Twitter studies to be part of curriculum

A planned shake up of the curriculum will see pupils taught 'modern media and web-based skills' as they are prepared to cope with life in the 21st Century.

Sir Jim Rose, the former Ofsted chief, has drawn up the plans in order to overhaul the curriculum and will publish the full details next month.

While core idea such as phonics, history and arithmetic will still make up a great part of the school lesson, learning things like Twitter and Wikipedia skills will become an integral part too.

The Guardian has seen draft plans for the proposal, and it includes core learning areas to take the place of the current standalone subject areas.

Blogging at school

This would mean children would be given blogging, podcasting and social-networking skills as part of their education, with handwriting and keyboard skills given equal precedence.

However, there are some concerns that this is just pandering to a trend, with John Bangs of the NUT stating : "[The proposal] seems to be about trends on the one hand, then political pressure on the other hand - the government didn't want to look like it is scrapping traditional education.

"Computer skills and keyboard skills seem to be as important as handwriting in this. Traditional books and written texts are downplayed in response to web-based learning."

Via The Guardian