From Student Geek to Teacher Geek Chic – Reflections on How Computers Were Used while as a Student and then as a Teacher

Abstract : This chapter is a reflection on the use of computers in the author’s time as a secondary school student, and then subsequently five years later as a qualified teacher of Information Technology. Despite the uneven teaching of computing in the 1980s low student enrolments, and the marginalization of the subject, computing flourished in the 1990s. With ever increasing enrolments for computing subjects, and a strong demand to access the computer room, resources were stretched and tensions were high. Some of the early problems that surfaced with the introduction of computing have been resolved, whilst others continue to be a challenge.