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Developing computer software applications for use in Design and Technology Education
conference contribution
posted on 2006-03-15, 12:02 authored by Tony HodgsonThere is little doubt that design work provides a natural focus for Information Technology (IT) activities
and that both profile components of National Curriculum Technology are intended to be centred upon
real applications and real situations.
Despite a plethora of computer software applications which might be considered relevant in the context
of Design and Technology work, few are rarely designed to meet the needs of pupil learners and so it is
not surprising that few are used effectively. If IT is to become an effective tool in education, there is an
urgent need to consider how pupils and students learn through interaction with computer media, and
ways in which the teacher’s role might be developed. These issues are quite different from, but no less
important than, those considered by the software engineer, who is predominantly concerned with
providing elegant program code and sophisticated program facilities.
This paper discusses how these two sets of, often contradictory, matters may be corporately considered
to provide more effective software design. In particular, it considers how research, development and
evaluation, concerned with computer applications, might take more effective account of educationalists’
views, teachers’ requirements and pupils’ needs.
History
School
- Design
Research Unit
- IDATER Archive
Pages
20241 bytesCitation
HODGSON, A.R., 1992. Developing computer software applications for use in Design and Technology Education. IDATER Conference 1992, Loughborough UniversityPublisher
© Loughborough UniversityPublication date
1992Notes
This is a conference paper.Language
- en