iPhones and iPads to form school subjects in NSW Higher School Certificate

I-PHONES will now be the focus of a NSW Higher School Certificate technology subject.

I-PHONES are banned in classrooms across NSW, but they will now be the focus of a new Higher School Certificate technology subject.

Year 11 and 12 students will be taught to develop iPhone and iPad applications and create games for Wii consoles in a revamped software design and development course to begin next year.

Enrolment in the once-popular HSC subject has declined by 20 per cent since 2005, with students bored by the current syllabus: building and maintaining computer software and learning about the evolution of programming languages.

"Numbers have dropped as students stopped seeing information technology as special - accepting it as part of every day life," NSW Board of Studies spokeswoman Rebecca Lloyd said.

"From 2204 HSC students in 2005, the software course this year attracted 1786 students, a fall of 20 per cent. The new updated syllabus, which will be a part of the HSC in 2012, should go some way to addressing the decline," she said.

Ms Lloyd said students are career savvy and will select subjects that will help them succeed after graduation.

"This is new technology and there is a very strong industry for those who are good at it," she said. "The potential is there to start designing and developing real apps. A school timetable app for example."

NSW Parents and Citizens Association spokeswoman Sharryn Brownlee said it was important for the government to review the relevance and engagement of other HSC subjects.

"It's great the board is making sure students are tapping into learning that is relevant to current trends in technology," she said.

"This sounds like an engaging subject that will help students break into an IT career. If a subject is engaging, retention and attendance rates increase, and that is our goal."

Arthur Phillip High, in Sydney's West, has purchased 20 iPads to trial the devices in a range of subjects.

Once the HSC Software Design and Development syllabus changes, senior students will be using the iPads to design and develop applications but until then the iPads will be utilised in music and literacy.