IT teacher giving us this homework, dummies guide to PC

the year after i chose my GCSEs they introduced computing in my school , i had a look at my mates coursework for it and its all java, unfortunately all command line but what they learn could be used even to make simple android apps. Its a big step up from ICT as our coursework at A Level consists of a website (made in dreamweaver using the gui and not html, however i did mine in HTML as i acutally know it, unlike my teacher) and database design in....wait for it.......microsoft access. Other than the website.....maybe, none of what we cover in ICT is relevant now. For example on the sylibus for A Level it includes ISDN and Dial up and also the uses of a keyboard and mouse....really a keyboard and mouse. Also universities have realised this and want either computing or maths, and im stuck with ICT which is nothing compared to Computing.
 
The IT teachers in my school no next to nothing about the insides of a computer and most of the times don't know how to get the projector to work, i'm not surprised you were asked for a graphics card and a video card.

About right, I want to give the IT teacher in my Nephews school a severe slap, at age 15 & 12 I think they should know more about PC's & software than me & I've been dabbling with PC's for almost twenty years. :mad:
 
In resent years schools / colleges have focused on the applications of computers, eg learning about word processors and using the internet. They have done this at the expense of learning about the science of computing, such as basic architecture, binary, programming etc.

In 1992 I did a OND in computer studies, this course was relatively heavy in pure computing and maths, however a few years after this colleges started to soften this down and focus more on IT applications.

After the OND I did a HND in Software Engineering then transferred into second year degree computing at MMU.

After university I worked at a small software company, I was mentored by a former developer who worked on the HUD and flight control systems for Concorde all in Fortran incidentally.

I've spend the last 15 years in software. Worked on major recruitment system for Computer People, a NATO messaging system, major flight and accommodation website, was lead dev on a £800k NLP system for document and message handling, currently lead dev on financial software for money transacting. I often get disappointed I have never set up my own business however, given I started programming when I was 8yo on 8bit Atari and watched the computer world grow up around me.
 
Don't forget RAM & Memory is different and same applies with memory and hard drive :p

I thought they were improving the computer syllabus not dumbing it down

No wonder teachers aren't complaining, getting paid for not knowing the subject they teach
 
Last edited:
I remember going GCSE IT at school and one of the tasks we were given was to build a PC using whatever components we liked.

Well....I went for a quad core processor, 8ish GB RAM, big HDD's and was mocked for the design being told "It will never happen". I'm not sure if they were referring to me being able to purchase my own PC with this type of spec or the fact the hardware was seen as ambitious, but ether way "UP YOURS" :D

Regrading the IT Teachers Knowledge, one of our art teachers had a gaming office in his Art Studio. He was heavily into his programming, infrastructure and IT Security. He had warned the IT Teacher that the network was not secure and give him 30 seconds to get the IT Teachers Password. The IT Teacher was also responsible for running the network at the school.

Well....he was given the challenge and 30 seconds later, the art teacher had provided the password to the IT gents.

Needless to say, not only did it not go down well, but they had a big problem on their hands.

Those were the days...............
 
I remember going GCSE IT at school and one of the tasks we were given was to build a PC using whatever components we liked.

Well....I went for a quad core processor, 8ish GB RAM, big HDD's and was mocked for the design being told "It will never happen". I'm not sure if they were referring to me being able to purchase my own PC with this type of spec or the fact the hardware was seen as ambitious, but ether way "UP YOURS" :D

Regrading the IT Teachers Knowledge, one of our art teachers had a gaming office in his Art Studio. He was heavily into his programming, infrastructure and IT Security. He had warned the IT Teacher that the network was not secure and give him 30 seconds to get the IT Teachers Password. The IT Teacher was also responsible for running the network at the school.

Well....he was given the challenge and 30 seconds later, the art teacher had provided the password to the IT gents.

Needless to say, not only did it not go down well, but they had a big problem on their hands.

Those were the days...............

my GCSE ict teacher didnt even have a degree in IT, it was in Maths but because he had done A Level ICT he can teach GCSE ICT, the amount of times i had to correct him or usually the mark scheme from CCEA was unbelievable, he was alright IT wise, unlike my A Level teacher he actually knew how to use computer however the Course content was horrendous.

One of the questions on the paper asked what protocol was used to was used to upload files to a file server, the clear answer was FTP however they accepted HTTP, if your uploading files through a webpage im pretty sure it still uses FTP? i might be wrong, but this was only one of many discrepancies over years of mark schemes for past papers.
 
Back
Top Bottom