Steve Furber On Why Kids Are Turned Off To Computing Classes

nk497 writes "UK computing legend Steve Furber — co-founder of Acorn and ARM designer — believes students are avoiding computing classes because they teach nothing but the boring basics. Currently studying why the number of students signing up for computing has halved in the past eight years, Furber said schools focus too much on teaching kids how to use spreadsheets, word processors and PowerPoint, rather than teaching more challenging areas such as programming. 'What schools are presenting as ICT as an academic subject is very mundane compared with what students know they can do,' he said. 'It's as if maths was just arithmetic or English was taught as just spelling. It's not unimportant that you can do arithmetic or you can spell, but it certainly doesn't open up the whole world of interest and challenge, if that's all you do.'"

Comments

well..

[Soilworker]

They can't teach anything else, most "computer science" teach I had in highschool was almost computer iliterate, shit, I even had a programming teacher in college who was typing with 2 fingers.

Re:well..

[dcollins]

"iliterate"

You don't say.

Re:well..

[Red Flayer]

I've had the lick of having learned to type blind, which makes me able to type without having to think about the keyboard and focus on programming instead, but even the slowest typing collegues seem to have a reasonable typing speed.

Irony alert... irony alert... Irony level has been set to MAUVE.

In the event that additional typos are detected in a post regarding touch-typing ability, please be aware that the irony level may be raised to FUSCHIA. Please ensure your irony preparedness kits are completely stocked, and stay tuned for further announcements.

Re:well..

[Nadaka]

It could be worse, you could have an intelligent teacher who knows and loves the subject, but only speaks Vietnamese. Fortunately there was a cute little Vietnamese girl in class. I would have passed just on doing the homework, but there were other advantages to be had.

Re:well..

[Red Flayer]

--> I've had the lick of having learned to type blind, which makes me able to type without having to think about the keyboard and focus on programming instead, but even the slowest typing collegues seem to have a reasonable typing speed.

Irony alert... irony alert... Irony level has been set to MAUVE.

In the event that additional typos are detected in a post regarding touch-typing ability, please be aware that the irony level may be raised to FUSCHIA. Please ensure your irony preparedness kits are completely stocked, and stay tuned for further announcements.

Doh! Insensitive clod alert... insensitive clod alert... insensitive clod level has been set to MORON.

In the event that another poster uses colors as threat-level indicators in response to a post written by a blind person, insensitive clod level may be raised to DOUCHEBAG. Please ensure your insensitive clod beating kits are prepared for use, and stay tuned for further announcements.

Re:Guilty

[roman_mir]

pffft, I type with my dick. The only problem is that balls keep pushing the space-bar.

Re:Guilty

[red_dragon]

What language can be written entirely with only the bottom row of the keyboard?

Re:Guilty

[c 0xFF]

Whitespace.

Re:Start with Python

[ConceptJunkie]

1997: I would start with Java, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn C, but those would be specialists.

1990: I would start with VB, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn C, but those would be specialists.

1985: I would start with Pascal, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn C, but those would be specialists.

1980: I would start with BASIC, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn C, but those would be specialists.

1975: I would start with Fortran, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn C, but those would be specialists.

1970: I would start with Fortran, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn PL/1, but those would be specialists.

1965: I would start with COBOL, then most people would never need to learn another language. A small minority would want to learn ALGOL, but those would be specialists.

1960: I would start with LISP.