Look at this!
I heard them talking on the radio. Then someone mentioned them on Twitter. I went to their website to read up about it, then realised I'd actually met them through GSE, who is a friend of theirs. (I remembered him especially because he used to work at Cambridge University, and he told me that schools didn't realise that Cambridge interviews all students who apply, no matter what their grades, and if they like someone they'll give them a place even if they don't get the grades. I didn't know that either.)
Clever, clever people. I know next to nothing about science and technology, but I know something about poor families and about education. This does sound like a genius idea which will have an incredible, democratising impact. It almost makes me wish I was back in school so I could introduce it... Almost.
About pretension
1 week ago
I put my name down for one weeks ago - we've lost a couple of generations of people who have no opportunity for looking "under the bonnet" of everyday technology.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea, but I fear that it's going to be too technically inaccessible to a lot of kids. What was great about the eighties wave of home computers was that they made it easy to start experimenting and building things, no matter how little you knew about programming to start with.
ReplyDeleteThis thing is very appealing to geeks who can see the potential, but I'm not sure how it's going to get kids excited.
Rog, I'm not even techie & I'm tempted.
ReplyDeleteLC, I think there is three good things they've thought about... one is that it is a device that kids can use just like a smartphone - they can play games and stream video etc, the coding comes as an extra, so hopefully that is a way they will entice them into using it. Then they can start getting geeky with it. Two is that is cheap and affordable, and lots of families really still can't afford computers. Three is that they will roll it out through schools and combine it with the ICT curriculum, so even if they don't start using it for coding themselves they will get access through taught lessons. I think they have covered all the bases...
There 'are' three good things. ahem.
ReplyDeleteOh and hello Liz - if you are reading, you totally are memorable! It was great to meet you. It was only because I was thinking about education that I just mentioned Eben & what he said about Cambridge, honest...
ReplyDeleteYes, Cambridge gets a lot of shit about its application system, but most people don't know how it actually works. I cocked up one of my A Levels but they still took me on the strength of my interview.
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