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Special Announcement: New ICT Direction in Schools

New Zealand Computer Society announce agreement between the Ministry of Education and wider sector regarding the future direction of ICT education in schools, including the announcement today of a raft of changes that will see significant improvements in the delivery of secondary school ICT educational outcomes in New Zealand.

History

As many of you will know, NZCS brought attention to the serious problems within secondary ICT education with the release last year of a report authored by NZCS members Gordon Grimsey, from AUT, and Margot Phillipps, an ICT teacher, and reviewed by a panel of 13 senior academics and professionals throughout New Zealand.

This report critically evaluated all ICT-related Achievement Standards and concluded that none were suitable for the assessment of ICT in schools. It also made a number of recommendations about the future of secondary ICT education in New Zealand.

Since this time NZCS have been working closely with the Ministry of Education sorting through the range of problems identified, and more importantly, what to do about it.

The Digital Technologies Expert Panel

This culminated in the establishment of the Digital Technologies Expert Panel, made up of a group of experts from NZCS, the teaching profession, the tertiary sector, principals, ICT companies, and others.

NZCS CEO Paul Matthews represented the Society on this panel. Several of the other panelists were also NZCS members, although representing other communities (such as tertiary providers).

The DTEP considered a huge range of information and made a number of recommendations, many concurring with those from the earlier NZCS report.

Where to from here?

We're pleased to now announce that the Ministry of Education has formally agreed to a set of outcomes from the DTEP process, and work on these significant changes has already begun.

These changes include:

• Establishment of a specific recognised Subject area called Digital Technologies, encompassing ICT and ICT-related disciplines (such as Electronics)
• Instead of the current mishmash of subjects within the Technology Learning Area, this will be reorganised into 3 subject areas, being "Digital Technologies", "Graphics and Design", and "Material and Processing Technologies” (sitting alongside generic "Technology")
• A full Body of Knowledge (a "Curriculum" or "Syllabus" outside education circles) is being created covering ICT areas. The draft of this work, which will go through a consultation process, is near completion and includes significant input from NZCS-appointed experts
• The draft Body of Knowledge has Digital Technologies separated into 5 sub-categories:
  • Electronics
  • Programming & Computer Science
  • Digital Information
  • Digital Media
  • Digital Infrastructure (including networking, hardware, software, and systems)
• Very importantly, a full set of subject-specific ICT Achievement Standards will be created to cover these 5 areas
• Teaching and Learning Guides will be created specific to Digital Technologies (these are the glue that brings courses together)
• Representatives of DTEP and NZCS will be involved throughout the above process, to assist and ensure things stay on track

We strongly believe that this re-structure will result in significant improvements to ICT education in New Zealand schools, both for end-users and for those intending to continue on to a career in ICT.

The Ministry

Whilst it's fair to say NZCS and the Ministry of Education haven't always seen eye to eye, credit where credit's due. The Ministry officials involved in this work have approached this with an open mind and put in significant goodwill and effort to get the result desperately needed in this area.

They have done their Ministry proud and should be commended, and as you know, that's not something we would say lightly.

What's missing?

We really don't want to take anything away from the very significant announcements today, however there is still more work to be done around ICT professional development for teachers. Without a significant commitment in this area these changes will be difficult to implement. We will continue dialogue about this important area with the Ministry and others.

Will it actually happen?

The Ministry has agreed to NZCS representatives and others from the DTEP playing a significant role in the next steps, including within the teams advising on (and writing) the new Standards, the Guides, and other areas.

We will be doing everything in our power to assist with this process, and the ICT community can be assured that you'll be hearing from us if the project is sidelined or deviated in any way.

However, personally, I'm more optimistic than I've ever been that we are now on track to resolving the issues identified in secondary ICT education, and that the Ministry, profession, teaching fraternity, and wider sector will continue to put differences aside and work together to put this on track for the good of the country as a whole.

And finally...

And lastly, thanks to you, our members and supporters. NZCS and others have contributed very significantly to getting things this far, and we simply would not have been able to do this without your support.

Being a member of NZCS really means something, and it's not just the recognition and benefits you receive as an individual or organisation. Through your support of NZCS you really are contributing to significant improvement in the education of the next generation of ICT professionals, and for that you have our thanks.

More Information

• Ministry of Education / DTEP Joint Release
• NZCS Press Release
• DTEP Outcomes and Recommendations
• NZCS report into Achievement Standards

Have a great weekend.

Regards,

Paul Matthews
Chief Executive
NZ Computer Society Inc (NZCS)