CIOs and IT Directors in Yorkshire and Humber with large IT departments who participate in the Digital 20/20 Yorkshire IT Leaders Group confirm the difficulty in recruiting young people with the right skills.

There is a widespread view and one that Digital 20/20 has supported that the problem is caused by the way that ICT is taught in schools – in particular the ICT curriculum and associated qualifications.

Now The Royal Society is conducting an inquiry on computing in schools and asking the following questions:

1. Is computing a discipline, in the same way that mathematics, physics, chemistry are?
2. Is programming a fundamental form of literacy for the modern age?
3. What purpose should the teaching of ICT and Computing in schools serve?
4. Is the teaching of ICT (and accompanying qualifications, such as ICT GCSE) fit for purpose for all students? What should be done to address this?
5. Is computing and ICT best ‘taught’ in classrooms or ‘learnt’ by other means? How do learners learn computing and ICT skills?
6. What motivates students to study computing? Is it what they learn in school or something else?
7. How is computing presented at school, and is there a variation between schools? Why?
8. Who is teaching computing, and what qualifications do they hold? Are teachers sufficiently supported with subject-specific CPD? Are there enough specialist teachers? Why do they leave/join the profession? What are the barriers to improving the situation?
9. Why do some universities prefer their undergraduate applicants to have studied mathematics rather than computing at A-level?
10. What are the perceptions of computing and ICT amongst learners, teachers and headteachers? How can information, advice and guidance be improved?
11. Are these issues unique to the UK?
12. What can universities do to improve the situation?
13. Is there a case for curriculum reform? Is this the barrier?
14. Is there a need for an increased recognition of ICT and computing as part of the T in STEM, through representation in STEM forums and increased funding
15. What happens if we do nothing?

The Royal Society is particularly keen to have robust evidence to include in the final report, as well as ideas and suggestions.

Digital 20/20 is intending to submit a response to this public consultation.

The webpage with details of the inquiry can be found at: http://royalsociety.org/Education-Policy/Projects/

Deadlines for submission are by 5th November.

Some 200 trainers are expected to attend the event, which will include various session tracks, including keynotes, IT Pro, developer, Microsoft Office and information worker, BI, SQL, security, IT Academy/MOAC, soft skills and more.

For full programme details and registration, go to www.mctsummit.eu .

Chris is a self-effacing man, and just as personable in the flesh as he appears in his various online manifestations, and he laughs off the epithet which has been applied to him as “the most influential person on Twitter” as “just something to do with algorithms”.  Nevertheless, the fact that the algorithms have picked him out as such demonstrates that he must be doing something right with social media. Chris calls Twitter “the Serendipity Engine”, and it is purely due to Twitter that his second ever visit to the UK (the other was to Devon, he’s never been to London) saw him by the banks of the River Don, following a conversation on the micro-blogging platform with Doncaster-based entrepreneur and Chair of Doncaster College governors, Rob Wilmot. Rob persuaded Chris that Doncaster was the place to be to discuss the potential uses of social media in education, and so Chris decamped to this side of the pond to help us explore the issues.

The Social Media in Education Podcamp on Day One was followed on the second morning by a straight lecture from Chris. The Podcamp is Chris’s particular take on the unconference format, sometimes called “barcamp” or “open space”. These kinds of events are self-organised events, where participants are invited to suggest topics for workshops they want to lead, and invite other delegates to join them in parallel sessions.  As with many other such events, a grid was drawn on a noticeboard and a scrum ensued as attendees grabbed the post-it notes and fought for the best slot for their own presentation.

Chris Brogan got the event off to a rousing start with a keynote address, during which he pointed out the example of US Community Colleges which he called “places where hope grows”, and urged the education institutions represented to see themselves in the same light. Social media enables organisations and institutions to develop relationships with their users, and, crucially, with potential users. As he said in his second-day lecture, effective social media use means you can get to know the customer, and build a relationship with them, long before you ever have to sell anything to them. And people are much more likely to buy something from someone they know.  Statistics were quoted which suggest that 60% of the media consumed by today’s young people is made by their peers and not professionals.  Educational bodies can help people learn to create media, and should be aware that this will result in content much more appealing to the people they are trying to reach  than anything they might produce themselves.

From there it was off into some really intense discussions on many different aspects of Social Media in Education, from developing a Social Media Strategy to using iPhone apps in education.

Some common themes ran through the day including:

Frustration with in-house IT Departments: many internal IT managers just don’t get social media, and see it as an additional burden on their staff’s time. Blanket blocking policies are still pretty common in colleges and other public sector networks.

Joining the Conversation: Institutions need to understand the conversational nature of social media, and move away from “broadcast mode” into two-way dialogue with users, learners and potential learners. This can be a difficult shift to manage, and many marketing staff fail to develop the necessary mindset.

Controlling the message: Some institutions find the fact that social media can give a voice to many different people in the organisation to be threatening.  Managers are used to being able to control the messages that come out, but social media makes this a lot harder. Some respond by trying to clamp down, but this is rarely a successful strategy, and it is far more effective to join the conversation, develop a persuasive persona, and win people onto your side.

Staff lack of comfort with social media and digital tools: The digital divide is still very apparent in the education sector, with organisations like FE colleges and adult learning providers staffed with significant numbers of people who have little or no interest in social media, and who struggle to use digital equipment. This is an additional barrier to adoption, beyond management and blocking issues.

Child protection and teacher/student relationships: These inter-connected issues manifested themselves in a number of ways during the discussions. The Podcamp was mainly focussing on post-14 learning, so child protection was perhaps not quite the issue it might otherwise have been, but it is still an important factor. The fact that Facebook, at the time of the Podcamp at least, was holding out against introducing effective child protection measures, has not been a help in persuading teachers and their management that the introduction of social media to the classroom is a responsible step. Many teachers and tutors are also nervous about what social networking means for their relationships with students. Social networking between teachers and students risks opening up the private lives of teachers to the scrutiny of their charges, and means they could be seen to be invading students’ private spaces.

A workshop session on the issues of “Social Media, Digital Identity and Personality” failed to do more than scratch the surface of this complex issue, provided more questions than answers, and perhaps opened up a debate that might extend into a series of events in the future.

Day two was about a more-or-less straight lecture from Chris. It felt like a lecture, because it was held in a lecture theatre, but Chris’s style does not really lend itself to the term “lecture”. Beginning by telling the room that everyone there is, collectively, much more intelligent that he is, is not usually the way most lecturers would begin.  Chris has clearly got his social media “sound bites” well honed, one which struck a real chord was “promote others 12 times to every one time you promote yourself; and be at the shoulder of every deal”. This brought home how much social media is about generosity, and, while it may be tempting to think of the old adage “if you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made”, it was a neat way of encapsulating Chris’ point that social media allows organisations to develop real and meaningful relationships with their customers and potential customers, the result of which is that people really want to buy something from them.

For the delegates in Doncaster, there were two aspects of Social Media in Education of interest, that of using Social Media in the marketing and recruitment activities of the organisation, and that of its use in the classroom. Much of the content of Chris’s presentation was more relevant to the former rather than the latter aspect, but there had been much talk about classroom issues in the previous day’s sessions.

Chris urges organisations to “Listen – publish – connect”, the material you put out there must be responsive to your audiences’ needs and desires, and you must use it as a focus for opening and maintaining a dialogue with them.  In the modern era, people expect organisations to be open about what they do, but effective use of social media requires organisations and individuals to practice “publicness”, find their voice, and learn to become comfortable with living large parts of their lives in public. A lot of people think that being open about what they do undermines their competitive advantage, whereas the reality is that it demonstrates you are getting things done, and these days, people suspect those who are secretive about what they do might have something to hide, or at least that they are less than proud of their work.

Another thing that social media allows you to do is to let other people speak about you. Fora such a Facebook Groups and other online profiles encourage users and potential users to share opinions on your organisation. If you are successful in befriending them and showing your generosity online, they are likely to talk about you in positive terms, and testimonials from others are always much more powerful than anything you might say about yourself.

Altogether, this was a fascinating day and a half, a first for Doncaster with such a world-renowned speaker arriving in the town, simply because of an online conversation with Rob Wilmot. In many ways, this was an apt demonstration of how the internet and social media are shrinking the world, and shaping new forms of relationship. There is much work to be done in this area, however, in ensuring both educational institutions and teachers & lecturers are comfortable with social media and able to integrate it into their work. Digital 20/20 and its partners look forward to taking this forward with Doncaster College and many of the organisations and individuals represented at the event.

Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for Creative Media, is currently undertaking the largest formal review of skills needs and working life in the UK’s Creative Media Industries. Results will directly and quickly shape all Skillset’s work, including future training support, pinpointing skills gaps and making sure our industries maintain their world class position.

If you would like to take part, please visit the Skillset website: http://www.skillset.org/research/activity/workforce/article_7741_1.asp

FITS is a tailored best practice framework designed specifically for IT teams providing service to the school sector. Two courses are now available and are open for booking for August dates:

FITS – ICT Support in Education – Practitioner  £510 + VAT

Content:-Service desk; incident and problem handling; security, change release, patch management and configuration management.

Duration: Two day course. This comprises one and a half days of teaching followed by an examination which takes place at the end of the second day.

This unit will benefit individuals involved in ICT technical support in schools, colleges and universities and may include teaching assistants, technicians, management and supporting consultants.

This course provides 2 credits towards NVQ level 4.

FITS – ICT Support in Education: Advanced/ Managers £710 + VAT 

Content: Service level management, service continuity management, availability and capacity management, performance monitoring, preventative maintenance, print & output management, energy conservation, storage management, directory services administration and financial management.

Duration: Three day course. This comprises two and a half days of teaching followed by an examination which takes place at the end of the third day.

This unit will benefit individuals involved in ICT technical support in schools, colleges and universities and may include senior technicians, management, head teachers and supporting consultants.

This course provides 2 credits towards NVQ level 5.

Location and dates:

Leeds City Learning Centre: 2^nd August and 16^th August

To register on one of the above courses contact WSLIT on 07791 306837 or email wsl.margaret@rocketmail.com to book your place.

PRINCE2 is a structured project management method that has become an effective standard for organising, managing and controlling all types of projects. Its reputation as a highly effective, process-based approach to project delivery is widespread across public and private sectors both in the UK and further a field. 

For full details of the course content please visit www.ntileeds.co.uk.

The full cost of the course is £1295 p/p, which includes lunch, refreshments, all course materials and the Foundation and Practitioner exams. Nti currently has funding available which brings the cost down to just £520. To find out if you qualify or for more information in general please contact brigitte@ntileeds.co.uk or call 0113 81 21724 / 07826 876 636.

It was fantastic to see these young people arrive to tread a (virtual)red carpet and receive certificates and awards specially crafted by Ruskin Mill Educational Trust. Construction, Engineering, It, Creative and Media were all represented and Nick Duggan 14-19  Assistant Director for the Sheffield Consortium kicked the evening off by reminding us that in a rapidly changing economic environment a portfolio of skills is required to make yourself marketable today.

David Kay, Employer Champion gave his vision of the shifting employment landscape where digital skills and people skills will take you places.An impressive number of employers  joined the celebration, taking the time to celebrate the achievements of these youngsters and sponsor awards for Outstanding Student and Student of the Year.Special thanks to Corus, Mitutoyo,Dormer, The Workshop, Kier, Keepmoat, Henry Boot, Sheffield International Venues and Sheffield Technology Parks for their sponsorship of these young people .

The new Diplomas are about learning in action, they offer young people opportunities most of us would have given an eye tooth for. A digital composer commented to me that if he had had the chance to work in a music studio at 15 years old it would have been a fantastic learning experience. If learning is about anything it must be about experiencing and thinking, meeting real practitioners and working on imaginative and exciting real projects. The employer-designed Diploma stands out amongst a jostling panopoly of qualifications because it truly is different – and young people find it challenging but very interesting and engaging. It changes them.

Tom Rice, Awardwinner and emerging multimedia specialist age 17 spoke to me over the buffet table -

“It has been brilliant and helped me decide exactly what I wanted to do with my life – it motivated me to focus on how hard I need to work to get there.” I believe Tom is going into a future equipped with the confidence and skills to take him wherever he wants.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact: lindsey.strachan@vital.ac.uk , tel: 07770 731584 or beverley.parker@vital.ac.uk , tel: 07769 234235

Dee Desgranges from Sheffield Council and National adviser on Participation spoke about a number of ways to engage disaffected learners. This was followed by a discussion about the best way to take the NEETs agenda forward. There was general agreement that a Special Interest Group focused on NEETs and e-inclusion issues would be beneficial and there was also interest in the idea of developing a regional Virtual College.