Pupils need free home access to ICT tools

By Peter Kemp Guardian Professional

We can't afford to imprison computer science in the classroom – or turn children into criminals

Companies making money from selling educational products to children must realise that this is stopping the poorest students in their tracks - or forcing them to break the law. Photograph: Denis Felix/Getty Images

Taking a board marker, Mr Smith added little twos to the top of each letter, then a bar, and down, with a tick. Then it clicked, this little equation spelt out genius, the whole world resonated with a new sense of order. What else could maths do? Running to her teacher after the lesson Sara asked if there was anything else she could learn. "No, the numbers stay here, if they catch you using them outside school they'll send you to prison".
The story sounds rather Kafkaesque, but the reality for many ICT students has not been too far from this. I'm privileged to be a computing and ICT teacher. I cannot imagine many other subjects where students are so keen and excited by the concepts they can cover, where a large percentage of your class would voluntarily come to after-school sessions to learn more or spend hours at the weekend learning on their own. However, there has been a barrier in their way. After lessons where we have learnt new tools and techniques, students have approached me and asked: "Where can I get that piece of software we were using?" "It will cost you £60…". They leave, off to spend their weekend doing something far less educational.
Mr Gove's announcement on Wednesday was about computer science in schools. Computer science, the tool that built the internet, created Wikipedia, links scientists together and brings down dictators. Computer science, that allowed one student to create Facebook from his dorm room, and another create Linux.
The possibilities that this curriculum change might bring are incredibly exciting, at the same time you can hear companies gearing up to take advantage of the bonanza in sales of resources and software. Businesses can create great tools and resources, but when something as enabling as computing is pushed to the fore, then all students should have access to it.
Recent years have seen reduced costs for educational software licenses (and some free), but for many families even £30 is too much. What choice do we leave these children other than becoming criminals or going without?
This is a social mobility issue and a moral one. Business needs to realise that when they are dealing with education, schools might be fair game but children are not customers. If a student, too poor to purchase the resources they need to take charge of their learning came to you and asked whether they should pirate a program, how would you respond? Several years ago I asked a classroom of students how many of them used pirated software at home; most of the hands (reluctantly) went up. When you hear that they cannot do homework because their computers are full of viruses you start to understand why.
The issue is even more pronounced when it comes to resources. Software is relatively easy to copy, but copying a text book or a password-only website is a different matter. Whilst delivering an A-Level computing course I found that our department lacked the funds to buy revision guides. The students couldn't afford them as they had so many others to buy, and they couldn't be sourced from the local library. I trawled Amazon with the little money we had and purchased half a dozen used and tatty revision books, several out of date. It helped a bit. I'm writing an open source book to stop this happening again.
But the future is looking bright. We have tools such as Scratch, Alice and Greenfoot, specially created to teach computing and free for all involved. We have You Tube, the Khan Academy and codecademy offering free resources, we have teachers writing wikibooks. With places such as South Korea, Chile and California investing in free and open source textbooks we must take note. Mr Gove talks of an "open source" curriculum; we must make this a reality. When schools look at implementing computer science they must guarantee free home access for all students.
With cuts biting hard, the amount of money that can be saved by schools adopting free resources and the government sponsoring people to create them is massive. If schools without specialists are going to deliver computer science from September, someone needs to provide the funds to build the open source "wiki" style Schemes of Work. Companies making money from selling educational products to children must realise that this is hindering the poorest. We must make the era of greater industry involvement in education one of greater corporate social responsibility and free collaboration. The moral and monetary arguments are clear.
If we are serious about reforming the ICT curriculum and teaching our kids computer science we must ensure that education is accessible for all. We cannot afford to imprison learning within the classroom and we must do everything we can to allow our poorest children to define their own futures.
• Peter is a Teach First Ambassador teaching in South London. He is a founding member of AMBICT, a self-help and innovation group for teachers delivering ICT in challenging circumstances. You can find out more about his work at kemputing.com.
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