This document summarizes international experience with informatics curriculum development. It provides background on Estonia's experience developing informatics as a school subject, including national strategies implemented since the 1980s. It then discusses key concepts in curriculum development and different types of curriculum. The remainder explores how informatics has been approached as a school subject in various countries, challenges in establishing it, and differences in approaches.

1. International experience in
informatics curriculum development
Mart Laanpere, PhD, senior researcher in the Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University
Moldova CEED II project on Informatics curriculum development :: Chisinau, July 23-24 2014

2. Estonia: facts & figures
 Population: 1,29 million
 NATO (2003), EU (2004), Schengen
zone (2007), EURO currency (2011)
 520 K-12 schools, 14 000 teachers
 Strong ICT sector:
 13% of yearly national export
 4% of employees
 Highest average salary across sectors
 Skype, Playtech, Nortal, Regio, TransferWise

3. IT in schools:
Estonian Juku
computers
PCs for schools,
Informatics =
programming
1986
Tiger Leap
Foundation,
1st strategy
1993
Internet
arrives
Estonia
1st national
curriculum
19971989
Graduated
teachers’ college,
teacher of maths
School principal,
informatics
curriculum team
MSc in Holland,
teaching in
university
Personal
timeline
National
strategies
Back-
ground

4. Teachers
portal
2nd strategy:
TigerLeap +
Intel TTF
1998
E-university,
IT Foundation
2002
2nd national
curriculum,
no informatics
Boom in
Estonian IT
industry
20042001
Teaching IT in
teacher ed, MA
Educ. multimedia
Chairman of
informatics
curriculum team
Researcher,
international
projects
ECDL
arrives
Estonia

5. 3rd strategy:
Learning Tiger
TLF strategy,
SITES, PISA
2006
Strategy of
lifelong
learning 2020
2010
EstWin
project
3rd national
curriculum
20132008
International
research projects
Koolielu portal,
MA EdTech, OER,
Dippler
PhD, informatics
projects in Serbia
ITL, ICT
cluster

6. Curriculum: key concepts
 Bobbitt (1918): curriculum is the range of experiences
(directed and undirected), concerned with unfolding of
the abilities of learners
 Curriculum: plans made for guiding the learning (in the
form of documents), together with their actualisation
in classrooms, as experienced by learners and seen by
observers
 Not everything that is written in curriculum document
is supported by resources (time, teachers, textbooks),
taught, assessed and, eventually, learned

7. The types of curriculum
Written curriculum
Supported curriculum
Taught curriculum
Tested curriculum
Intended curriculum
Recommended
curriculum
Learned curriculum
Hidden curriculum

8. Curriculum rationales
 Rational-linear rationale (Tyler, Taba 1949): experts
are setting goals, selecting and sequencing learning
experiences, planning assessment
 Naturalistic-deliberative rationale (Schwab,
Walker): dialogical and iterative process of moving
towards consensus involving various stakeholders
and alternative proposals
 Artistic rationale (Eisner): curriculum is never
finalised, the best curriculum is born after
teaching, teacher is a creative professional
ArtistPoliticianEngineer

9. Discussion
 Define curriculum in the context of current CEED II
project
 Should we try to achieve the perfect match
between written and taught curriculum? Why?
 What is the ultimate impact of the changes in the
informatics curriculum in case of the most
optimistic scenario?

10. Becoming a school subject
 Goodson describes traditional view: dominant (economic or
academic) groups exercise control over presumably subordinate
groups in the definition of school knowledge
 Examples from Estonia: mathematics exam, driving schools
 Some school subjects reflect academic disciplines, some have
preceded their parent disciplines (Layton: the case of science as
a subject in UK, Goodson: the case of geography)
 The most powerful academic and professional communities are
medical and juridical: no such school subjects
 Informatics is not a separate school subject in many countries

11. Informatics as a separate subject
ICT is integrated into other subjects
Both
Curriculum does not target any
computing/ICT competencies
Data is missing
Source: Eurydice 2004
Informatics in K-9 school curricula Informatics in upper-secondary curricula

12. Discussion
 What could be the reasoning behind excluding
informatics subject form school curricula in so many
countries?
 How could it affect the economy and higher
education in these countries?

13. Body of knowledge in school informatics
 Three alternative sources/communities/vocabularies:
 Computer science: academic discipline in university
(programming, algorithms, data structures, networks,
architectures, and computational thinking skills)
 ICT skills/Digital Literacy: universal ICT application skills at
the future workplace (ECDL: office software, internet)
 E-learning: ICT as a pedagogical tool for teaching and
learning different subjects (presentations, Web publishing,
digital creativity, online collaboration)
 Each of these have both advantages and disadvantages –
could you name some?

14. Computing in UK schools
 Until 2012: ICT as an optional subject and cross-curricular
theme, programming only extra-curricular (600 Coding Clubs)
 Computing at School initiative (2013) with central thesis:
Computer science is a proper, rigorous school subject discipline,
on a par with mathematics or chemistry, that every child should
learn from primary school onwards.
 GCSE in computing piloted 2010-2012, now available for all
 2013: CS included in English Baccalaureate
 2014: CS included in the new national curriculum, see
http://www.computingatschool.org.uk

15. School informatics in France
 Until 2001, most of the schools taught ICT skills as integrated into other
subjects; the Ministry introduced B2i (Informatics & Internet Certificate)
that states required competences for each grade level
 2012: the new course for Grade 12, “Informatique et Sciences du
Numerique” (ISN), which is one of the four choices in the Science strand
(students in Technology strand can also take it)
 ISN concept in 4 thematic areas: data representation, algorithms,
languages and programming, and computer architecture
 Programming: no specific language requirements (has to be free), most
schools use Python or Java (through Java’s Cool)
 Project-based learning, projects are assessed as a part of national exam

16. School informatics in Italy
 Most of the schools teach only ICT application skills (ECDL), as
there is shortage of qualified teachers and no interest among
students & parents towards computer science
 Informatics is a compulsory course only in the Scientific Lyceum,
focused on Applied Sciences (32000 pupils learn it 2 hours per
week for 5 years).
 In addition, Mathematics course in all the Lyceum schools in the
first two years should also include “Elements of informatics”:
concept of algorithm and algorithmic strategies to solve simple
problems, concepts of computable function, decidability.

17. Germany
 Informatics is an optional subject in upper-secondary schools,
which can be taken in addition (not as substitution) of other
Science subject; 20% of students in Grade10 and 10% in Grades
11-12 take this course
 Contents: Object Oriented Modelling (including programming),
Entity-Relationship-Modelling, Automata, Algorithmic
Modelling, Functional Modelling (optional), Rule-Based
Modelling (optional), Formal Languages, Computer-Human-
Interaction, Privacy, Security, Computer Architecture,
Computability, (Practical) Efficiency, and Societal Issues.
 Recent initiative: GI computer science standards for Grades 5-9

18. Computer Science in schools of USA
 High level of heterogeneity, most schools teach digital literacy integrated
to other subjects, instead of CS as a separate subject
 CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2011), based on ACM Model
 AP course “Computer Science” focuses narrowly on Java programming
(until 1999: Pascal, 1999-2003: C++), 31 000 students passed this course
in 2013
 New AP course “Computer Science: Principles” (launches in 2016) has a
broader focus on computational thinking rather than merely on
programming (see http://www.csprinciples.org); built on 6
Computational Thinking Practices: Analyzing the Effects of Computation,
Creating Computational Artifacts, Using Abstractions & Models,
Analyzing Problems & Artifacts, Communicating Processes and Results,
Working Effectively In Teams

19. School informatics in Russia
Federal Education Standard: http://www.standart.edu.ru

20. Computing in Swedish schools
 Grades 1 – 9 curriculum includes digital literacy topics such as “the
flow of information”, how to use digital technology, and to develop
critical thinking about the information available on the Internet
 In upper secondary school computing courses (incl courses on
programming) are elective for all students.
 IT-related courses are mandatory in few of the 18 programmes
offered by upper secondary schools:
 the Technology Programme has one orientation “Information and media
technology”, which offers courses in computer communication,
programming, digital media, web development, and computers and ICT;
 the Electricity and Energy Programme has one orientation “Computers
and ICT”, with no requirements of programming

21. Conclusions
 Computer science is confused with media literacy and ICT
 Too much change: pendulum moved from computer science to
ICT, now it is heading back – schools are resisting change
 Insufficient quantity and quality of teachers
 Many constraints from national curriculum framework, which
makes good examples hard to transfer to other country
 Students do not like traditional/theoretical approach
 Next: how school informatics in three Baltic countries went
completely different directions after 1991

22. Some Rights Reserved
 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution Share Alike 3.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.
 The photo on the title slide comes from Flickr.com
user Michael Surran