Putting the thrill back into computing at school

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• Simon Peyton Jones, MSR Cambridge
• Monday 12 November 2012, 13:00-14:00
• FW26.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Peter Sewell.

Computing is the richest, most exciting discipline on the planet, yet any teenager will tell you that in the UK we are systematically teaching our children that ICT (as it is called in school – “information and communication technology”) consists of little more than learning to use Word or PowerPoint. Over the last two decades, computing at school has drifted from writing adventure games on the BBC micro to writing business plans in Excel. (Not always, but too often.)

This is bad for our kids’s education, and it is bad for our economy. It is also quite fixable, but the inherent inertia in the educational system requires a clear message and case for change, from the classroom right up to the Secretary of State.

Having a decent education system in the area of IT and computer science is important for all of us. If we leave it to someone else, they’ll screw it up. It’s time to get roll up our sleeves, and now is the time to do it.

2012 has been a year of quite astonishing progress. I’ll tell you what’s up, and how you can help.

(Not a typical L&S talk, but you asked for it.)

This talk is part of the Semantics Lunch (Computer Laboratory) series.

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• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
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