Head in the Cloud

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a pattern emerging in the reporting of digital competence and anything else schools ICT related by the BBC over the last year or so? I've just read this report by the BBC to yesterday's announcement from the Welsh Government of a digital competency framework for schools in Wales. Did you spot the focus? Here are some quotes: "So-called "digital competency" involves being able to code and programme computers and skills need to go beyond IT lessons." "An independent review of IT in schools had earlier said computer science lessons needed to be made more relevant to now and the future ." What is it with BBC's fixation on coding? Did they actually read the Donaldson review? Did they notice that computer science is certainly included, but under a new area of learning and experience called Science and Technology, which was not mentioned by Huw Lewis yesterday? As I've outlined in several of my...

Yesterday the education minister, Huw Lewis, announced that a new digital competence framework for schools in Wales would be available from September 2016. This announcement comes off the back of the Prof. Donaldson report, Successful Futures , and although he hasn't formally responded to the recommendations in the report, the Welsh Government obviously feel that this is a priority and would like to have it implemented as soon as possible. Traditionally the Welsh Government have implemented curriculum changes or frameworks, 'top down'. That is, subject experts writing the new document, then having it piloted by schools, before being pushed out to all schools. However, the development of this new digital competence framework will be developed locally, as suggested in the Donaldson report. “I will therefore be asking our regional consortia to identify a small group of those schools and practitioners already leading the way on the digital agenda so they can help us to design...