Informatics Europe
IE
Informatics Europe is the voice of the Informatics research and education community in Europe.
ID: 256512130951-89
Lobbying Activity
Response to Achieving the European Education Area
24 Jul 2020
The move to sustainable and digital societies and economies will not succeed if, beyond digital skills, there is not a general education in informatics since early years in school. In the XX century, the expansion of industrial society was made possible by a generalized scientific education since primary school. In the XXI century, we will not be able to build a fair and thriving digital society without educating all children in the basis of Informatics, the science underling the digital world. (Caspersen at al., 2019, Informatics as a fundamental discipline for the 21st century, Comm. of the ACM, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3310330)
The discipline known as Informatics (or Computer Science) is the scientific core of digital technologies, shapes the digital world, and explains how it works and evolves. Early knowledge of scientific principles of Informatics is necessary to prepare citizens of the Digital Society to be able to take informed decisions about their future. Informatics education is a constitutive factor of any kind of Digital Education and has to be taught in School since early years.
We think that the following measures should be implemented in order to reach this goal.
1. a policy statement that, similar to what is written in the “Key Competences for Lifelong Learning” recommendation, highlights the importance for a “digital society” to have an essential knowledge of the basic scientific principles of Informatics.
2. communication actions towards the Member States so that the importance of appropriate scientific education in Informatics is recognized as a key pillar to prepare well informed digital citizens
3. supporting through relevant and sustained co-funding to the Member States the development of three key areas for Informatics Education:
• Curriculum: Define schools curricula that progressively develop appropriate knowledge and skills and accommodates the cognitive development of pupils. Produce effective learning materials supporting the defined curricula.
• Teachers: Appropriately educate teachers at all levels to teach a discipline which, differently from any other discipline taught in schools, most of them have never studied either at school or at university. Support them by providing appropriate scaffolding for them to properly and effectively do their work
• Research: Test and verify that both teaching methods and content, and teachers’ education methods and content, are appropriate for the various levels of education and are sequenced in a way able to engage students. Test and verify that a vast and gender balanced majority of them develop appropriate competences, avoiding the detachment that too often characterizes the studying of math and science in school.
Read full responseResponse to Digital Education Action Plan
2 Jul 2020
Society is becoming more and more digital, and the discipline known as Informatics (or Computer Science) is its scientific core, shapes the digital world, and explains how it works and evolves. Early knowledge of scientific principles of Informatics is necessary to prepare citizens of the Digital Society to be able to take informed decisions about their future. Informatics education is a constitutive factor of any kind of Digital Education and has to be taught in School since early years.
We think that the following measures should be contained in the activities of the renewed Digital Education Action Plan
1. a policy statement that, similar to what is written in the “Key Competences for Lifelong Learning” recommendation, highlights the importance for a “digital society” to have an essential knowledge of the basic scientific principles of Informatics.
2. communication actions towards the Member States so that the importance of appropriate scientific education in Informatics is recognized as a key pillar to prepare well informed digital citizens
3. supporting through relevant and sustained co-funding to the Member States the development of three key areas for Informatics Education:
• Curriculum: Define schools curricula that progressively develop appropriate knowledge and skills and accommodates the cognitive development of pupils. Produce effective learning materials supporting the defined curricula.
• Teachers: Appropriately educate teachers at all levels to teach a discipline which, differently from any other discipline taught in schools, most of them have never studied either at school or at university. Support them by providing appropriate scaffolding for them to properly and effectively do their work
• Research: Test and verify that both teaching methods and content, and teachers’ education methods and content, are appropriate for the various levels of education and are sequenced in a way able to engage students. Test and verify that a vast and gender balanced majority of them develop appropriate competences, avoiding the detachment that too often characterizes the studying of math and science in school.
This position is further developed in the attached file.
Read full response