Mozilla Drumbeat Keynote on Web Education

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The current state of web education in schools Anna Debenham Mozilla Drumbeat

description

I gave this presentation on web education at Mozilla Drumbeat Festival 2010. This presentation has a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Transcript of Mozilla Drumbeat Keynote on Web Education

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The current state of web education in

schools

The current state of web education in

schoolsAnna Debenham

Anna Debenham

Mozilla Drumbeat

Mozilla Drumbeat

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http://www.neopets.comhttp://www.neopets.com

I learnt HTML playing NeopetsI learnt HTML playing Neopets

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http://www.neopets.comhttp://www.neopets.com

I typed it into a box on the website

I typed it into a box on the website

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http://www.neopets.comhttp://www.neopets.com

The site had a set of HTML tutorials for kids

The site had a set of HTML tutorials for kids

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http://myspace.comhttp://myspace.com

I learnt my first CSS customising a Myspace profile

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http://scrunchup.comhttp://scrunchup.com

I created Scrunchup for young people learning web design.

Here’s why:

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http://www.alistapart.com/articles/brighter-horizons-for-web-education/http://www.alistapart.com/articles/brighter-horizons-for-web-education/

“Schools that teach web design struggle to keep pace with our

industry, and those just starting their curricula often set off in the

wrong direction because the breadth and depth of our

medium can be daunting.”

“Schools that teach web design struggle to keep pace with our

industry, and those just starting their curricula often set off in the

wrong direction because the breadth and depth of our

medium can be daunting.”

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http://www.alistapart.com/articles/elevate-web-design-at-the-university-level/http://www.alistapart.com/articles/elevate-web-design-at-the-university-level/

“Let’s face it. Technology moves fast; academia doesn’t.”

“Let’s face it. Technology moves fast; academia doesn’t.”

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“The problem is that many of the pre-higher education age group have nowhere to go if they want

to be taught web design or development.”

“The problem is that many of the pre-higher education age group have nowhere to go if they want

to be taught web design or development.”

Chris Mills http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2009/08/19/how-do-we-educate-the-web-standards-kidsChris Mills http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2009/08/19/how-do-we-educate-the-web-standards-kids

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“Europe is about to face a shortage of 70,000 skilled

workers in the tech sector by 2010”

“Europe is about to face a shortage of 70,000 skilled

workers in the tech sector by 2010”

http://goo.gl/VrCIhttp://goo.gl/VrCI

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“One reason for this is the general level of understanding

among today’s students…”

“One reason for this is the general level of understanding

among today’s students…”

http://goo.gl/vG4Thttp://goo.gl/vG4T

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“…their use of technology often outstrips that of their teachers.”“…their use of technology often outstrips that of their teachers.”

http://goo.gl/vG4Thttp://goo.gl/vG4T

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http://goo.gl/8WeMhttp://goo.gl/8WeM

Article by the Royal Society “ICT and Computer Science in schools - damaging to the UK’s

future economy”

Article by the Royal Society “ICT and Computer Science in schools - damaging to the UK’s

future economy”

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http://goo.gl/8WeMhttp://goo.gl/8WeM

“…students’ understanding and enjoyment of the subjects is

severely limited.”

“…students’ understanding and enjoyment of the subjects is

severely limited.”

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“…we risk a future workforce that is totally unskilled and unsuited

to tomorrow’s job market.”

“…we risk a future workforce that is totally unskilled and unsuited

to tomorrow’s job market.”

http://goo.gl/8WeMhttp://goo.gl/8WeM

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http://goo.gl/Iddxhttp://goo.gl/Iddx

ICT specification for next years’ GCSE students

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http://goo.gl/GSSFhttp://goo.gl/GSSF

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http://goo.gl/GSSFhttp://goo.gl/GSSF

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http://goo.gl/GSSFhttp://goo.gl/GSSF

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33%in 6

years

A-LevelICT

Number of students taking exams in this subject in EnglandNumber of students taking exams in this subject in England

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57%in 8

years

A-LevelComputing

Number of students taking exams in this subject in EnglandNumber of students taking exams in this subject in England

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“Semantic HTML is the use of HTML markup to reinforce the semantics, or meaning, of the

information in webpages rather than merely to define its

presentation (look).”

“Semantic HTML is the use of HTML markup to reinforce the semantics, or meaning, of the

information in webpages rather than merely to define its

presentation (look).”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_HTMLhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_HTML

Wikipedia definition of semantic HTML

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Excerpt from an Open University textbook for a course on computingExcerpt from an Open University textbook for a course on computing

Definition of HTML by the largest academic institution in Europe

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http://goo.gl/k64Khttp://goo.gl/k64K

2009 Ofsted report on “The importance of ICT”

based on a 4 year study of almost 200 secondary and primary schools in England on their

performance in ICT

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http://goo.gl/k64Khttp://goo.gl/k64K

“Higher-attaining students were insufficiently challenged.”

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http://goo.gl/k64Khttp://goo.gl/k64K

“the number of girls choosing to study

computing post-16 has fallen to an all-time low.

… and the number continues to decline.”

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http://goo.gl/k64Khttp://goo.gl/k64K

“Schools do not challenge sufficiently the value of deploying a set of adult productivity tools

to help pupils and students develop their ICT capability.”

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“Just up-ing the number of PC's in schools won't get you

anything.”

“Just up-ing the number of PC's in schools won't get you

anything.”

http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-levelhttp://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level

(Teacher comment)

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“We have no idea what we are supposed to be doing with all this

stuff”

“We have no idea what we are supposed to be doing with all this

stuff”

http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-levelhttp://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level

(Teacher comment)

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“All we're gearing our kid's up for is a life in an office. No wonder there's no stampede for that

career path.”

“All we're gearing our kid's up for is a life in an office. No wonder there's no stampede for that

career path.”

http://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-levelhttp://www.itpro.co.uk/626212/ict-education-fails-at-a-level

(Teacher comment)

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http://message.uk.comhttp://message.uk.com

“I coded my first plain HTML website when I

was 11, using Frontpage. It was

horrible, but I thought it was freakin'

awesome!”

“I coded my first plain HTML website when I

was 11, using Frontpage. It was

horrible, but I thought it was freakin'

awesome!”

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Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/

Upload RobotsBuilt by 5th graders

Upload RobotsBuilt by 5th graders

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“Being so young, VC backing was not an option as it’s too risky to

invest in a couple highschoolers.”

“Being so young, VC backing was not an option as it’s too risky to

invest in a couple highschoolers.”

Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/

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“We also have to constantly conceal our age because we are dealing with people’s important documents, and they might not

trust us because people, including ourselves, are

inherently ageist.”

“We also have to constantly conceal our age because we are dealing with people’s important documents, and they might not

trust us because people, including ourselves, are

inherently ageist.”

Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/Nick Cammarata and David Merfield from http://uploadrobots.com/

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Matt MullenwegMatt Mullenweg

Photo by kris krüg from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/98025271Photo by kris krüg from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/98025271

Created Wordpress before he could legally buy a drink in his country

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“We are now watching the enthusiasm of the next

generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and

syllabuses.”

“We are now watching the enthusiasm of the next

generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and

syllabuses.”

Professor Steve Furber, Fellow of the Royal SocietyProfessor Steve Furber, Fellow of the Royal Society

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“We need school curricula to engage them better if the next

generation are to engineer technology and not just consume

it”

“We need school curricula to engage them better if the next

generation are to engineer technology and not just consume

it”

Professor Matthew Harrison, Director of Education at The Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Matthew Harrison, Director of Education at The Royal Academy of Engineering

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Let’s fix thisLet’s fix this