Re:BBC Computer Literacy Project 1980 – 1989
by Symbiote on Thursday March 26, 2020 @07:23AM
(#22692431)
At best, those were optional (to the student or to the school) classes for the final 2 years of education.
I am just 3 years older, but in Year 2 (age 6-7) at primary school we wrote programs on the computer in Logo, and then connected that to the floor turtle to trace the pattern onto paper.
A couple of years later, the only work we did on the computer was word processing.
Re:BBC Computer Literacy Project 1980 – 1989
by iso1631 on Thursday March 26, 2020 @08:59AM
(#22693077)
Born in late 81, I vaguely remember some computers in primary (NW England) school - I think we had a BBC micro. We did some logo (no actual floor turtle) in about 94/95 (year 8), but aside from that it was all Windows 3.1/Netware/Microsoft Works. I think the internet sort of arrived at school in year 12+13 (so 98 onwards), but by then I was playing with Linux and Matt's script archive from home.
My introduction to computers beyond playing games was from my dad, who had brought an PC back from work around 93/94, with windows and VB3, and a modem a year or so later. The "Learn X in 24 hours/21 days" books were really good for bootstrapping -- I remember the VB and TCL/TK ones
Did your school not follow the national curriculum?
Computer science content was there during the period you (and I) were at school it just wasn't made very clear that it was computer science. Maybe this is a good thing? Just teach it like a regular part of what people are already doing in their fundamental classes.
I think you will have done data structures and algorithms in the discrete part of your maths A-level, including sorting and graph algorithms, and asymptotic analysis.
You will possibly also have had the option of a computing A-level, which featured genuine CS topics like data normal forms, assembly programming, and memory allocation.
I think people are unfairly hash when they talk about previous UK CS education in schools.
I don't know of other countries routinely teaching their 16 year olds asymptotic analysis of Dijkstra's algorithm.