[nzlug] OSS in Nz schools

[cr]

On Sunday 04 February 2007 12:32, Stephen Judd wrote:
> > Basic programming (think LOGO) was as much as I saw until High School, at
> > which point some (very) basic Basic was covered (at 6th form!)
>
> Logo or similar level things were all I had in mind. Programming need
> not be writing a polished application. I think there's a lot of
> valuable things to learn (logic, arithmetic, geometry, ...) and a lot
> of satisfaction to be had,  in doing quite simple things.
>
> It's striking to me how many of my generation learned to program on
> machines at home in the 80s, and how few younger people I meet have.
> ("Why Johnny Can't Program")

I think it's part of the deliberate dumbing-down of the consumer.   "Don't 
touch that, leave it to the professionals."

Whatever happened to the idea of 'number 8 wire' - the idea that a good 
practical Kiwi could fix anything he owned?   Back in the seventies and 
eighties, it would have seemed almost inconceivable to us that an average guy 
could own a car and not be able to fix it if it broke down - at least for 
minor faults like a blown head gasket.   And I guess the idea of having a 
home computer and not being able to program it would have seemed equally 
strange (or, in fact, pointless).   

I guess cars have got more complicated and computers have turned into internet 
terminals or games machines, and neither are as user-friendly or 
user-serviceable as they used to be - partly a natural consequence of 
complication, partly deliberate on the part of manufacturers.    But it does 
appear that the average consumer is becoming more and more dependent on 
gadgets that he is not encouraged to understand and helpless to maintain.   I 
would like to think that schools tried to remedy that, and certainly (since 
more and more things are computerised these days) teaching the principles of 
programming would be worthwhile.   Heck, even putting formulae into a 
spreadsheet is an elementary form of programming.

cr
..."Do not open.   No user-serviceable parts inside.   Refer servicing to 
qualified personnel".
..."Where's my screwdriver!"