What are our kids learning?

So, as part of my initial week I downloaded the NSW Board of Studies Syllabus for Y7-10 IT. It’s actually publicly accessible (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/) if you’re interested in taking a look at the whole thing, but the thing that struck me was that it has a lot more in it than I thought it would – a good thing.

(Remember this is for Years 7-10 – Y11-12 goes beyond this)

The core topic areas are what I kind of expected (my comments in italics)

• Design, produce and evaluate – theory
• Past, Current and Emerging Technologies – ever wondered why kids know more than you do? They learn stuff like this instead of what we used to learn at school.
• Data Handling
• Hardware
• Issues
• People
• Software

The optional topic areas are where things start to get really cool. A teacher only needs to pick one or two of these for inclusion:

• AI, Simulation and modelling
• Authoring and multimedia
• Databse Design
• Digital Media
• The Internet and Website Development
• Networking Systems
• Robotics and Automated Systems
• Software Development and Programming – I’m actually guessing here, but I reckon a lot of teachers probably take the "easier" options such as authoring and multimedia and robotics where they can use Turtles or Lego Mindstorms. However, wouldn’t it be cool if they took this one and others such as Database Design and Website Development.

Take a look at the detail for this last option (wouldn’t it be cool if we could have teachers using VB or C# and .NET for this?):

Outcomes A student: 5.2.1       describes and applies problem-solving processes when creating solutions 5.2.2       designs, produces and evaluates appropriate solutions to a range of challenging problems 5.2.3       critically analyses decision-making processes in a range of information and software solutions.
Students learn about: Basic programming concepts input, process, output functions assignment statements variables ·          constants	Students learn to: examine the code of an existing software program to describe the input, processes and output examine an existing program and identify functions, assignment statements, variables and constants ·          modify an existing program to assess the effects of changing variables on the output of the program
GUI layout including graphics tools ·          objects such as textboxes, list boxes and command buttons	experiment with an existing GUI layout in a selected software program design a simple GUI layout for a specific problem and apply simple programming code ·          conduct a peer evaluation on the designed GUI
Data types such as  character, integer, string, real, Boolean	identify data types in existing code and explain their purpose compare the use of data types
Data operators relational logical ·          arithmetic operators	distinguish between various operators within existing code
Algorithms definitions and descriptions representing algorithms ·          examples such as recipes, directions, appliance instructions	define algorithms and describe examples in daily life represent algorithms by using either flowchart or pseudocode ·          explain the purpose of an algorithm when solving problems
Control structures sequencing selection such as binary and case ·          repetition and/or iteration such as pre and post test	devise algorithms to solve everyday problems incorporating the use of control structures examine and analyse the existing code of a selected example and identify control structures ·          develop prototypes using basic control structures
Desk checking	conduct a desk check on a selected algorithm ·          modify an algorithm to produce the required output
Sub-programs purpose ·          examples	examine existing code and algorithms to identify the purpose of sub-programs for a range of examples ·          incorporate sub-programs into algorithms and working code
Programming language function of programming language ·          examples of a programming language	define and describe the function of a programming language ·          convert algorithms into basic code using a given language syntax
Data structures record file ·          array	examine data structures in existing code demonstrate the use of an array ·          modify existing code to allow for changes to the array
Testing test data ·          boundaries	test programming code using test data to check for the desired outcome
Error detection including syntax logical ·          run-time	identify and describe errors in a sample of given code eliminate sources of error to create working code
Error correction software tools	debug all errors in code using peer checking, desk checking or software debugging tools
Documentation of programming code	create appropriate user support documentation for code ·          apply meaningful variable names and comments to code
Project development processes and techniques modifying an existing program ·          creating a new software solution	design, produce and evaluate a simple project for a real-world application either separately for this option, or integrated with other options ·          write code to solve a real-world problem
Additional Content
Students learn about:	Students learn to:
Random and sequential files	compare and contrast existing code for processing random access and sequential files
Object-oriented software development	investigate developments of object-oriented software development

The extra cool thing for me was that I posted this message internally at Readify and instantly had a number of the guys come back with "yeah! Wouldn’t it be cool to be involved with that" and similar comments. Glad I work for a company that has a passion to reach out to community as deeply as this!