I keep thinking "Maemo", Nokia's Linux OS used in their internet tablets. Didn't really catch on outside Nokia, and development progress was slow.
Google's Linux OS has a lot to prove.
To be fair, that's what a lot of people thought about Chrome browser. It's now my browser of choice unless I am developing, then I stick with Firefox.
I suspect it will tie in nicely with the browser, apps, etc. In all, I can see it being what MS should have done years ago. Add to that HTML5 implementations (which will be another step forward in getting rid of crappy flash sites), which Google have pushed forward, and you are looking at a nice setup.
The biggest hurdle in the UK is that MS is taught in schools. The curriculum would need to be changed to allow schools to choose their own OS as long as the targets stay the same.
The biggest hurdle in the UK is that MS is taught in schools. The curriculum would need to be changed to allow schools to choose their own OS as long as the targets stay the same.
yeah, but the problem with that is that a good majority of companys and businesses use MS programs themselves.
saying that though, i never saw a PC till my first job, and i do ok. (in my job not as a PC enthusiast.)
Indeed... teach the kids MS, they grow up and start working - what do they want to use? MS!
What would happen if all the schools were allowed to use Ubuntu instead??
someone once told me that microsoft turned a blind eye to people using pirate copies of their operating system at the start, so people would get used to it, and decide to use it in the companies they would later work for.
I can only imagine the kind of discount microsoft give to schools, if they make them pay at all.
someone once told me that microsoft turned a blind eye to people using pirate copies of their operating system at the start, so people would get used to it, and decide to use it in the companies they would later work for.
I can only imagine the kind of discount microsoft give to schools, if they make them pay at all.
Indeed... teach the kids MS, they grow up and start working - what do they want to use? MS!
What would happen if all the schools were allowed to use Ubuntu instead??
The problem is that secondary school IT teachers often know just enough to be able to deliver their classes. For the more technical it would be fine. However, sadly many IT teachers will not want to spend the time learning ubuntu and the things that go with it.
Secondary school IT teachers will only adopt somthing if it can decrease their workload and does not involve lots of initial work (i.e. reworking class notes and exercises).
That said the OpenSource schools initiative is trying to encourage schools to go down the open source route: http://opensourceschools.org.uk/
The problem is that secondary school IT teachers often know just enough to be able to deliver their classes. For the more technical it would be fine. However, sadly many IT teachers will not want to spend the time learning ubuntu and the things that go with it.
Secondary school IT teachers will only adopt somthing if it can decrease their workload and does not involve lots of initial work (i.e. reworking class notes and exercises).
That said the OpenSource schools initiative is trying to encourage schools to go down the open source route: http://opensourceschools.org.uk/
I was chatting to a Secondary school IT teacher a couple of nights ago, and I was totally shocked at the complete lack of knowledge.
I asked her how much HTML she knew - nothing. Dreamweaver.
I asked her about open source - nothing.
I seriously couldn't believe I was talking to a teacher. Every question I asked was met with blank looks.
Then she said 'those that can, teach'. When I replied 'clearly not', she walked off!
Yes its a sorry state of affairs and has turned into a national crisis.
Because, teachers lack knowledge, secondary schools are not delivering computer science well. Pupils are falling under the impression that computing is boring, pedestrian and repetitive. Consequently, universities are seeing enrolments drop off on many computer science subjects now that the glamour of the internet and its many riches has faded.
A few weeks ago I attended a conference to debate this very issue, clearly there are many teachers that want to see change but they are sadly in the minority.
About 18 months ago I visited a school to discuss teaching programming via flowcharts (something I've been working on) and to paraphrase the meeting it was like 'Oh no we don't use flowcharts.. there not in the exam, thanks any way but bye bye."
Two days later I got an email from the school "Sorry about out meeting the other day, flowcharts are in the exam, it was interaction diagrams I was thinking of". How can an IT / CS teacher confuse a flowchart with a UML interaction diagrams? This was a private school too.
Thankful other teachers have been more receptive to my ideas.
Then she said 'those that can, teach'. When I replied 'clearly not', she walked off!
Hmmmmm.....
I always thought it was :
'Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach.'
That's how I've always heard it anyway.
I remember my first year at uni . and this will help you date it . we were being taught machine code.
The course was based on the 6502 processor.
The teacher didn't understand the flags register (just like the Z80 flags register). More specifically, he didn't understand that it wasn't just commands that were directly aimed at the flags register that actually affected it. Which is kinda the point of the register.
So none of his clacs worked.
Very funny.
But a lot more interesting than COBOL :(
Mind you, with the internet as it is now, lots of the methodologies I was taught are relevant again. Who'd 've thought it?
It was the governments amazing idea to get people to cut their salaries by 50% and take up teaching instead. The tag line was 'those that can, teach'.
The only problem was that when you look into it, you get virtually no financial help (?5k was the most I came across for a year!). So how do they expect people that have an income to suddenly start teacher training and not lose their house??
Then when you qualify, it with the knowledge that you're on 50% less wages..
It's the old saw, "pay peanuts, get monkeys". While there are teachers who are genuinely good - and who do it because they like it, and have a thirst for knowledge themselves, and don't care much that they won't be well off - there aren't all that many because everyone else with a thirst for knowledge realises they can live a lot more comfortably if they do something else, and not have to deal with the negative sides such as trying to teach people who don't want to learn and who you are not allowed to discipline if they are disruptive.
But society as a whole refuses to pay more for teachers or make the job more attractive. We get what we deserve. I get the feeling for a large number of parents, school is just a way of not having to pay a babysitter whilst at work and they don't really care that much. And hence the unwillingness to pay the higher taxes it would require.
It's the old saw, "pay peanuts, get monkeys". While there are teachers who are genuinely good - and who do it because they like it, and have a thirst for knowledge themselves, and don't care much that they won't be well off - there aren't all that many because everyone else with a thirst for knowledge realises they can live a lot more comfortably if they do something else, and not have to deal with the negative sides such as trying to teach people who don't want to learn and who you are not allowed to discipline if they are disruptive.
But society as a whole refuses to pay more for teachers or make the job more attractive. We get what we deserve. I get the feeling for a large number of parents, school is just a way of not having to pay a babysitter whilst at work and they don't really care that much. And hence the unwillingness to pay the higher taxes it would require.
My sister did maths at Cambridge, she then became a maths teacher.
She's now escaped that career before she has a massive mental breakdown and got a job working for the millennium maths project at Cambridge. She gets to do extra curricular teachy things and not be bound by the rules that the idiots in Westminster force down
i recall a module in my 'design and technology' gcse (no, i don't see the point either) called microprocessor control, i had to explain to teach how binary worked
it was one of those 'who the fk can we get to teach this bullshit course' things, i believe the woodwork teacher drew the short straw
On a more positive teaching note, some teachers are good...
We tell everybody how great our little girl's nursery teacher was.
Cullercoats doesn't have it's own nursery year, the kids start at reception.
So we had a choice between Rockcliff in Whitley Bay, St Mary's on Marsden, and James Knott in Shields.
St Mary's (RC) is much sought after, it leads on to the best school in the area.
James Knott borders Tynemouth and is much sought after by those that think they are a cut above.
Rockcliffe school's catchment has dodgy elements so everybody tries to get their cherubs into James Knots.
James Knotts would mean a twice daily school run. No chance.
Got offered a place at St Mary's we were well surprised by that. Afternoon's didn't suit and they didn't respond to our request to change to morning, were mighty surprised when we said no.
We had Acorn Archimedes in my secondary school back in 1997 even though Windows had been out for ages apparently they didnt get any windows PCs in untill after 2000.
I was a science teacher - gave that up! (I decided to leave when a kid picked up a chair and threw it at me!)
Most teachers are not overly concerned what OS they use. They use what they are given..
IT teachers are generally at this level not concerned with such matters as program languages. The idea is to give as many kids as possible the transferable skills to use computers for more than just facebook.
Once you've learned how to use Microsoft you'll probably be okay at the common linux and apple applications anyway. You learn how to drive a car first usually - not how to fix it or build a new one from scratch.
The main skill a teacher requires is crowd control. If you can get them to listen to you - you will do well (You can be a great teacher without being any good at your subject)
The few teachers that really do have great classroom control are worth far more than they will ever be payed. Their subject knowledge is virtually irrelevent until you get past GCSE level - it's their ability to get a crowd of irreverent teenagers to work that matters.
I was a science teacher - gave that up! (I decided to leave when a kid picked up a chair and threw it at me!)
Most teachers are not overly concerned what OS they use. They use what they are given..
IT teachers are generally at this level not concerned with such matters as program languages. The idea is to give as many kids as possible the transferable skills to use computers for more than just facebook.
Once you've learned how to use Microsoft you'll probably be okay at the common linux and apple applications anyway. You learn how to drive a car first usually - not how to fix it or build a new one from scratch.
The main skill a teacher requires is crowd control. If you can get them to listen to you - you will do well (You can be a great teacher without being any good at your subject)
The few teachers that really do have great classroom control are worth far more than they will ever be payed. Their subject knowledge is virtually irrelevent until you get past GCSE level - it's their ability to get a crowd of irreverent teenagers to work that matters.
I'm primarily a maths teacher, who teaches ICT to make up my time table - by the way I left industry because teaching was something I always wanted to do. We don't do it for the money, we do it because we want to and I don't regret it for a moment. I also don't consider myself a "monkey".
Anyway, back to the point, we're not obliged by the curriculum to use Microsoft products. The fact we do so, exclusively almost, really annoys me as I'd like to give the kids experience of alternative operating systems and apps.
In year 8, which I taught up to last year, we introduce webpage design, starting with a lengthy exercise in designing a home page consisting of various search engines and such. They design this at first purely in HTML using Notepad, then move onto Word, then Front Page, then a dedicated website designer by Serif. It's great to see them learn the language of HTML, and in every class there is always a couple of kids (usually lads) who get really stuck into it and create some very impressive stuff completely in Notepad, researching HTML way beyond what is taught to them.
I do agree though that on the whole computer science lacks the depth needed, and this does stem from a fear schools have of moving away from MS and trialling alternatives.
i recall a module in my 'design and technology' gcse (no, i don't see the point either) called microprocessor control, i had to explain to teach how binary worked
it was one of those 'who the fk can we get to teach this bullshit course' things, i believe the woodwork teacher drew the short straw
:rolleyes:
Maybe you went to my school. A whole bunch of us chose D&T because it supposedly involved more computers than Business Studies or COOKING.
We were shown an Archimedes for 20 minutes in the first lesson, then CDT teacher decided based on his awful scrawling we'd all make a machine. Out of wood.
Me and a few mates attended the next lesson and then saw that it wasn't going anywhere useful, so Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the next 2 years were spent at the newsagents playing Super SF2 Turbo, Bubble Bobble, Fighter's History, etc., with the shop manager :)
Maybe you went to my school. A whole bunch of us chose D&T because it supposedly involved more computers than Business Studies or COOKING.
We were shown an Archimedes for 20 minutes in the first lesson, then CDT teacher decided based on his awful scrawling we'd all make a machine. Out of wood.
Me and a few mates attended the next lesson and then saw that it wasn't going anywhere useful, so Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the next 2 years were spent at the newsagents playing Super SF2 Turbo, Bubble Bobble, Fighter's History, etc., with the shop manager :)
We had all Acorn Archimedes at my school until the first windows PC arrived - just before I left in the late nineties.
For some reason they gave it to the art teacher - He didn't know what to do with it, so he set it up at the front of the class and we used to draw it!
I do agree though that on the whole computer science lacks the depth needed, and this does stem from a fear schools have of moving away from MS and trialling alternatives.
It been my experience that one of the problems with the GCSE and A-Level sylabus is one of bredth. The sylabus seems to cover more than can be effectively taught within the year. It would be better to do less but teach to a higher standard. Do A-Level students really need to know BNF?
Your point about transferable skills, and not about specific language is right on the button.
My son has just done his options and has selcected ICT as one of his subjects so I'm going to be very interested in seeing just how much they teach him in the next two years is going to relevant in the real world.
Comments
Google's Linux OS has a lot to prove.
To be fair, that's what a lot of people thought about Chrome browser. It's now my browser of choice unless I am developing, then I stick with Firefox.
I suspect it will tie in nicely with the browser, apps, etc. In all, I can see it being what MS should have done years ago. Add to that HTML5 implementations (which will be another step forward in getting rid of crappy flash sites), which Google have pushed forward, and you are looking at a nice setup.
The biggest hurdle in the UK is that MS is taught in schools. The curriculum would need to be changed to allow schools to choose their own OS as long as the targets stay the same.
yeah, but the problem with that is that a good majority of companys and businesses use MS programs themselves.
saying that though, i never saw a PC till my first job, and i do ok. (in my job not as a PC enthusiast.)
Indeed... teach the kids MS, they grow up and start working - what do they want to use? MS!
What would happen if all the schools were allowed to use Ubuntu instead??
someone once told me that microsoft turned a blind eye to people using pirate copies of their operating system at the start, so people would get used to it, and decide to use it in the companies they would later work for.
I can only imagine the kind of discount microsoft give to schools, if they make them pay at all.
The problem is that secondary school IT teachers often know just enough to be able to deliver their classes. For the more technical it would be fine. However, sadly many IT teachers will not want to spend the time learning ubuntu and the things that go with it.
Secondary school IT teachers will only adopt somthing if it can decrease their workload and does not involve lots of initial work (i.e. reworking class notes and exercises).
That said the OpenSource schools initiative is trying to encourage schools to go down the open source route: http://opensourceschools.org.uk/
I was chatting to a Secondary school IT teacher a couple of nights ago, and I was totally shocked at the complete lack of knowledge.
I asked her how much HTML she knew - nothing. Dreamweaver.
I asked her about open source - nothing.
I seriously couldn't believe I was talking to a teacher. Every question I asked was met with blank looks.
Then she said 'those that can, teach'. When I replied 'clearly not', she walked off!
Because, teachers lack knowledge, secondary schools are not delivering computer science well. Pupils are falling under the impression that computing is boring, pedestrian and repetitive. Consequently, universities are seeing enrolments drop off on many computer science subjects now that the glamour of the internet and its many riches has faded.
A few weeks ago I attended a conference to debate this very issue, clearly there are many teachers that want to see change but they are sadly in the minority.
About 18 months ago I visited a school to discuss teaching programming via flowcharts (something I've been working on) and to paraphrase the meeting it was like 'Oh no we don't use flowcharts.. there not in the exam, thanks any way but bye bye."
Two days later I got an email from the school "Sorry about out meeting the other day, flowcharts are in the exam, it was interaction diagrams I was thinking of". How can an IT / CS teacher confuse a flowchart with a UML interaction diagrams? This was a private school too.
Thankful other teachers have been more receptive to my ideas.
Hmmmmm.....
I always thought it was :
'Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach.'
That's how I've always heard it anyway.
I remember my first year at uni . and this will help you date it . we were being taught machine code.
The course was based on the 6502 processor.
The teacher didn't understand the flags register (just like the Z80 flags register). More specifically, he didn't understand that it wasn't just commands that were directly aimed at the flags register that actually affected it. Which is kinda the point of the register.
So none of his clacs worked.
Very funny.
But a lot more interesting than COBOL :(
Mind you, with the internet as it is now, lots of the methodologies I was taught are relevant again. Who'd 've thought it?
The only problem was that when you look into it, you get virtually no financial help (?5k was the most I came across for a year!). So how do they expect people that have an income to suddenly start teacher training and not lose their house??
Then when you qualify, it with the knowledge that you're on 50% less wages..
But society as a whole refuses to pay more for teachers or make the job more attractive. We get what we deserve. I get the feeling for a large number of parents, school is just a way of not having to pay a babysitter whilst at work and they don't really care that much. And hence the unwillingness to pay the higher taxes it would require.
The phrase is in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman (published in 1903). I believe it was an old Chinese Proverb before that.
Google is your unreliable friend.
:-D
Those who can do, those who can't teach, and those who can't teach, teach teachers.
My sister did maths at Cambridge, she then became a maths teacher.
She's now escaped that career before she has a massive mental breakdown and got a job working for the millennium maths project at Cambridge. She gets to do extra curricular teachy things and not be bound by the rules that the idiots in Westminster force down
Those who can do, those who can't teach, and those who can't teach, teach general studies/PE/RE (delete as appropriate) :)
it was one of those 'who the fk can we get to teach this bullshit course' things, i believe the woodwork teacher drew the short straw
:rolleyes:
We tell everybody how great our little girl's nursery teacher was.
Cullercoats doesn't have it's own nursery year, the kids start at reception.
So we had a choice between Rockcliff in Whitley Bay, St Mary's on Marsden, and James Knott in Shields.
St Mary's (RC) is much sought after, it leads on to the best school in the area.
James Knott borders Tynemouth and is much sought after by those that think they are a cut above.
Rockcliffe school's catchment has dodgy elements so everybody tries to get their cherubs into James Knots.
James Knotts would mean a twice daily school run. No chance.
Got offered a place at St Mary's we were well surprised by that. Afternoon's didn't suit and they didn't respond to our request to change to morning, were mighty surprised when we said no.
Well, one in the eye for the snobs:
http://www.teachingawards.com/winners/winnerDetail.ikml?id=28299&t=reg&y=11
She was/is excellent.
Most teachers are not overly concerned what OS they use. They use what they are given..
IT teachers are generally at this level not concerned with such matters as program languages. The idea is to give as many kids as possible the transferable skills to use computers for more than just facebook.
Once you've learned how to use Microsoft you'll probably be okay at the common linux and apple applications anyway. You learn how to drive a car first usually - not how to fix it or build a new one from scratch.
The main skill a teacher requires is crowd control. If you can get them to listen to you - you will do well (You can be a great teacher without being any good at your subject)
The few teachers that really do have great classroom control are worth far more than they will ever be payed. Their subject knowledge is virtually irrelevent until you get past GCSE level - it's their ability to get a crowd of irreverent teenagers to work that matters.
Most teachers are not overly concerned what OS they use. They use what they are given..
IT teachers are generally at this level not concerned with such matters as program languages. The idea is to give as many kids as possible the transferable skills to use computers for more than just facebook.
Once you've learned how to use Microsoft you'll probably be okay at the common linux and apple applications anyway. You learn how to drive a car first usually - not how to fix it or build a new one from scratch.
The main skill a teacher requires is crowd control. If you can get them to listen to you - you will do well (You can be a great teacher without being any good at your subject)
The few teachers that really do have great classroom control are worth far more than they will ever be payed. Their subject knowledge is virtually irrelevent until you get past GCSE level - it's their ability to get a crowd of irreverent teenagers to work that matters.
Anyway, back to the point, we're not obliged by the curriculum to use Microsoft products. The fact we do so, exclusively almost, really annoys me as I'd like to give the kids experience of alternative operating systems and apps.
In year 8, which I taught up to last year, we introduce webpage design, starting with a lengthy exercise in designing a home page consisting of various search engines and such. They design this at first purely in HTML using Notepad, then move onto Word, then Front Page, then a dedicated website designer by Serif. It's great to see them learn the language of HTML, and in every class there is always a couple of kids (usually lads) who get really stuck into it and create some very impressive stuff completely in Notepad, researching HTML way beyond what is taught to them.
I do agree though that on the whole computer science lacks the depth needed, and this does stem from a fear schools have of moving away from MS and trialling alternatives.
I don't, but I believe they look at it later on.
We were shown an Archimedes for 20 minutes in the first lesson, then CDT teacher decided based on his awful scrawling we'd all make a machine. Out of wood.
Me and a few mates attended the next lesson and then saw that it wasn't going anywhere useful, so Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the next 2 years were spent at the newsagents playing Super SF2 Turbo, Bubble Bobble, Fighter's History, etc., with the shop manager :)
We had all Acorn Archimedes at my school until the first windows PC arrived - just before I left in the late nineties.
For some reason they gave it to the art teacher - He didn't know what to do with it, so he set it up at the front of the class and we used to draw it!
It been my experience that one of the problems with the GCSE and A-Level sylabus is one of bredth. The sylabus seems to cover more than can be effectively taught within the year. It would be better to do less but teach to a higher standard. Do A-Level students really need to know BNF?
Your point about transferable skills, and not about specific language is right on the button.