Owers Lecture 2009

Can we reverse the decline in schools' computing, especially with girls?

Professor Stephen Heppell inaugurated this lecture series as head of Ultralab in 2004 to promote the important debate about education and industry which Dr Stan Owers explored in his doctoral thesis.

Stephen founded Ultralab in the 1980s, moving there from the UK Government's groundbreaking Microelectronics Education Programme. Over a score of years Ultralab grew to become Europe's leading learning technology research centre with projects that pioneered multimedia CD ROMs and on-line communities in the 1980s - before the web!

His current work is wide-ranging and best estimated by visiting heppell.net

On 10th December 2009, the fifth Owers Lecture will take place in front of an invited audience at Oracle's city office in Moorgate, London.

Can computing be viewed as a form of manufacturing in the knowledge economy?

Why is it in such decline in schools, especially amongst girls?

In 2005 there were 7242 students sitting A Level computing exams, 815 of these were female. By 2014 that is predicted to drop to around 1500 and all of them will be male, based on figures released by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

Dr Stan Owers’ thesis claimed that the human species evolved in symbiosis with technology since the stone age. What part has computing in such evolution?

This lecture series is designed to maintain a focus on the action that should be taken to rectify it.

The inagural lecture was given by Dr Stan Owers in 2004, followed by Dr Ian Gibson MP in 2006, Jeff Roche & Raj Rajogopal in 2007 and Jamie Tuplin, Pete Wiliamson & Mick Waters in 2008.

In association with:

The evening will begin with a focused presentation by our guest speaker, Kate Sim, followed by a brief response from Professor Stephen Heppell, leaving ample time for discussion.

Kate Sim is a part-time teacher, Open University tutor and robot fan. She teaches computing and robotics at higher and secondary levels, enjoys exploring the use of technology in education and is actively involved with RoboCup at national and international levels. Kate will describe her work, raise issues arising from her practice and address wider issues, particularly in relation to girls.

Dr Stan Owers November 2009