Information technology and the A‐level curriculum: a core skill or a fringe benefit?

Abstract

The recent proposals to include information technology (IT) as a compulsory ‘key skill’ element throughout all areas of the 16‐19 curriculum would seem to herald the end of the largely ‘computer‐free’ A‐level curriculum. Yet, the appropriateness of this imposition has largely been taken for granted by policy‐makers and educationalists alike. In an attempt to pre‐empt the imposition of compulsory IT use at A level, this paper uses qualitative data from 96 students and 29 teaching staff, in both school‐based sixth forms and further education colleges, to explore the current role of IT in the A‐level curriculum. From this basis, current attempts at an institutional level to provide an IT element for all A‐level students are also examined. As the interview data reveal, many teachers and students see IT as a superfluous to the ‘real’ objectives of taking A levels and are largely hostile or, at best, indifferent to using IT. In the light of these findings, the place of IT as a core skill in the A‐level curriculum is reassessed.

Keywords:

• information and communications technology (ICT)
• computers
• A level
• core skills
• key skills
• post‐16 education

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Neil Selwyn

Dr Neil Selwyn is a Research Fellow in the Post‐Compulsory Education and Training (PoCET) Unit at the School of Education, Cardiff University.