Letters

When I started working as a primary teacher I began to write BASIC programs for the BBC micro. They were too simple for a 'proper' software company to produce, but little gems when used in the right way. A simulation of fair and unfair dice required little programming but it could stimulate a wide range of probability investigations.
The program itself was less important than the way it was used.
Staff in my own school would share their ideas and make use of some of my programs, but that was as far as it went.
Today my programs are written in JavaScript and the burble in the corner of my classroom is the sound of a modem rather than an audio-cassette driven BBC.
Using the web it should now be possible to share activities and ideas for activities nationally. This is not really happening in a co-ordinated manner - unless you are prepared to pay. I would like to see this change.
I have put together some simple web pages to help teachers and computer enthusiasts work together to produce and distribute some of these 'little gem' programs.
Teachers have the best ideas as to how ICT can help their pupils but seldom have the time or knowledge to create even the smallest programs to support pupil learning. Teachers can publish these ideas for simple activities at the above site.
Computer enthusiasts (including many teachers!) are able to pick up these ideas and create the software required. Both contributors to the outcome can be acknowledged when the activity is available on-line.
The end result could be a growing bank of imaginative computer-based activities to support teaching and learning. I am aware that some programmers might have ideas of their own and that many teachers write programs for themselves. What is important is that this is a bottom-up approach where the beneficiaries are pupils, wherever they may be!
If you are interested, take a look at
www.supported.org.uk

Dear David,

What an excellent idea promoting the 'sharing' philosophy that was rife in the early days of educational computing and we would love to see it thrive.
There are several small sites like this already, but as you say what is needed is co-ordination. You have started the ball rolling, let us hope that teachers who read this will join in.
Thank you for sharing this idea.