<<< Previous speaker next speaker >>>

Fraser Speirs

 Fraser  Speirs

Fraser Speirs is a Mac OS X and iPhone Developer and Director of Connected Flow, Ltd. On Mac OS X, he is best known for the FlickrExport plugins for iPhoto and Aperture.

Fraser is also the Head of Computing and IT at Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland. He is responsible for the teaching of Computing and ICT across the school and is also responsible for IT provision, policy and strategy. In August 2010 at Cedars, Fraser successfully led the world's first 1:1 deployment of iPads in a whole-school setting.

Presentation: "The Invisible Computer Lab"

Time: Wednesday 10:35 - 11:35

Location: Henry Moore Room, Fourth Floor

Abstract:

The impact of mobile technologies in the computer industry is not limited to the retail channel. Businesses are increasingly "going mobile" yet schools remain unsure how to approach this new arena of computing both in terms of hardware provision but, more importantly, how we teach children in a world where information is constantly and instantly available.

This talk will argue for a new direction in school ICT. Instead of stepping back from technological leadership, I argue that schools should move forward in deploying technology and move backward from teaching "IT skills", as typically understood.

This talk invites the audience to reflect on the role of Computer Science in schools. The conflation of ICT and Computer Science in one subject has tended to edge out the Computer Science content in favour of teaching ICT to deliver skilled pupils to other teachers. Finally, this talk will present an experimental model of delivering ICT in a school with 1:1 technology.