Should ICT be a core subject?
It has been proposed that ICT will no longer be a compulsory part of the curriculum from September 2011. What are your thoughts?
- 51% said This is terrible! Computer skills are now an essential life skill. Children could miss out.
- 19% said This worries me. There is a danger that ICT-wary teachers will no longer see a reason to teach it.
- 17% said I think less prescription in the curriculum is good. I’d still include ICT whether it is compulsory or not.
- 13% said I think this is a good thing. There is an over emphasis on ICT at the moment.
Comments
said on 5 March 2012
I used to be an ICT Teacher when I first started teaching. I now live in Germany and have children in the German system. There is absolutely no ICT taught in the German primary schools at all. At first glance this may be quite shocking, however the hard reality is that the standards of written work in Germany are well above those in the UK. The technology is changing so fast, it doesn´t matter what we teach. By the time the children are adults and need to use it, it will be completely different. A good basic knowledge of grammar and spelling are still a solid basis that ought to be taught. A look at the results of the PISA studies ( comparison of reading and Maths ability between different countries) show that Britain is going downhill, whilst Germany is on the way up.
said on 18 February 2012
ICT is a tool for learning. But IT is a subject and if kids are interested it should be available - at KS3
said on 28 November 2011
ICt should never be put away considering it part of our daily existance now. Imagine a world without ICT? We all over the world need ICT in our daily tradings. Alfred Cole McChora, Kampala-Uganda
said on 25 June 2011
I think we should have ICT teachers in primary schools, so that we can get on with the rest of the curriculum, and so that ICT will always be taught well.
said on 18 June 2011
I believe ICT should be a core subject to ensure that we keep up to date and give the skills the children need in the real world BUT costs mean that access to computers is not regular, if it is to be kept as a core subject we should have moetary support to put more computers (laptops) in class and systems/programmes children have access to at home.
said on 15 June 2011
I think that ICT should be made as a core subject because what if robots take over the world?!?!?!?!?!
said on 26 May 2011
One of the biggest problems primary Schools, such as ourselves, face is the cost of maintaining hardware, never mind the cost of developing it! It is a great resource and aid to learning but it absorbs huge chunks of school budget and unless everything works well is bound to be sidelined. So maintenance is essential; updating hardware necessary; training staff in developments helpful. To be realistic we need bigger budgets just to stand still! We love our whiteboards etc but many Heads and Business Administrator will find it all too tempting to cost cut in this area by axing areas of ICT, buying less expensive options and opting to do things which come with funding or attract grants. This changes the focus in ICT from 'what do you want to achieve in and with ICT' to 'What can we get money to do'.
said on 27 April 2011
This is the 21st Century. Discrete ICT in schools was born in the late 90s out of a model of "cross curricular" ICT that simply didn't work and didn't deliver the high level skills (Spreadsheets, Databases, Programming and Web Design) that is now pretty standard in schools. If schools see ICT as a non-core subject, many will use this as a quick way to cut staffing costs, with dire consequences for the pure ICT skills of school leavers.
said on 19 April 2011
ICT is a part of adult life where you work with computers everyday, children enjoy ICT and teachers become worried their knowledge is laging behind....it sould stay as a core to benefit children's futures.
said on 2 April 2011
I think we should still be teaching ICT but the medium moves so quickly that some of the NC objectives seem out dated. I also believe ICT works best when intergrated into other subjects rather than being a stand alone subject.
said on 31 March 2011
I think ICT should be a frame around which all core subjects are taught. Like language-immersion schools or arts schools: people become fluent in a language (or medium such as drama or dance) by applying it and by using it as a tool to help them learn science, history, etc.
said on 1 March 2011
i would still teach ICT, but believe that at the moment for KS1 there is an overemphasis on it and it takes up too much of the curriculum time.
said on 16 February 2011
I think that children who are fortunate enough to have controlled, supervised access to the net, computers, digital cameras etc at home, often complain that they already know a lot of the basic skills taught throughout school. Those who do not (where parents/carers struggle financially for example or where the child has little interaction with their parent/carer) need to be given this basic access and knowledge to allow them to access education and life as fully as possible. An assessment of children's knowledge and skills at the start of each year (the way a teacher might baseline test spelling/reading and maths for example) might be a way to identify those who require small group teaching and activities for the ICT basics whilst the other children could apply their existing ICT knowledge with interactive activities related to the curriculum.
said on 14 February 2011
it is worrying that at the moment, young children with poor literacy skills are having to do a lot more ICT than in the past, at the expense of creative and continuous provision being pushed out due to lack of time.
said on 13 February 2011
I think this is awful. As an ICT co-ordinator I have been pushing my staff to use ICT for years and if they think they dont have to use it then they wont. Also ICT is such an important part of our world and it is going to become increasingly more important as technology improves and we need to give children the skills to use it, especially those from deprived backgrounds. Also ICT is a great tool for engaging learners especially boys.
said on 12 February 2011
I think there is a danger that there will be an inequality of provision that inadequately prepares some children for secondary education and life.
said on 23 January 2011
ICT needs to be relevant to children's learning and how they engage with the world, it needs to be taught as discrete skills - especially the ability to touch type, but it also should be used as a life skill and research tool. Prescribing the number of hours a child should have on a computer does not equate to meaningful learning and the acquisition of skills
said on 22 January 2011
I wish the government would come into my class for one day, then they would be in a better position to comment on what is needed in education and how the government could help the ordinary teacher. We are doing a great job despite the day to day difficulties. Why do they need to change the curriculum when it is class sizes and lack of TA support that is the key to whether you can teach your well planned lesson or not!
said on 21 January 2011
Resources may become white elephants, gathering dust in computer suites and classrooms.
said on 20 January 2011
I think freedom in the curriculum is great and making ICT compulsory doesn't always help the cause of ICT - but ICT is an expensive option with not enough specialist teachers and I can see many schools getting over this problem by leaving it out.
said on 20 January 2011
This will also send the wrong message to teachers in secondary schools. Many are severely lacking in ICT skills and this has a great impact on the students.
Daphne said on 4 July 2012
ICT is still a requirement according to Gove's recent letter to Tim Oates. It is the ICT curriculum that is no longer required (disapplied), and what it means is that teachers have more flexibility to integrate ICT with other subjects (e.g. when doing literacy, maths, and science).