Evaluating the New Secondary Informatics Curriculum in The Netherlands:The Teachers’ Perspective

Since the introduction of Informatics as an elective course in secondary education in the Netherlands in 1998, the implemented curriculum is being regularly monitored. The results of the large 2013 secondary Informatics teachers survey contributed to the revision of the Informatics curriculum. This revised curriculum came into effect in 2019. In line with regular curriculum monitoring practices, the Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development is polling the secondary Informatics teachers to understand their views and opinions on the intended curriculum and to learn about their implemented curriculum The results indicate that the majority of the respondents find the new Informatics curriculum better than the old one and that it offers a solid foundation for their teaching practice. A minority either misses some content in the curriculum or considers it overloaded with content, and some find it not to be up to date. Furthermore, the results of this survey are compared to the results of the 2013 survey to assess to what extent the new Informatics curriculum meets the teachers’ needs and recommendations better.</p

Influence of computer use on schools' curriculum: Limited integration

In the literature many claims are formulated about what might be accomplished in actual teaching practice when computers are used in a proper and intensive way. Therefore, in this study we analyse how three leading schools in the lower general secondary education sector in The Netherlands are using computers in their curriculum. The results show that these schools have hardly passed the stage of grassroot developments. To validate and possibly generalize these results we did, as a follow up study, a telephone survey with a larger group of leading schools. The survey confirmed the outcomes of the case studies

Information literacy in secondary education in the Netherlands: The new curriculum

The Dutch government decided to introduce in 1991 some form of comprehensive lower secondary education for grades 7–9. The Minister of Education and Sciences appointed committees for all fourteen subject areas to prepare attainment targets for these domains. The Committee for Information Literacy and Computer Literacy (ICL) was given the task not only to prepare objectives for a 20-h course on ICL, but also to advise the committees for the other subject areas on how to incorporate information technology into their recommendations. The ICL Committee concluded that a course of 20 h was too little for the subject area of information literacy and computer literacy, and decided to generate objectives for the whole domain of ICL, and to prepare proposals for the strategies by which information literacy and computer literacy can be integrated into the new lower secondary school curriculum

Changes, challenges and responsibilities in geographical education: The International Geography Olympiad

Geography has never been so accessible; new media present documentaries about diverse places, supported by travelogues that ask intriguing questions, with superb imagery of natural and cultural features, all supported by emerging digital cartographies. These geographies reach many more people than the well-cited texts of 19th century geographers such as Humboldt and Ritter, yet the paradox is that contemporary Geography is not identified as a critical part of the educational entitlement of young people. The essay explores this paradox with reference to the changes in education in the last 150 years and a commentary on the scholars and institutional frameworks that share responsibility for the current and future status of the discipline. Since 1996 the International Geographical Union (IGU) has accepted a key challenge faced by Geography; the process of fostering the regeneration of the discipline by engaging young people. The IGU has supported ten International Geography Olympiads since 1996, with the eleventh Olympiad scheduled for Krakow in 2014. The essay outlines the nature of the Olympiad where field trips and cultural activities provide an unparalleled experience for young scholars exhibiting international excellence in Geography. These young people are our future

Status of introductory computer education in the Netherlands: results of a survey

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is conducting an international comparative study on educational computer use in more than 20 countries. This paper analyzes some of the Dutch results of the IEA survey on the use of computers in lower secondary schools. The findings show that at present computers are mainly used for introductory computer courses, but that the integration of computers into existing subjects is still limited. The main problems identified in the study are: insufficient availability of courseware and hardware, time constraints and a high need for teacher training

The evolution of a national research plan for computers in education in The Netherlands

This paper describes the evolution of a national research plan for computers and education in The Netherlands. This approach was initiated in 1983 and includes two phases: one from 1984 until 1988 and one from 1989 until 1992. The paper describes the research plans for the second phase, based upon the experiences of the first, and draws some general conclusions about the development of national research plans for computers in education

weSPOT: a cloud-based approach for personal and social inquiry

Scientific inquiry is at the core of the curricula of schools and universities across Europe. weSPOT is a new European initiative proposing a cloud-based approach for personal and social inquiry. weSPOT aims at enabling students to create their mashups out of cloud-based tools in order to perform scientific investigations. Students will also be able to share their inquiry accomplishments in social networks and receive feedback from the learning environment and their peers