engines find and store data; use search engines effectively; be discerning in evaluating digital content; respect individuals and intellectual property; use technology responsibly, securely and safely

select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.

understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world-wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration

understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world-wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration

describe how internet search engines find and store data; use search engines effectively; be discerning in evaluating digital content; respect individuals and intellectual property; use technology responsibly, securely and safely

select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.

select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.

KS3design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems

understand at least two key algorithms for each of sorting and searching; use logical reasoning to evaluate the performance trade-offs of using alternative algorithms to solve the same problem

use two or more programming languages, one of which is textual, each used to solve a variety of computational problems; use data structures such as tables or arrays; use procedures to write modular programs; for each procedure, be able to explain how it works and how to test it

understand simple Boolean logic (such as AND, OR and NOT) and its use in determining which parts of a program are executed; use Boolean logic and wild- cards in search or database queries; appreciate how search engine results are selected and ranked

KS3 continued

understand the hardware and software components that make up networked computer systems, how they interact, and how they affect cost and performance; explain how networks such as the internet work; understand how computers can monitor and control physical systems

explain how instructions are stored and executed within a computer system

explain how data of various types can be represented and manipulated in the form of binary digits including numbers, text, sounds and pictures, and be able to carry out some such manipulations by hand

KS3 continuedundertake creative projects that involve selecting, using, and combining multiple applications, preferably across a range of devices, to achieve challenging goals, including collecting and analysing data and meeting the needs of known users

create, reuse, revise and repurpose digital information and content with attention to design, intellectual property and audience.

KS4develop their capability, creativity and knowledge in computer science, digital media and information technology

develop and apply their analytic, problem-solving, design, and computational thinking skills.

Themes?

Themes

• Coding

• CS

• Networks and the Internet

• Communication and collaboration

• Creativity

• Productivity

Themes

• Computational thinking

• Design

• Criticality

• Responsibility

Themes

• CS

• IT

• DL

• Foundations

• Applications

• Implications

“At the heart of the educational process lies the child”

“One of the main educational tasks of the primary school is to build on and strengthen children's intrinsic interest in learning and lead them to learn for themselves”

Decisions

• Discrete vs Embedded

• Waterfall vs Agile

• NC vs NC+

• Themes

• Structure

• Format

An outline SoW

• Topic title

• Curriculum coverage

• Learning objectives

• Outline of activities

• Resources

• Cross curricular links

• Assessment opportunities

Assessment“In order to ensure that every child is expected to master this content, I have ... decided that the current system of levels and level descriptors should be removed and not replaced”

June 2012

“By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study. “

Feb 2013

Assessment

Schools will be able to introduce their own approaches to formative assessment, to support pupil attainment and progression. The assessment framework should be built into the school curriculum, so that schools can check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and so that they can report regularly to parents. 

June 2013

Badges

bit.ly/ittcomp