Introduction and Two Activites

from Jon Chippindalls Chapters in a new Publication

Cross, A., Borthwick, A., Beswick, K., Board, J. and Chippindall, J. (April 2016) Curious Learners in Primary
Maths, Science, Computing and DT, London: Sage.

Chapter 6 Curious Learners in Primary Computing

Older people sit down and ask, 'What is it?' but the child asks, 'What can I do with it?
Steve Jobs

Overview
This chapter will look at the relevance of curiosity in educational computing. It will
start by exploring the content of the English computing curriculum (DfE, 2013),
looking at how it breaks down into computer science, information technology and
digital literacy. It will look at incredible innovations which have changed the world as
a result of individuals exercising their curious minds in the context of computing. It
will also explore the skills in computing which are linked to, and enable learners
curiosity. Finally, we will consider the features of a computing curious classroom. In
the next chapter we present a series of case studies which explain in more detail
how we develop curiosity in primary computing.
To help ensure schools curriculum keeps pace with our technology-rich world, in
September 2014 schools saw the introduction of a new subject in the National
Curriculum, computing, to replace information and communication technology (ICT)
(DfEE,1999). The ICT curriculum was deemed by many professional bodies as
outdated, uninspiring and not fit for purpose. Publications, such as Shutdown or
restart? (The Royal Society, 2012) and Next Gen. (Nesta, 2011) called for change.
The main failing of the ICT curriculum, as pointed out in these reports, was too great
a focus on developing solely ICT skills, that is, teaching learners to be competent
users of software such as word processing, presentation and database packages.
Whilst such skills are undoubtedly important, so too are the skills in being creators of
technology, by learning the computer science behind how to program for example.
Both the Nesta (2011) and The Royal Society (2012) reports found these to be the
skills in demand by the worlds growing digital technology economies. These were
the skills that the valuable British computer games industry, for example, required
from new recruits, and were struggling to find in young people who had received an
ICT education. Young learners require these skills in order to be active participants
in an ever more technology driven world, in Rushkoffs (2013) words: Program or be
programmed.
It followed that Nesta (2011) and The Royal Society (2012), along with groups such
as Computing at School (www.computingatschool.org.uk), called for an increase of
computer science within schools curriculum. This opinion was also voiced by the
Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, who in 2011 gave his MacTaggart Lecture in
Edinburgh in which he explained: "I was flabbergasted to learn that today computer
science isn't even taught as standard in UK schools" and added that as the country
which invented the computer we were "throwing away [our] great computing
heritage". The government responded, and in January 2012 announced the

disapplication of the ICT curriculum. The task of creating a new curriculum fell to the
British Computer Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering who developed
computing which was introduced in September 2014 (DfE, 2013).
The change from ICT to computing may be viewed as part evolution, part revolution.
Computing is an umbrella term used to describe a three-part curriculum made up of
computer science, information technology and digital literacy. These three
components each promote and utilise curiosity. Table 6.1 shows how computing
divides up into these strands, as explained in the Computing at School publication:
Computing in the National Curriculum - A Guide for Primary Teachers.
(http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/CASPrimaryComputing.pdf)
KS1
CS

Understand what algorithms are;

how they are implemented as
programs on digital devices; and
that programs execute by
following precise and
unambiguous instructions
Create and debug simple
programs
Use logical reasoning to predict
the behaviour of simple
programs

KS2
Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific
goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems;
solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work
with variables and various forms of input and output
Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms
work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and
programs
Understand computer networks including the internet; how
they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide
web
Appreciate how [search] results are selected and ranked

IT

DL

Use technology purposefully to

create, organise, store,
manipulate and retrieve digital
content

Use search technologies effectively

Recognise common uses of

information technology beyond
school

Understand the opportunities [networks] offer for

communication and collaboration

Use technology safely and

respectfully, keeping personal
information private; identify
where to go for help and support
when they have concerns about
content or contact on the
internet or other online
technologies.

Select, use and combine a variety of software (including

internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and
create a range of programs, systems and content that
accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing,
evaluating and presenting data and information

Be discerning in evaluating digital content

Use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly;
recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a
range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.

Table 6.1 Computing subject content divided into computer science, information
technology and digital literacy.
The revolution was the introduction of computer science (though this was not strictly
new as ICT did include data and control). It is within the computer science strand
that learners are taught about information, computation and digital systems. They

learn how to analyse problems in computational terms, drawing upon their

computational thinking skills and gain experience of writing programs.
In terms of evolution, the introduction of computing gave schools an opportunity to
update their information technology and digital literacy provision. Learners develop
experience using a variety of technology within these strands, creating digital content
such as videos, podcast, presentations or programs. Being digitally literate arises as
learners engage in the computing curriculum as a whole, as they become competent,
confident and creative users of technology set to take their place in a digital world.
This includes knowing how to use technology responsibly and safely, covered within
the E-Safety aspect of digital literacy.
The focus of this and the following chapter will primarily be on developing learners
curiosity about the computer science strand of computing. Throughout the whole of
this book links are made to opportunities for developing information technology and
digital literacy within cross-curricular contexts.

2 Example Activities
These examples could form part of IT and digital literacy which are parts of
Computing in the National Curriculum (DfE, 2013).
Excerpt from Chapter 7 (text may change in editorial stage)
Network Safari
Curriculum links: Geography
In this activity learners go on a hunt around school to discover all the devices
connected to the schools network, including the server (dont let them switch it off!),
switches, wireless routers, printers and computers. They can mark these on a sketch
map of the school covering Key Stage 2 geography objectives and even go off site
looking for the nearest green cabinet which is where local networks connect. After
identifying the different devices they can get curious about the purpose of each,
identifying what it does and why it is needed.
To help spark learners curiosity you might ask if they have ever wondered what the
device with all the wires coming out of it in the corner of the
library/cupboard/classroom is for? (Like those pictured in figure 7.7) Have they ever
wondered why they can save their work on one computer and open it on another? Or
maybe theyve spotted small boxes on the wall with flashing lights and wondered
what they do? They might have a suspicion they allow the tablet in their hand to
access web pages, or maybe let it print, or perhaps both? Sharing these ideas
reveals learners existing understanding and misconceptions. You may yourself as a
teacher initially be learning with your pupils. As discussed in chapter X,
misconceptions fit directly with Piagets violation of expectation model of curiosity.
That is to say when we are told what we thought is incorrect it likely serves to make
us more curious about what we thought we knew.

Fig 7.7 A server and network switch in a primary school

The act of investigating what they can find in their school by following connecting
Ethernet cables and hunting out wireless routers feeds an interest about how the
technology is connected and its purpose. This new understanding fuels curiosity in
different contexts. How is the wireless router in a home the same or different to the
server and switch in school for example? Pupils could create a glossary of terms
describing aspects of the network, or label different devices in school with
information about what they do.
Where in the world? (Visual traceroute)
Curriculum links: mathematics, science and geography
A key objective of the Key Stage 2 curriculum is for learners to understand the
difference between the Internet and the WWW, as discussed in Chapter 6. This
involves developing an understanding that the WWW is made up of web pages
stored on web servers (computers connected to the internet). A great way to illustrate
this is to use a web-based visual traceroute program such as
http://en.dnstools.ch/visual-traceroute.html A visual traceroute program provides an
illustration of data travelling across the internet to the web server holding the web
page requested, as shown in figure 7.8.
Learners can use a visual traceroute to become more curious about where in the
world web pages are stored. For example, where is their favourite web page stored?
They can explore which countries store the most/least web pages? Perhaps they
might wonder how many different countries they can find hosting web pages. They
might then start to wonder how web pages travel across the internet, which could
lead into activities modelling the internet or how search engines work.

Figure 7.8 Visual traceroute of location of www.google.com server

from the forthcoming publication

Cross, A., Borthwick, A., Beswick, K., Board, J. and Chippindall, J. (April 2016) Curious
Learners in Primary Maths, Science, Computing and DT, London: Sage.