The Guardian’s campaign to improve the teaching of computer science and IT kicks off with a live Q&A featuring experts from Microsoft, the Open University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, e-skills UK, and the Computing at School Working Group.

The presentation took place January 10, 2012, on a “live blog” with guest speakers from Google, teachers and experts from higher education, and a “live Q & A” session.

Efforts to teach information literacy with a focus on news are also taking place here in the U.S., as mentioned previously in this column. This kind of outreach can have lasting effects only if the students have access to computers and the Internet not just in the classroom, but at home as well.

Do you know of similar outreach efforts by news and other organizations? Have your kids had this kind of instruction? What benefits have you seen? Tell us what you think!

The program will begin in the spring semester after a newly-formed advisory committee spends six months planning what will best benefit students to learn. Once it begins, most, if not all, of their classes will include subject-relevant information they need to know about access to low cost health care, disease prevention, health insurance and more.

If successful, this will have a cost-saving benefit: it may reduce trips to the emergency room. Typically, those who cannot afford to see a physician wait until an illness or other medical condition has become so severe that they seek emergency care. With knowledge of how to find low-cost health care, fewer trips to the ER should be the result.

Having worked in public education, the number one complaint of students I’ve listened to say school is “boring,” which is usually translated as “not relevant to my life and experience.” Imagine the possibilities if a student has a family member or friend who faces a health  issue, and this student can help ameliorate the situation. If this program proves successful, it could serve as a model for other school districts around the country. And it might, just might, help reduce the rate at which healthcare costs are increasing, at least in this area. Good luck, Harrison High School!