I was reading this article recently and a couple of things caught my eye.

The top three reported challenges were:

• Rapidly changing technology


• Lack of staff support or interest


• Lack of curriculum resource

I get lack of curriculum resources and lack of staff support or interest. What I don't get is the rapidly changing technology aspect. When I was in high school doing computer science, I learned computer science on an Apple IIgs, running AppleSoft BASIC, and by that time we were running Windows 98 on our PCs.

Some might call it outdated, but you take a computer science course to learn more about algorithms and what is common among languages, such as variables. You don't take a computer science course to learn about a specific language. Even if you want to learn something new and shiny, there are enough web programming languages that people can use in high school to learn about programming and do something cool with them.

This comment also raised an eyebrow:

What concerns me is a lack of opportunities for high school students to learn how advanced computer applications (beyond Microsoft Office) can be used in the application of knowledge in biology, physics, medicine, history and sociology, and communication.

While this IS concerning, what is even more concerning is that kids these days don't seem to graduate from high school even knowing the basics of Microsoft Office (or any office suite for that matter).