to be aghast you can get a GCSE in 'digital communications'

[fyrtlemertile]

Was speaking to a family member today whose choosing her options, apparently English Literature is an option, like History, French, Art or Music used to be while 'The English suite of qualifications are English Language, Media Studies and Digital Communications. Gifted student may have the opportunity to take English Literature as a twilight course and it will be offered as an option for band 1 students' (Band 1 = top half of the year, sets 1,2 and 3 I think).

AIBU or is digital communications probably a GCSE in facebook, texting and tweeting?

What the effing jeff is a 'twilight course'?? It was an essential in my day

English Lit ws an option for me...YEARS ago...I am 38....I did the very first year of GCSEs.

I remember having to decide between Lit and Drama. Impossible as I wanted to be an actor.

hardhat, I am reliably informed a 'twilight course' is not about the vampire books as I first thought but actually one which runs after school!

English Lit has always been an option hasn't it?

And English Language was pants and dumbed-down when I took it, and that's over ten years back. Doesn't sound as if it's changed much.

well IT is basically learning to use word and spreadsheets nothing at all to do with fixing computers.

And I could choose lit or Language. Not both.

I think the point the op is making is that Eng Lit is no longer a main subject like it used to be, but rather it is a secondary option, superceded by GCSE Facebook!

I do think English Lit is a bit outdated.. I took it, but found it dreadfully boring.

If the digital communications course involves learning the correct way to compose a professional email, how to use spell check and word check, proof read before sending, and some sort of desktop publishing, then it is probably more beneficial to todays generation of students than English Lit.

Well I can honestly say, having an O Level in Lit did not make any difference to my career, or has been beneficial in any of my jobs.

I would rather have done Latin, but that wasnt on the curriculum at my school.

Don't be so stupid LeQueen spelling isn't important and if you point out someone can't spell it's discriminatory don't you know.

English Lit should always be compulsory imo.

Look around you, its the 21st century. Digital communications is vastly more useful to teenagers than any number of things that we did in school, woodcraft and ceramics, anyone?

As long as its a proper accredited validated course it sounds like an excellent idea. Its about time we started preparing children for the actual world they live in and not the one we think they should.

But digital comms is coming in and cookery has disappeared i know which is the most essential out of those two!

they should have both of those and get rid of something else. For instance I did 2 languages at GCSE, I can't speak either of them. What was the bloody point of that then? Either they should teach it properly or get rid, teach children some actually sensible skills and core academics too.

Cookery is too much of a minefield... too many kids with allergies these days.. .

Seriously though, I do think basic life skills such as cooking, needlework, diy, should be taught to students. We do seem to have a very inept generation being unleashed into society.

But shouldn't those skills be soft ones, picked up through all their other subjects? I don't use my knowledge of Chaucer or centrifugal forces much but they enhanced my general knowledge and along the way I somehow learnt how to spell, proofread and use a calculator, without having dedicated lessons in it...

IT is totally pointless to teach at school though, Winter. I did mine at age 16 and it was out of date by the time I applied for a job aged 18. Utterly useless. None of the skills are transferable either.

www.edexcel.com/quals/gcse/gcse10/english/digital/Pages/why.aspx

If, like me, you have 15 year old who doesn't always engage in learning , this is great - at least he is making an effort as it interests him - oh and he is doing catering as well - he is a fab cook and wants to be a chef - he is taking 12 GCSEs so would prefer him to enjoy them

How so? Digital communications can cover all sorts, its not like the early days of the internet here. Communications are digital in the main. Life is online. *

*disclaimer: I'm a cyberpsychology student, I may be biased.

I expect you could teach some useful transferable stuff Winter, but I don't think that's what IT was about when I did it. If it's changed now that's great, but I don't see how you could avoid teaching a lot of stuff that would go out of date very fast.

I also don't see why teaching normal, transferable communication skills would stop you applying those skills to digital media - with the added bonus that you could apply them to other things too. Just seems a bit over-specialized to me.

tbh, i think digital communications is going to be a useful thing to have. more so than cooking really. Unless you are going to be a chef, you dont need to know the proper way to cook.
same with sewing. you dont need to know how to cut and tailor an outfit, or embroider, as long as you know how to take up a hem, or fix a button or zip back on, youre fine.

So the ability to cook isn't essential.

Interesting.

Do you live off takeaways then? :o