#Rethinking ICT: what's in a name? | busythings

Two of us from busythings went last Monday to the Rethinking ICT conference organised at Winchester House School by its head of ICT, Chris Leach.

Some great stuff.

100 or so primary and secondary ICT teachers agonising over whether their subject needs rebranding. This after the Royal Society had declared that the term ICT switches children off and should be abandoned. Even more, the subject itself, which in too many schools has been reduced to teaching ?how to use office software?, should be disaggregated into Computer Science (the rigorous study of programming languages, algorithms etc) Information Technology (the use of computers in science, industry, the arts and elsewhere) and Digital Literacy (the general ability to use computers ?the RS would have us write this in lower case because it is a mere? skill rather than a proper academic subject).

Much discussion, but not a lot of agreement ? some arguing that the refocus on Computer Science and Information Technology should be signalled by a change of name (Computer Science, Digital Studies), others saying that the name ICT should be kept (anyway, nobody knows what acronym ICT actually stands for) and attention concentrated instead on what?s in the tin, rather than what?s on the label.

We sensed a general welcome for Gove?s decision (picking up on the criticisms of the RS, Next Gen, Ofsted and others) to ?disapply? the ICT programmes of study across the board from this coming September, while its content and place in the proposed new National Curriculum were still under review. This amounted to the declaration of an open season for curriculum designers. We heard about Naace?s new curriculum framework, as well as Computing at School?s draft of programmes for KS2 and KS3 which shows how Computer Science could be integrated into the existing structures. So it looks as if there has been a lot of constructive thinking about how specialist ICT teachers (as well as generalist teachers with ICT skills) can bring Computer Science in from the cold and so help enthuse the next generation of programmers without threatening the commitment to enable all children to become literate (or ?wise? ? Naace?s word) users of rapidly developing digital technologies. Add to this the abiding problem of persuading digitally challenged colleagues to take up the cause (apparently a sore point with some of the contributors) and it seems that ICT enthusiasts have a lot on their plate.

As members of a (small) team of software designers and developers who have come to the job from a variety of educational backgrounds (in fine art with virtually no computing, graphic design with some, and computer science with more than enough) we found this whole debate about how ICT should figure in schools well worth listening to. We were also much taken with accounts of two projects that encourage children (and their teachers) to become creative ICT users. Julia Skinner?s ?100 Word Challenge? asks children to produce a short piece (?just a 100 words?) of creative writing in response to picture and word prompts. Their work is posted on their class blog, linked to the 100WC.net website and commented on by other children and volunteer adults. Doing this gives children the experience of becoming published authors with an appreciative, if sometimes politely critical, readership. Equally interesting is the Digital Leaders project which invites children to volunteer to take over (under supervision) some of the tasks that routinely fall on the shoulders of ICT coordinators ? an ingenious way of shedding some of the load while giving a children the opportunity to upgrade their skills and become involved in the management of what they are doing.

Most of the discussion was concerned with the ?higher? end of ICT teaching and learning in schools ? with later primary and secondary education. We would have liked to have heard more of people?s views on how, and how early, children should begin their ICT education. We all know that many 5 year olds are digitally active if not yet digitally wise. Ever since the introduction of the National Curriculum, progammes of study for ICT (initially called IT) have been operative from the age of 5 onwards. The recent critics of ICT have concerned themselves with the whole age range from 5 to 16.The RS while stating that ?every pupil at key stage 2 and key stage 3 should have the opportunity to learn material that is recognisably Computer Science? also says that ?every child should have the opportunity to learn concepts and principles from Computing (including Computer Science and Information Technology) from the beginning of primary education onwards ?? So the question of what 5 or 6 year-olds ought to be doing with ICT and what they ought to be learning about it is a very live issue in which we as publishers of early years and KS1 software take an active interest.

Sadly, the new Early Years Framework has little to say on this issue. If anything it took a step backwards ? dropping the Early Learning Goal for ICT that had been included in the original Framework that it replaces. True, ICT still figures in the supplementary Development Matters guidance for the early years but this only the sketchiest of help to Reception class teachers who want to find ways of responding to their children?s awakening interest in digital technology.

More useful are the self-help initiatives of a number of ICT teachers and coordinators. The Conference grew out of the efforts of its organiser Chris Leach to devise a curriculum that would serve the needs of his prep school which teaches ICT as a separate subject for all year groups from Year 8 down to Nursery. Another innovator we have been following for some time is Ian Addison, a primary school ICT Coordinator who spoke about an ICT planning aid he developed for the teachers in his school and is now making public. This gives an overview of the tools that are available to Foundation Stage and Primary teachers and shows how they can be used across the curriculum to help achieve learning targets set for successive year groups.

We have come away from this very lively conference convinced that if there is to be some sort of marriage between computing as a set skills and computer science as an academic discipline this is how it will be brokered ? through the efforts of those who teach day-to-day and have what one speaker confessed openly to ? a passion for the subject. If the union is brought about what name will the happy couple live under? We have yet to see, but for better or worse it will be decided when the National Curriculum Review publishes draft programmes of study later this year. Gove has promised that the new programmes will not be restrictive:

?Disapplying the ICT programme of study is about freedom. It will mean that, for the first time, teachers will be allowed to cover truly innovative, specialist and challenging topics. And whether they choose a premade curriculum, or whether they design their own programme of study specifically for their school, they will have the freedom and flexibility to decide what is best for their pupils. Teachers will now be allowed to focus more sharply on the subjects they think matter ? for example, teaching exactly how computers work, studying the basics of programming and coding and encouraging pupils to have a go themselves.?

All in all an enjoyable and instructive day ? even for non-teachers like us.

Links:

Chris Leach?s Rethinking ICT website: http://rethinkingict.wordpress.com/

The Royal Society report on computing in schools: Shut down or restart?: The way forward for computing in UK schools

The Next Gen report on the computer games and visual effects industries: http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/creative_economy/skills_review/assets/features/next_gen

The Naace framework: ?Key Stage 1 and 2 ICT Curriculum Proposals

Computing at School?s curriculum for computer science: http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/ComputingCurric.pdf100wc.net/

100 Word Challenge: http://100wc.net/teachers-note/

Ian Addison?s ICT planning site https://sites.google.com/a/stjohnsapps.co.uk/ict-planning/introduction. He has also blogged on the Digital Leaders initiative at http://ianaddison.net/tag/digital-leaders/

Michael Gove?s BETT speech: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/speeches/a00201868/michael-gove-speech-at-the-bett-show-2012

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Why regulators need to be JPMorgan's risk managers | Ben Walsh

JPMorgan is improving risk management by boldly?endeavoring to not make?the same mistake? ? huge positions in credit derivatives ? twice, the WSJ reports. But that?s about as far as the changes go. The CIO will still be able to buy ?asset-backed securities, emerging-markets debt, collateralized debt obligations and troubled corporate debt?. ?That?s an incredibly small correction in response to the CIO?s losses.

The message from Jamie Dimon to traders is clear: our risk management process is fine, keep doing exactly what you were doing before. Just don?t do that (points to ?$2 billion blunder? headline?).

In seeming contrast to his positive view of JPMorgan?s risk management, Dimon had less than kind words for new financial regulation in his testimony last week before the House and Senate. But here?s the weird thing: the two things aren?t actually that different.

In his Senate testimony, Dimon complained that the still to-be enacted Dodd-Frank law was overly complex and vague. Instead, he said he ?[prefers]?a strong, clean regulation system?That?s not what we did?.

This echoes what he said in his annual letter to shareholders: ?[regulatory] complexity and confusion should have?been alleviated, not compounded? As a result of Dodd-Frank, we now have?multiple regulatory agencies with overlapping?rules and oversight responsibilities?. Dimon paired these comments with a?chart that aimed to terrify observers by visualizing regulatory authority using all manner of boxes, colors, lines and (gasp) dotted lines.

Yet here?s Dimon talking about risk management at JPMorgan in his Senate testimony (beginning at the 51-minute mark):

Every business we have has a risk committee. Those risk committees ?and the head of risk in those businesses report to the head of risk at the company and there are periodic conversations between the risk committees and the head of risk of the company and our senior operating group about major exposures we are taking.

There is also oversight from the internal model review committee, the board?s audit, operating and risk committees and various members of senior management on an ad hoc basis. All of which oversee a $2.3 trillion balance sheet. That, in other words, is complexity. I?m sure that if you charted it, ?it would have dotted lines and different colored boxes and all the other things that scare Dimon so much in a regulatory context.

A big reason Dimon prefers his own risk management to new regulation is control. Risk management is largely about transferring control from someone with one set of incentives to someone with a different set of incentives ? from the individual trader, to the desk, to the business unit that oversees that trader. Similarly, regulators function as systemic risk managers, although they have an independent set of incentives.

Dimon?s real problem with regulation, it seems, is that he believes that it?s best that he make a lot of the biggest decisions?personally. That might be bad management, but Dimon has a hard-to-disguise supreme self-confidence. In the case of the CIO, he pushed for increased risk-taking and he got it.

From the public?s perspective, it?s troubling that JPMorgan?s risk management was reportedly being carried out on the whims of a CEO. But to Dimon, that?s presumably a feature, not a flaw. Which is exactly why regulation of this too-big-to-fail bank needs to be at least as robust as JPMorgan?s internal risk management.

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Product Review: Handmade Clay Trinkets - Your Shopping Kaki

By Cynthia Lee? (Guest Blogger)

If you have seen one of my previous reviews on handmade classes available in The HandMade Movement, you would most probably have come across the handmade clay craft site by TinyPinc and her collection of food that is so delicious but most probably you may get poisoned if consumed - as it is made of clay, and not butter and flour! =D

The visionary owner of ?TinyPinc - Ling ;) TinyPinc specialises in creating super cute and yummy looking miniature food clay craft - not something easy for clumsy hands ;)

mouth watering confectionery with such amazing details!

so convincingly real, don't you think so?

Now you may think what can you possibly do with all these pretty looking but cannot be savoured food!? Check out her Facebook Page and be amazed! It's great as novelty gifts to friends for every occasion. TinyPinc also accept made-to-order pieces.

I was lucky enough to be among those very first ones to get hold of TinyPinc's latest item out from the baking oven- a kitty phone plug for review ;). Those kitty plugs seems like a rave among the online community with some sites offering pre-order spree. Now you can get it immediately from TinyPinc as she 'hand-moulded' these kittehs at the comfort of her study table =D

spot my kitteh!?

cute phone plugs priced at a very affordable RM15 a piece

With a reasonable price for handmade items and saving the hassle and wait of pre-ordering, these make great gifts or merely for personal collection ?And of course, she doesn't just do kitteh :) There is literally a myriad of stuff she can bake out of those clay blocks!

You can literally opt for a croissant, a cookie or even a slice of cake?
to be made into a phone plug or a pair of earring, as charm pendants, brooch?
or simply anything that you fancy!

ok, maybe a croissant nose-stud is NOT too appropriate ;) but it sure is fun!

Start browsing the joyful little handmade works of art at TINYPINC!

Happy Shopping!

By Cynthia Lee (a.k.a. Guest Blogger for YSK)

Edited by YourShoppingKaki

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WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program

It was over a year ago now that we heard about the WiFi Alliance's intention to certify hotspots and simplify the potential for mobile handovers. Now, it's just announced hardware testing of its WiFi-CERTIFIED Passpoint program, which promises to let phones and mobile devices automatically discover and connect to compatible networks. The specification used is the result of cooperation between service providers and equipment manufacturers, with the aim of creating an industry-wise solution for shared WiFi access and roaming agreements. Already hardware from the likes of Cisco, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm has received Passpoint certification, leaving the ball in the court of service providers, once testing is complete.

Continue reading WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program

WiFi alliance begins hardware testing on Passpoint cell-to-hotspot roaming program originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Building a car-friendly news environment | Zero Percent Idle

A 2011 post by Steve Buttry has been gnawing a hole in my consciousness for a few weeks now. It?s called ?Newspapers don?t need new ideas; here are lots of ideas for new revenue streams.?

In the post, Steve talks about some of the money-left-on-the-table scenarios in the local news publishing space, but the first one really hit home:

Develop the?must-have driving app for your community.?I first outlined this idea two years ago in my?Blueprint for the Complete Community Connection. I am not aware that any news organization (or anyone else) has tried it yet. Mutter notes that the newspaper ad decline has been most severe in automobile advertising, falling from $5 billion in 2004 to $1.1 billion last year. Auto manufacturers and dealers have built better tools than the newspaper want ads section for selling cars.

Buying a car is a job most people need help with only every few years. It was an easy job to disrupt. But driving is a task many of us do daily, and it presents abundant opportunity. Community news organizations are well-positioned to offer one place where drivers can compare gas prices, buy insurance, find parking spaces, check the traffic, get emergency service, schedule maintenance, rent a car and download coupons for tires and service. And if you develop that app that drivers can use daily, it may also be the best vehicle for advertising auto sales.

That?s an outstanding idea, as far as it goes.?But it got me thinking further. In most local communities around the U.S., the daily commute is done in a car, as Steve notes. But, while this certainly offers a great context-appropriate environment for car- and commute-related news and information, there may be an even bigger opportunity here, one which the march of mobile technology makes so much easier to pull off here in 2012 than even a year or two ago: car-friendly news delivery.

Imagine how useful this could be:

• An app-like mobile browser experience, with larger buttons/identifying text for one-glance control of the in-car site. Safety first! (Yes, this can be an app, also. But let?s make it work first without the need to download anything.)
• Tight integration with a traffic-alert system, customized to my commute pattern AND my current location.
• An easy means for users to post news from their commute, in photos, video, pre-written text snippets or, for passengers in the car, free-form text. For an outstanding example of how this can be implemented, look at the?Reports function in the social-traffic service, Waze.
• Original audio programming, both live and podcast. Streaming audio is cheap to the consumer; downloaded audio is effectively free.
• Dial-in capability for the full talk-radio experience.
• Read-aloud versions of selected stories and the latest breaking news. Yes, this is that bad idea from the early 2000s, dressed up in new clothes simply because the quality of machine-read content is finally catching up with our aspirations. It?s not James Earl Jones, true, but it?ll do, used sparingly.
• The ability to pin articles and related content to a user?s private space for later retrieval.
• Here?s what it?s not: Yet another wrapper or skin for the full content of the local news service. For this to work well, it needs to be tightly curated and updated; it can?t simply be a mass regurgitation of everything that?s on the homepage of the mothership. It?s just enough news, carefully selected and presented with a mobile- and audio-first bias.

Remember: As of this year, more than half the cell phones in use in the USA are smartphones. Presenting app-like web pages, knowing a user?s location, playing audio and video ? it?s all in there just waiting to be accessed intelligently by users and the local news organizations who love them.

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt, Creative Commons License

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FDA delays decision on Pfizer, Bristol-Myers drug

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