Gove gets it right?

(This is my thoughts on Michael Gove's speech about the ICT curriculum in English schools: click here for the text of the speech from the DfE)

Normally, when I hear that Michael Gove has made some new pronouncement about education I don't have to think too hard about my response - most of them so far have been pretty dreadful for us teachers! This time, I am finding it very difficult to keep up my usual disdain, as I actually believe he has got the right idea.
Put simply, what Mr Gove has suggested is that the current ICT curriculum ceases to be a requirement for teaching as of this September. ICT will still be a compulsory subject in schools, but we will be free to teach what, and how, we like. Courses leading to qualifications are also expected to change, with coding, programming and computer science becoming more important than being able to use an office suite.
What this means in the short term is not yet fully clear - will we be expected to develop new schemes of work this summer to begin teaching in September, or can we introduce these new ideas a little more gradually? What about pupils who have begun working towards a qualification in ICT? Will it be withdrawn by the exam board in favour of a new course (I doubt they would, but you never know)? - whatever happens, though, it looks like there will be scope to engage pupils much more effectively in lessons from now on.

I feel that in some way Mr Gove has heard my prayers (and I found it difficult just typing that!). I have been feeling for some time that we waste a lot of energy ensuring that pupils can demonstrate how to put together a PowerPoint presentation or that they understand which is a row and which a column in Excel (yes, we're stuck with Microsoft Office for now). In theory at least, we can now deal with those office-type skills more simply - while still ensuring pupils obtain a good level of skill - before moving on to topics they should find more interesting. Not all pupils will be able to create their own games or apps (or whatever), but I suspect most will enjoy the attempt.