Abstract
This paper traces the introduction of computing into schools in the Australian State of Victoria. Told from the point of view of two active participants, the story exposes a number of themes that resonate with experiences in other countries. From its beginnings in the 1970s on borrowed or shared minicomputers and the use of punched cards for teaching programming in conjunction with facilities at local universities, progress in the 1980s was rapid after the advent of the relatively low cost microcomputer. This article tells the story of how computer education developed in Victoria in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving discussion of more recent history for another time.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Apple Computer Inc., The Apple Tapes Introductory Programs for the Apple ][ Plus: Apple Computer Inc. (1979)
Bainbridge, W.J.: Internal memo to all policy committees (November 1979)
Bigum, C.: Logo, Some Critical Reflections. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Computers in Education: On the Crest of a Wave, Melbourne (1986)
Callon, M.: Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. In: Power, Action & Belief. A New Sociology of Knowledge?, pp. 196–229. Routledge & Kegan Paul, J. Law. London (1986)
Carter, P.: Lego and Logo: the Bits Between. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Golden Opportunities, Adelaide (1988)
Commonwealth Schools Commission, Teaching, Learning and Computers. Report of the National Advisory Committee on Computers in Schools. Commonwealth Schools Commission, Canberra (1983)
Denning Branch International (2009). The Old Robots Web Site - the First Wave of RoboticsRetrieved (May 2012), http://www.theoldrobots.com/turtle1.html
Gilding, A., Pearce, J.: Logo and the Exploration of Some Concepts in Science. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Computers in Education: On the Crest of a Wave, Melbourne (1986)
Jones, A., McDougall, A., Murnane, J.: What did we think we were doing? In: Impagliazzo, J., Lee, J.A.N. (eds.) History of Computing in Education, pp. 83–90. Kluwer Academic Publishers/IFIP, Assinippi Park, Massachusetts (2004)
Latour, B.: Technology is society made durable. In: A Sociology of Monsters. Essays on Power, Technology and Domination. Routledge, J. Law. London (1991)
Latour, B.: Aramis or the Love of Technology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1996)
Malone, T.: Strategies for Using Logo in the Classroom. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Could You Use a Computer?, Melbourne (1983)
McCluskey, D., Adair, I., Feil, C., Smulders, M.: Teaching Year 11 Computer Studies. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Could You Use a Computer?, Melbourne (1983)
McDougall, A.: Computers and Post-Primary Education in Victoria: a Study of Needs. Education Department of Victoria, Computer Policy Committee, Melbourne (1980)
McDougall, A., Adam, T.: Logo for Senior Secondary School Students. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Could You Use a Computer?, Melbourne (1983)
Monash Computing Museum. MONECS Deamon Educational Computer system (2003), http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/museum/ (retrieved February 2004)
Powerhouse Museum, Powerhouse Museum Collection Search - Tasman Turtle (2012), http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=262955 (retrieved May 2012)
Salvas, A.D.: Personal communication (1985)
Secondary Computer Education Committee, Year 10 Computer Education: Guidelines for Secondary Schools. Education Department of Victoria, Melbourne (1980)
Tatnall, A.: The Role of the State Computer Education Centre of Victoria, Minor. Deakin University, Geelong (1985)
Tatnall, A.: Designing the Australian Educational Computer. Education 110(4), 453–456 (1990)
Tatnall, A.: The Growth of Educational Computing in Australia. In: Goodson, I.F., Mangan, J.M. (eds.) History, Context, and Qualitative Methods in the Study of Education, London, Ontario, vol. 3, pp. 207–248. University of Western Ontario, Canada (1992)
Tatnall, A.: Curriculum Cycles in the History of Information Systems in Australia. Heidelberg Press, Melbourne (2006)
Tatnall, A.: The Australian Educational Computer That Never Was. IEEE-Annals of the History of Computing (forthcoming, 2012)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Computer Science for Year 11. Jacaranda Press, Brisbane (1985)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Conceptual Development Through Robotics: Information Technology in Practice. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Computers in Education: On the Crest of a Wave, Melbourne (1986)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Making Information Technology Real. Paper Presented at the ACEC 1989, Backup the Future, Canberra (1989)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Computer Science for Year 11: Information Technology Studies. The Jacaranda Press, Milton (1990)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Improving the Chances of Getting your IT Curriculum Innovation Successfully Adopted by the Application of an Ecological Approach to Innovation. Informing Science 7(1), 87–103 (2004a)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Streams in the History of Computer Education in Australia. In: Impagliazzo, J., Lee, J.A.N. (eds.) History of Computing in Education, pp. 83–90. Kluwer Academic Publishers/IFIP, Assinippi Park, Massachusetts (2004b)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Early Computer Awareness Courses in Australian Secondary Schools: Curricula from the late 1970s and early 1980s. In: Impagliazzo, J. (ed.) History of Computing and Education 2, pp. 107–116. Springer, New York (2006)
Tatnall, A., Davey, W.: Computer Education Support Structures in Victorian Schools in the 1980s. In: Impagliazzo, J. (ed.) History of Computing and Education 3, pp. 1–22. Springer, New York (2008)
Tatnall, A., Davey, B.: The Life and Growth of Year 12 Computing in Victoria: An Ecological Model. In: Tatnall, A. (ed.) HC 2010. IFIP AICT, vol. 325, pp. 124–133. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)
Tatnall, A., Tatnall, B.: Logo in Control: Control Technology in Education. Paper Presented at the Australian Computer Education Conference - Tomorrow’s Technology Today, Adelaide (1987)
Victorian Institute for Secondary Education, Handbook for, Year 12 Curriculum and Assessment. Victorian Institute for Secondary Education, Melbourne (1984)
Woodhouse, D., Tatnall, A.: Information Technology: Theory, Application and Impact. Dellasta, Melbourne (1991)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 International Federation for Information Processing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tatnall, A., Davey, B. (2012). Reflections on the History of Computer Education in Schools in Victoria. In: Tatnall, A. (eds) Reflections on the History of Computing. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 387. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33899-1_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33899-1_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-33898-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-33899-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)