Overview of our Education Activities
Fostering high-quality education in Informatics is one of the pillars of Informatics Europe (IE). We have been actively involved in the establishment and advocacy of multiple education initiatives across different education levels. These main activities and outcomes include, but are not limited to:
Informatics in Schools
IE advocates the full recognition and establishment of Informatics as a foundational discipline in schools across Europe.
Ethics in CS Higher Education
IE was a key partner for the Erasmus+ Project Ethics4 EU (2020-2022), and an active member of other activities and expert groups on Ethics & Informatics Education.
Higher Education Data
IE founded and managed the IE Higher Education Data Portal, with data such as university enrolment statistics, academic positions, and salaries, covering over 20 European countries.
Training Schools
Our training schools offer an immersive experience in a specific area of Informatics Education and Research, aligned with Informatics Europe's mission, providing valuable experience and networking opportunities.
Best Practices in Education Award
With this Award, IE promotes outstanding European educational initiatives that improve the quality of informatics teaching and the attractiveness of the discipline. Winning best practices are published on the Award page.
Informatics and other disciplines
IE investigates the Informatics Education trends at universities as well as the role of Informatics in interdisciplinarity curricula across Europe.
Within the frame of the main activities above, a number of experts selected within our community have been working on specific topics, led and supported by our permanent Education Research Working Group.
See a full list of reports, publications, and materials resulting from IE efforts on Informatics Education activities in the tab “Outcomes” below, and external links to relevant initiatives under the tab “Resources”.
Informatics Education in Schools
- Eurydice Report "Informatics Education at School in Europe"
Download
Date: October 2022
Details: A report with IE President Prof. Enrico Nardelli contributed as Scientific Expert. The report examines the subjects throughout primary and secondary education, including learning outcomes related to informatics in 37 European countries (39 education systems). It also looks at the qualifications of the teachers of these subjects, training programmes and other support measures available to them.
- Report "Informatics Reference Framework for School"
Download
Date: February 2022
Details: A report released by the coalition "Informatics for All" which supports the advancement of informatics as a fundamental discipline for the 21st century, while indicating how informatics may become a driver for renewal and innovation of other disciplines.
- ECSS 2020: Diversity in Informatics Research and Education
Read More
Date: October 2020
Details: Videos and slides of presentations featured in Informatics Europe’s European Computer Science Summit in 2020.
- Position Paper: “Educating People for the Digital Age”
Download
Date: March 2020
Details: The paper was prepared as an outcome of the Informatics for All workshop webinar where the Coalition's work was presented and discussed with representatives of the European Commission about their new plans regarding the promotion of Informatics education in Europe at school level.
- Informatics for All Coalition Action Plan
Download
Date: March 2019
Details: The action plan of the Informatics for All Coalition was developed as an outcome of the workshop. The plan forms the basis of the Coalition activities.
- Informatics for All 2019 Workshop Report & Presentations
Download Report
Read Presentations
Date: February 2019
Details: The report is the outcome of the workshop held in Brussels where over 50 representatives from leading European universities and industry met.
- The Informatics for All initiative Strategy Paper
Download
Date: February 2018
Details: The paper is one of the outcomes of the Informatics for All Initiative with the purpose of giving due recognition to Informatics as an essential foundational discipline for education in the 21st century. The paper highlights the need for a two-tier strategy for Informatics education at all levels: (1) informatics as a specialisation, i.e. a fundamental and independent school subject; (2) integration of Informatics with other school subjects. Important recommendations on Informatics, teaching, teacher issues and research are provided.
- Report: “Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All in The Same Boat?”
Download
Date: July 2017
Details: The report on the state of the art of Informatics, Digital Literacy, and Teacher Training in these disciplines in European schools. Check the supplementary online map for visual and interactive report results.
- Report: “Informatics Education: Europe cannot afford to miss the boat”
Download
Date: April 2013
Details: The first joint Informatics Europe and ACM Europe working group landmark report.
Ethics in CS Higher Education
- Research Report: “Existing Competencies in the Teaching of Ethics in Computer Science Faculties”
Download
Date: December 2020
Details: The research report presents the results of a survey conducted as part of the Ethics4EU project in 2020 on teaching practices for digital ethics across Europe. The report builds upon the previous work by Informatics Europe published in 2019 on requirements for the instruction of digital ethics at European Universities. The report summarizes existing practices and outlines possible approaches for developing the future curricula of digital ethics in Computer Science programs.
- Research Report: “Ethical/Social Impact of Informatics as a Study Subject in Informatics University Degree Programs”
Openly Accessible Summary ¦¦ Full Report(for logged in IE members)
Date: October 2019
Details: The report is the first product of the activity of the working group on Ethical/Social Impact of Informatics as a Study Subject in Informatics University Degree Programs. It outlines the possible approaches, the state of the art, and suggestions and guidelines for inclusion of topics related to ethics, responsibility and social impacts in Informatics university degree programs.
- White Paper: “When Computers Decide: Recommendations on Machine-Learned Automated Decision Making”
Download
Date: February 2018
Details: Joint white paper of Informatics Europe Ethics Working Group and ACM Europe on automated decision making (ADM). The white paper reviews the principal implications of the coming widespread adoption of machine-learned automated decision making with a particular emphasis on its technical, ethical, legal, economic, societal and educational ramifications. The authors also give a number of recommendations that policy makers might wish to consider.
Wide Role of Informatics at Universities
- Report "The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities"
Openly Accessible Summary ¦¦ Full Report (for logged in IE members)
Date: October 2019
Details: The report presents the results of the online survey conducted by IE Working Group on the Wide Role of Informatics at Universities. The main goals were to understand the value universities place on interdisciplinary research and teaching, what happens in practice with hiring and supporting interdisciplinary academics, and what structures are in place to support interdisciplinary work. The Data Science’s impact was also examined in detail, given its rapid rise and importance.
CS Higher Education - Data Collection and Reporting
- "Informatics Education in Europe: Institutions, Degrees, Students, Positions, Salaries - Key Data Report" Series
Date: 2013-2019
Details: Published annually from 2013 to 2019, report series on Informatics higher education in Europe offer a wealth of fundamental data from institutions awarding degrees in the field, student enrolments, degrees awarded, gender information, academic titles, up to precise and much-needed data about academic salaries across European countries. The series gives unique insights into the state of higher education in Informatics in Europe (full reports are available for logged in IE members, summaries are openly accessible):- 2013-2018: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2012-2017: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2011-2016: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2010-2015: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2009-2014: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2008-2013: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- 2008-2012: Summary ¦¦ Full Report
- Eurydice Report "Informatics Education at School in Europe"
- The list below provides links to relevant initiatives, websites, papers, talks, conferences and blogs on the topic of Informatics Education. It is not an exhaustive list, so some relevant resources might have been omitted. We would be glad to include new relevant entries. If you would like to suggest them, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Informatics Europe is very grateful to Prof. Jan van Leeuwen who kindly provided the initial list of resources.
General Reports
- ACCE (Australia)
- ACM
- CSTA
- Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI)
- Haslerstiftung
- Informatics Europe/ACM Europe Joint Report
- Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Report on Digital Literacy in Secondary Education (in Dutch)
- Royal Society (UK)
- SLO (The Netherlands)
Basic Principles
- ACM Transactions on Computing Education (special K-12 issue)
- Algorithmic Thinking
- Computational Thinking
- Discovery
- Informatik im Kontext
- Information Thinking
- Model-based Thinking
- Review of Concepts
Curriculum Initiatives
- Australia
- CS curriculum England
- CS in Germany
- CS Principles (USA, AP curriculum)
- Exploring computer science (Goode, Chapman)
- Next Generation Science Standards (USA)
- SLO (The Netherlands)
Organisational Activities
- SIGSCE (ACM)
- Committee on European Computing Education (Informatics Europe/ACM Europe)
- CSTA (US)
- EU Schoolnet
- Forum i22n (Belgium)
- Haslerstiftung (Switzerland)
- IFIP
- Informatica VO (in Dutch)
- Microsoft
Teachers Societies
- CSTA (US): https://www.csteachers.org
- EPI (France): http://www.epi.asso.fr
- I&I (Netherlands): http://ieni.org
- HBO-I (Netherlands): http://www.hbo-i.nl
- CAS (UK): http://www.computingatschool.org.uk
- NZGTTA (New Zealand): https://nzgtta.co.nz
- SVIA (Switzerland): http://svia-ssie-ssii.ch/de
Conferences
- Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE)
- Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE)
- CSTA Annual Conference
- International Computing Education Research (ICER) Conference
- Int Conf on Informatics in Schools: Situation, Evolution and Perspectives (ISSEP)
- SIGSCE Technical Symposium
- Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WIPSCE)
Other Resources
- Blogs
- http://computinged.wordpress.com/ (Mark Guzdial)
- http://blog.acthompson.net (Alfred Thompson)
- http://compscigail.blogspot.nl (Gail Carmichael)
- Code.org
- Coding, programming
- http://girlswhocode.com
- http://codeweek.eu
- https://www.codehunt.com
- http://www.appsforgood.org
- https://www.codeclub.org.uk
- http://www.codekinderen.nl/home
- https://coderdojo.com
- http://www.tynker.com
- https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~caitlin/papers/NoviceProgSurvey.pdf
- http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/year-of-code-dan-crow-songkick
- Contests
- Creative computing, experimentation
- CS 101
- CS for fun
- CS unplugged
- Dutch methods
- e-Skills
- Guide to teaching computer science
- Mark Guzdial Talks
- Simon Peyton Jones (Talk TEDx)
- PISA
- Robots
- Schulportal Informatik
- Scratch, Snap!
- Storytelling
- Sustainable curricula
- Techniekpact
- http://techniekpact.nl/ (in Dutch)