web design in the curriculum
TRANSCRIPT
Web Design in the UK Curriculum
Anna Debenham
“Semantic HTML is the use of HTML markup to reinforce the semantics, or
meaning, of the information in webpages rather than merely to define its presentation
(look).”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_HTML
“HTML does not include tags that ascribe meaning to information; its tags are only for:
styling…”
Excerpt from an Open University textbook for a course on computing
Bruce Lawson
Europe is about to face a shortage of 70,000 skilled workers in the tech
sector by 2010
http://goo.gl/VrCI
“One reason for this is the general level of understanding among today’s
students…”
http://goo.gl/vG4T
…their use of technology often outstrips that of their teachers.
http://goo.gl/vG4T
http://goo.gl/8WeM
Article by the Royal Society “ICT and Computer Science in
schools - damaging to the UK’s future economy”
“It is believed that design and delivery of ICT and computer science curricula
in schools is so poor that students’ understanding and enjoyment of the
subjects is severely limited”
http://goo.gl/8WeM
“…the deficit in the workforce numbers and capability could have a highly
negative impact on the UK’s economy.”
http://goo.gl/8WeM
“…we risk a future workforce that is totally unskilled and unsuited to
tomorrow’s job market.”
http://goo.gl/8WeM
Key Stage 3 years 7–9
ages 11 to 14
ICTUnit 9: Publishing on the
web
“Children: Recognise HTML code is used to
produce many web pages”
http://goo.gl/OJGh
“Objectives: Children should learn: that a web page
is created using a programming language”
http://goo.gl/OJGh
“Points to note: HTML should be demonstrated as the transfer code - composed of elements,
eg text, images, speed effects.”
http://goo.gl/OJGh
“The teacher-produced page should include a heading, background colour, text, an image and simple links to other
sections of the document.
It should be controlled by a table.”
http://goo.gl/OJGh
Key Stage 4 (GCSE)
years 10–11ages 14 to 16
“You must use ICT to help with the running of a fan club for a band called
the Purple Spiders.”
http://goo.gl/6Xd6
“Task 1: Set up a website for the Purple Spiders’ Fan Club”
http://goo.gl/6Xd6
“Task 2: Set up a system to manage and calculate the costs to fans of
Purple Spiders’ downloads and link it up to the website”
http://goo.gl/6Xd6
Teacher documentation
(This is an annotated example project an exam board have produced so teachers know what to look for and
where to award marks.)
http://goo.gl/9mGI
“Stuart wants four pages in his website. Powerpoint will allow me to
keep all four pages within one ‘document which makes it easy to
have consistent page designs”
http://goo.gl/9mGI
“Above Grade A (17/25 – well above the standard required)”
http://goo.gl/9mGI
http://goo.gl/aQ5Z
“How were things done before web authoring?
Web designers would have to write the page using HTML code. Whilst
this is very powerful, it is a lot slower than using a web authoring package.”
ICT specification for 2011’s GCSE students
http://goo.gl/Iddx
A-Level
33%in 6 years
A-Level ICT
Number of students taking exams in this subject in England
57%in 8 years
A-LevelComputing
Number of students taking exams in this subject in England
http://goo.gl/k64K
2009 Ofsted report on “The importance of ICT”
based on a 4 year study of almost 200 secondary and primary schools in England on their performance in ICT
“Schools must equip young people with the 21st century skills necessary
to ensure their employability.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“Higher-attaining students were insufficiently challenged.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“The requirement that students must ‘apply, as appropriate, the concepts and
techniques of using ICT to measure, record, respond to, control and automate events’ may be missed at the expense of
popular units on topics such as web page creation and creating video.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“As a result, some vocational qualifications limit the achievement of higher-attaining students and fail to develop the vital skills for the UK, and indeed global, economy,
such as manipulating data and programming.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
£25,000Student debt for those starting
University this year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10952303
Girls and ICT
“The number of girls choosing to study computing post-16 has fallen
to an all-time low.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“Fewer girls than ever are studying for formal qualifications in the subject
in the sixth form and the number continues to decline.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“Schools do not challenge sufficiently the value of deploying a set of adult productivity tools to help pupils and
students develop their ICT capability.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
Database software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software
Desktop publishing software
Presentation software
Database software (Access)
Spreadsheet software (Excel)
Word processing software (Word)
Desktop publishing software (Publisher)
Presentation software (Powerpoint)
“Over-reliance on a standard ‘office’ application and operating system
restricted their opportunities to develop generic and transferable
skills.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“I'd rather teach about spreadsheets alongside a science teacher who's
trying to explain how to capture data from experiments than in some "let's
pretend we're running a shop" Computing lesson.”
http://goo.gl/lFG2
Open Source
“…students met a greater variety of software and were better equipped to
cope with rapidly changing technologies.”
http://goo.gl/k64K
“Schools wishing to use platforms not selected by their local authority are
free to do so but must find the money from other budgets.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becta
– Becta
“Becta and the government only seem comfortable working with larger
vendors and suppliers.
I think this is partially timidity, but also because of the over-comfortable relationship the government has with some of the bigger players.”
John Pugh in January 2007
Does our industry support young
people?
http://aneventapart.com/alasurvey2009/07.html
47.1% of web designers aged 18 and under believe there is a negative age
bias.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcthiele/5032878619
Many can’t afford to go to conferences, or get time off from
school to go.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/463842816
Difficult for organisers to find venues that cater for under 18s
http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/jnr/series1/
“Entrepreneur” expectations
Albert Einstein
“The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community”
http://message.uk.com
“I coded my first plain HTML website when I
was 11, using Frontpage. It was horrible, but I
thought it was freakin' awesome!”
http://fireflysolutions.co.uk/
CMS produced by students, years later is a business
File sharing app produced by students (who are still students) is now a
business
“Do you think your age has been a help or a hindrance to the development
of the project?”
“Being so young, VC backing was not an option as it’s too risky to invest in a
couple highschoolers.”
“We also have to constantly conceal our age because we are dealing with people’s important documents, and
they might not trust us because people, including ourselves, are
inherently ageist.”
James Proud from Giglocator http://giglocator.com
James Proud
“Has your age got in the way of what you do, or has it helped you?”
James Proud
James Proud from Giglocator http://giglocator.com
“Before I had to show my face I never really promoted my age. I just didn’t think it was important. But it’s helped me the fact that people are amazed that I’ve done this at this age, but I’ve done coding since I was 9 and I was paid at 12.”
James Proud
James Proud from Giglocator http://giglocator.com
Photo by kris krügfrom http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/98025271
Matt Mullenweg
Created Wordpress before he was old enough to buy a drink
Matt Mullenweg
Photo by kris krügfrom http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/98025271
Good courses are possible and exist
http://goo.gl/vfA7
“Jez has found an image with a Creative Commons licence.
Explain what a Creative Commons licence is.”
Edexcel
Whose fault?
Teachers don’t have the time or budget to learn new
skills
Exam boards have to supply courses that teachers are
confident in teaching
Teachers don’t have the time or budget to learn new
skills
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blendededu/830495935/
Yay!
No it’s not!
Boo!
What the teachers think
“A tick in a box”
http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level
“We have no idea what we are supposed to be doing with all this
stuff”
http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level
“ICT lessons are still primarily teaching 'Microsoft'.”
http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level
“Just up-ing the number of PC's in schools won't get you anything.”
http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level
“All we're gearing our kid's up for is a life in an office. No wonder there's no
stampede for that career path.”
http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level
“We need school curricula to engage them better if the next generation are to engineer technology and not just
consume it”
Professor Matthew Harrison, Director of Education at The Royal Academy of Engineering
“We are now watching the enthusiasm of the next generation waste away
through poorly conceived courses and syllabuses.”
Professor Steve Furber, Fellow of the Royal Society
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