The new Digital Technologies curriculum sounds like it would be mainly about devices, but in fact it is more about people; devices aren’t an end in themselves, but a means for helping people to achieve their goals. In addition, teachers might be concerned that the technology is too fast-changing to keep up with, and uses jargon that may become outdated quickly. This talk will look at the connection between the digital devices and people, including some key ideas and terminology foundational to digital systems, and reflections on helping teachers get up to speed with the curriculum. This will include exploring the lasting ideas that underpin the curriculum, illustrating them with examples from the Computer Science Unplugged approach.
Tim Bell is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury. His “Computer Science Unplugged” project is being widely used internationally with the supporting materials (books and videos) having been translated into over 20 languages. Tim has received many awards for his work in computing education including the ETH (Zurich) ABZ International Honorary Medal for Fundamental Contributions in Computer Science Education (in 2013) and the 2018 ACM SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education award. Since 2008 he has been actively involved in the design and deployment of the approach to the teaching of digital technologies in New Zealand schools. #acce2018 ACCE 2018 Conference