The difficult (and controversial) decision on which technology to teach

Important: Translated automatically from Spanish by 🌐💬 Aphra 1.0.0

Without fail.

September arrives. You’re an IT teacher. New assignment, or not. This year you’re teaching new modules. You review contents, objectives, learning outcomes, and evaluation criteria. With the Law and curriculum¹ digested, the question arises: What technologies should I select to teach what I need to teach?

You search for teaching materials to shed some light. This is a bit outdated, this is hardly used, this has potential but isn’t stable or complete enough…

You ask colleagues who have been teaching that module for several years… And each uses a different technology. And, of course, has a different opinion on the matter.

You’re clear that in Vocational Training (FP)², it doesn’t make sense to spend too much time on theory that you can’t put into practice using a technology. You want the students to have the best opportunities to access the local job market. At the same time, you want them to be able to adapt to the changes that will come to it. To also be drivers of change and innovation in those companies. To have different tools they can apply depending on the project context. At the same time, to have the necessary resources to start their own business with high chances of success. And, why not, for the learning to be as smooth and least arduous as possible. You want too many things.

Maybe you know the local business landscape. Maybe you don’t.

Maybe the vast majority agree on the technologies they use. Maybe they don’t.

But if I teach what they use, maybe it’s a technology that’s on its way to becoming obsolete, they don’t stop using it because it’s what their staff knows and it’s setting them up for failure in the future. And the students too.

But if I teach what they use, maybe it’s very different from what is used elsewhere, or what the market demands or will demand soon. And I’m limiting the opportunity for students to grow professionally in a different area. And what do I know about what the market will demand?

But if I don’t teach what they use, maybe they won’t want to hire the students later. And the students will complain, rightly so, because in the Work-based Training (FCT)³ they haven’t had the opportunity to test almost anything they’ve seen in your module in a real environment. And they’ve enrolled in Vocational Training because they want to start working.

Add to all these reflections the fact that not all students in the same course arrive with the same basic knowledge. There are those who got a 10 in programming and those who got a 5. If I have to do something assuming they know programming, the one who got a 5 will inevitably get lost.

And time. Oh! That time factor that limits everything.

Of course, these statements can be nuanced, but let the IT teacher who hasn’t considered one, several, or all of these questions at some point raise their hand. If you haven’t, I think it’s high time you did. Reflection is always positive.

If you’ve come here looking for a clear and forceful answer, you won’t find it. But perhaps some advice from an apprentice might be helpful:

• Investigate, as far as possible, the technologies used by local companies. Especially those that collaborate with the Work-based Training. You don’t have to opt for these technologies if you don’t see it fit. However, you should at least mention them at some point. And if you dedicate even one session, even if it’s just an introduction, the students who have to put it into practice will be gaining a lot.
• First the base technologies, and then the frameworks. I think it doesn’t make much sense to teach Bootstrap without first having gone through HTML and CSS or Laravel without having seen PHP. The more base technology they know, the easier it will be for them to adapt to new changes and trends. The opposite path is much more complicated.
• Sign up for newsletters or follow specialized media on the specific topic the module deals with. Soon you’ll be able to get an idea of the most stable technologies, those that are more trendy, and those that are barely mentioned anymore.
• Look for job offers about the technologies you’re doubting between: number of ads, location, and salary are data you should pay attention to.
• Combine different technologies if time allows. If you can see how to configure a Cisco router and then make the comparison on how to configure a Mikrotik router, better. If there’s not enough time… Well, there isn’t. You can always propose it as an extension activity.

Is there anything we can do as a teaching community in this regard? Maybe there are a few things:

• Share in some space the technical knowledge we have about the companies in each area, as well as what is taught in each center. This would allow us to draw up a map of the current state and draw conclusions about it. When will we have a Stack Overflow Developer Survey⁴ on the technologies we teach and our knowledge of the business environment?
• Continuously debate about the advantages and disadvantages of each choice. And share the results of our decisions: employability of students (a follow-up should be done on this) and their satisfaction with the training received.
• Create collaborative teaching materials. Technologies change too quickly. If it’s not a new technology, it’s a new version. It’s impossible for a single teacher to keep their modules completely up to date. The only way to have teaching materials up to the expected quality is by collaborating among ourselves.

And I could continue listing actions to carry out as a community, but I’m going to stop because this article is on its way to becoming one in the category my wild ideas. Maybe one of these days I’ll do it. Or maybe someone will be encouraged to do it for me.

I don’t want to lecture on this topic. What I’d like, as always, is to hear your opinion and thus learn from it.

See you in the forum for some long-forgotten framework.