Informatics for All. The Strategy

Informatics for all. The Strategy [Full PDF report]

In 2018 Informatics Europe and the ACM Europe Council have joined forces to develop, “Informatics for All – The Strategy,” a comprehensive and ambitious plan to establish Informatics as an essential discipline for students in Europe at all levels throughout the educational system.

“Informatics for All The Strategy” builds on an earlier report jointly developed by the ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, “Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All in the Same Boat?” which presented the state of relevant education and related teacher training across Europe. Its conclusions highlighted the serious need for an initiative to ensure that Informatics is properly recognised within the educational systems so that Europe is well placed to compete globally in reaping the benefits that flow from Informatics.

The emphasis of the report is on informatics education, with informatics seen as the science underpinning the development of the digital world—a distinctive discipline with its own scientific methods, its own ways of thinking, and its own technological developments. By emphasizing the constructive and creative elements of the discipline, the role of informatics in innovation and discovery and its role in shaping the digital world, the discipline is seen as an essential element of education for the 21^st century. Its role in competitiveness and in the economic prosperity of Europe (and beyond) further adds to its vital nature.

Learning Informatics will enable all students to understand, participate in, influence and contribute to the development of the digital world in general, and will provide a significantly improved opportunity for recruiting and educating the large number of IT specialists Europe needs to maintain and improve its position in the digital world economy.

“Informatics for All – The Strategy“, highlights the need for a two-tier strategy for Informatics education at all levels. First and foremost, the first tier takes the form of Informatics as a specialisation, i.e. a fundamental and independent school subject. The second tier would be the integration of Informatics with other school subjects. To achieve this goal, in both tiers research is needed to address what and how to teach (curriculum, methods and tools), and how to educate teachers.

To address this grand challenge, the Strategy provide 8 important recommendations:

“Informatics for All – The Strategy” was presented and discussed in Brussels on a panel of leading Informatics educators, computer scientists and European Commission leaders on March 2018. Panelists, who discussed the initiative, its implementation and the near-term future of Informatics education in Europe, included Dame Wendy Hall (University of Southampton), Michael E. Caspersen (Aarhus University and Informatics Europe) Georgi Dimitrov (EU Commission DG Education) Judith Gal-Ezer (Open University of Israel and ACM Europe Council), Enrico Nardelli, (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata” and Informatics Europe President), Alexander Riedl, (EU Commission DG CONNECT).

Download the full report: “Informatics for All. The Strategy“