David Taylor

Education secretary Michael Gove today announced that Building Schools for the Future will be cut, and any project that has not yet reached financial close will now not go ahead. Having been fortunate enough to be in a school that received a full single site (albeit PFI financed) rebuild from a crumbling spilt site setup, I am startled by this turn of events. What has been clear to me from first hand experience is that a modern curriculum needs modern facilities - it simply isn't good enough any more for our children to be stuck in a decaying building more suited to a Victorian education than a 21st century one.

In my view, every child deserves a first class education and any budget set by the government should recognise this. This was an excellent initiative by the previous government and whilst I wasn't always a fan of the previous education secretary's policies, I wholeheartedly supported BSF. Thinking about Oldham, where I am based, how many youngsters from difficult backgrounds will now not get the education that they deserve? These are indeed very worrying times for secondary education.

If you are affected by this, or indeed have an opinion, I would welcome your comments.

Many of us in the public sector were braced for the announcement of spending cuts today by the new government, and one high profile casualty is Becta. I'm sure many in education expected the organisation to take some kind of hit but I have to admit I did not expect it to be shut down completely.

I personally have a very keen interest in online learning as my school's lead teacher on the VTLE, and I have personally worked alongside the organisation on projects in the past. Our school has gained a lot through its work with Becta in building our ICT provision, to the point where we are recognised as a national leader. The video below, for example, was made recently to highlight our work in using ICT to bridge the gap between parents and school.

So, what are your feelings about this cut? Will it impact on your school? Do you think it was right to axe them or, like me, are you starting to seriously worry about what might be next?

It was reported on BBC news that Dr Henry Edward Roberts, the inventor of the Altair 8800 and the first home computer to have what was then known as 'Altair Basic' written for it, has died aged 68. 

Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft stated:

"Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers long before they were commonplace - and we have always been grateful to him. The day our first untested software worked on his Altair was the start of a lot of great things."

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken "a critically important step that led to everything we have today".

Full report on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8600493.stm

My first blog post for a while - its been busy. Anyway, the first day of the Digital D&T Integrated event on Saturday 27th Feb was a success - here are some pictures from the course:

http://digitaldtnw.ning.com/photo/albums/digital-dt-integrated-event

Don't forget - you can join this Ning group if you are interested in integrating CAD/CAM and ECT in your D&T work.

Just a quick entry to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. See you all in 2010!

Here are some cool Christmas gadgets courtesy of Channel 5 News: