Digital skills in schools: who's teaching the teachers?
On Tuesday 21 October the House of Lords' Digital Skills Committee will hear from teachers, educationalists and technology training experts as part of their inquiry into ICT, competitiveness and skills.
The Committee is next week specifically looking at how the teaching workforce is being effectively trained to pass on the digital skills necessary for the UK's future. It will also cover areas such as the computing curriculum, the number of computing teachers in schools, and out-of-school learning.
In the first session, starting at 10:15am, the Committee will hear from Dr Bill Mitchell, BCS Director, Academy of Computing, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT; Professor Simon Peyton Jones, Chair, Computing At Schools (CAS); Charlie Taylor, Chief Executive, National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL); and Sir Andrew Carter, Headteacher, South Farnham School.
In a second session, starting at around 11:15am, the Committee will then quiz
Jack Evans, Specialist Support Teacher (Computing & DT Co-ordinator), Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney; Mark Chambers, Chief Executive Officer, Naace; Suneil Basu, ICT Coordinator, Preston Manor School; and Miles Berry, Principal Lecturer, Computing Education, University of Roehampton.
Questions the witnesses will face include:
- How is the current teaching workforce preparing for the new curriculum?
- How many more specialists computing teachers do we need?
- Are they being trained effectively?
- Who is training the trainers?
- Is current on-the-job digital training working properly?
- Do we need to start teaching ICT as a core curriculum subject?
- Do we need to give computing GCSEs more weight in school?
- What role do out-of-school-hours learning opportunities play?
The first evidence session will take place in Committee Room 2 on Tuesday 21 October, starting at approximately 10:15am, with the second starting at approximately 11:15am.
The session will be webcast at www.parliamentlive.tv and is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.
