Published on the 05/07/2016 | Written by Clare Coulson

Initial IT sector reaction to digital technology curriculum changes is one of frustration and missed opportunity…

This morning Education Minister Hekia Parata announced that “digital technology is to be formally integrated into the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa”. In her announcement she said that the change “will ensure that we have an education system that prepares children and young people for a future where digital fluency will be critical for success”.

The study of digital technologies and computational thinking will be expanded in the curriculum from senior secondary (where it currently resides) right down to Year 1. It will not, however, become a separate subject and looks like it will continue to be taught alongside vocational subjects such as hard materials, food technology and textiles (the old woodwork, metalwork, cooking and sewing).

She made her announcement at the NZTech Advance Education Technology Summit taking place in Auckland today. NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller took a diplomatic approach to the announcement: “NZTech is excited the Government is adding a digital tech section across all streams of curricula. This is a great step forward, but it is only the first step.”

Muller also said he looks forward to hearing how the government plans to invest in supporting teachers and school leaders so they have the skills and resources to prepare the future workforce. “The aspirational aim is to have all NZ schools able to offer digital technologies to all students by 2018,” he added.

The announcement has provoked a strong reaction from other members of the tech sector, who are not best pleased with the lack of urgency and progress.

Orion Health’s outspoken CEO Ian McCrae, who has been championing the need for improvements in our education system for many years, has slammed the announcement as “a missed opportunity”.

“It is disappointing to have waited so long for so little.” McCrae said in a statement. “What the tech industry asked for is Digital Technology to be separated from woodwork, metalwork, cookery and sewing and to become a separate learning area. That hasn’t happened. We said Digital Technology needed to become an academic subject on a par with maths and physics. That hasn’t happened.  And we wanted a major change to the curriculum so that it actually taught secondary school students how to code, rather than how to create a power point presentation. That hasn’t happened either.

“What the tech industry asked for is Digital Technology to be separated from woodwork, metalwork, cookery and sewing and to become a separate learning area.”

“There were many other excellent recommendations made during the 12 month review which have all been ignored. This calls into question the point of any consultation,” he blasted.

The comments reflect the frustration felt by McCrae and many like him in the technology sector after six years of waiting, a 12 month review process, and seven months of deliberation by the Ministry for what amounts to minimal changes in the treatment of technology in our school curriculum – and a lot of seemingly ignored advice.

These sentiments are shared by IITP CEO Paul Matthews, although he was a little more restrained in his statement, which said the IITP welcomes the expansion of digital tech in schools but is disappointed the broader changes needed in the area “have apparently been dumped”.

“The Minister has stopped short of truly transforming tech education in schools by refusing to create a proper focused home for Digital Technologies in its own learning area [subject], or significant additional funding for professional development for teachers. Experts have made it clear that both are necessary to achieve the educational transformation needed to prepare students for today’s digital world. The decision by the Minister to block this was disappointing,” he said.

“The vast majority of those participating in the review recognised that a transformational change was needed. The world has changed and we need to get serious about preparing our kids for their digital future,” Matthews says. “Digital Technologies needs its own home within the curriculum. Without this, the outcome announced today simply won’t get us where we need to go as a country.”

He continued: “The changes announced are something that should have been implemented from the start. The tech industry was looking for leadership, not two years of meetings and reviews. More urgency is needed if the Government is serious about positioning New Zealand for the real economic growth our industry can bring.”

The decision is the result of the Government’s Science and Society Strategic Plan ‘A Nation of Curious Minds: Te Whenua Hihiri i te Mahara’, which was launched in 2014. One of its key initiatives was to review the positioning and content of digital technology within the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Minister Parata said that from now until the end of 2017, the Government will consult with stakeholders, design new curriculum content, and develop achievement objectives across the whole learner pathway. It will be fully integrated into the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa in 2018.