The Informatics Reference Framework for School

Informatics Reference Framework for School February 2022 ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 1ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 1 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM Contents Executive Summary .................................... 1 1. Preamble ................................................... 1 2. Informatics and Society ......................... 2 3. A Common Informatics Reference Framework ............................ 3 4. The Informatics Reference Framework ............................ 4 4.1 Introduction to the informatics reference framework ............... 4 4.2 Aims and objectives ................................. 4 4.3 Core topics ............................................. 5 4.4 Contemporary context and implications ..... 6 4.5 Examples of outcomes ............................. 9 5. Concluding comment............................. 9 Annexes .......................................................10 A.1 The discipline of informatics ...................10 A.2 Indicators of outcomes ...........................10 References .................................................. 13 Report Authors Michael E. Caspersen (chair) It-vest – networking universities Ira Diethelm Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg Judith Gal-Ezer The Open University of Israel Andrew McGettrick University of Strathclyde Enrico Nardelli University of Roma “Tor Vergata” Don Passey Lancaster University Branislav Rovan Comenius University Bratislava Mary Webb King’s College London ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 2ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 2 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM Informatics Reference Framework for School | 1 Executive Summary The contribution that informatics has made since the last century has fuelled innovative and significant technological advances and vice versa. It makes fundamental contributions to current economic, educational, industrial and social development. Informatics importantly has the capacity to support and augment human reasoning and potential. Education systems have a responsibility to recognise this and to ensure that young people are equipped to be able to drive forward, judge innovation and take part in the development of a just and fair society. To properly embrace this development by society in general, informatics has to be seen as an essential aspect of the education of all pupils. The present report, which outlines an informatics reference framework for all young people, bears that in mind. It is intended to offer high-level guidance that may be used by, and indeed stimulate, curriculum designers to review their focus and approach to the subject of informatics. Following the introductory sections, the heart of the reference framework is described in section 4. A set of aims and objectives for informatics education for all young people is provided in section 4.2 followed by a set of core concepts and an accompanying brief description of these in Table 1 of section 4.3; this conveys a robust structure and a general architecture, which captures an essential view of informatics as a discipline in general education. To complement the general architecture, a contemporary and outward facing view of informatics is offered in section 4.4; this includes discussion of modern developments that relate to topics such as data science and artificial intelligence, as well as attention to related ethical concerns. Annex A.1 presents a brief description of informatics as a discipline. Annex A.2 presents a limited number of examples of how high-level learning outcomes could be described in a concrete curriculum at three levels that reflect indicators of outcomes after primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. February 2022 1. Preamble Across major global regions of the world, recent advances in informatics1 have been recognised for their potential in supporting and driving forward future economic development and industrial growth. Enormous sums of money are being allocated to underpin advances across a range of industries, and ambitious initiatives have been taken in some countries to ensure compulsory informatics education for all.2 In Europe, there has been similar excitement about the advances in informatics, with these being seen to support areas such as enhanced decisionmaking, improvements in health care, advances in smart farming, developments in climate change, improved security, as well as increased automation. Within Europe, a lot of effort has focused on digital competences3, which mostly address the operational aspects of an appropriate preparation for the digital society; however, education in informatics is still fragmented and receiving insufficient attention. In its earlier work, the Informatics for All coalition4 developed a two-tier strategy5 for informatics in general education. On the one hand, informatics should be seen as an important foundational discipline with a standing being on a par with mathematics and the languages. But the strategy also highlights the potential of informatics to be integrated in the teaching of all other disciplines, leading to deeper forms of education and insight in these other disciplines. The Informatics for All coalition is presenting this report to address the first tier by providing support for the advancement and development of informatics as a fundamental discipline for the 21st century6 and to serve as a general reference framework for both tiers. The Informatics for All coalition acknowledges the valuable review feedback received from representatives of the European informatics community to an earlier version of this document. 1 In some countries, informatics is named computing, computing science or computer science. 2 See (White House 2016). 3 The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens 4 informaticsforall.org 5 See (Caspersen et al. 2018, pp. 5-6). 6 See (Caspersen et al. 2019, pp. 60-61). ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 1ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 1 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM 2 | Informatics Reference Framework for School 2. Informatics and Society The world is becoming more and more “digital”, with pervasive information systems realised as networks of people and technologies interacting in increasingly sophisticated ways in all aspects of life. For example, the development of the Internet, the World Wide Web and accompanying search engines and web services, coupled with the development of the mobile devices for many, provides realms of information and services that can be obtained anywhere at any time. Informatics is the scientific discipline7 that underpins the digital world. Given its pervasiveness, it is essential to all disciplines and professions and has increasing importance as a school subject. Just as pupils learn about the living and the physical world in the natural sciences in school, all pupils should learn informatics in school so that they can flourish in the digital world. Informatics brings understanding to processes of modelling and manipulating real-world objects as well as their digital counterparts. The new way of thinking about problems and their solutions is of key importance for understanding our contemporary and future society, but informatics has limitations and dangers to be aware of (e.g., autonomous systems with possibly unexplainable behaviour and algorithms manipulating public opinion on social networks). Digital technology differs from all other technologies that humankind has invented. Other technologies enhance physical abilities, but informatics technology (also) enhances our cognitive abilities by supporting and even replacing cognitive tasks and processes with automation, e.g., diagnostic software in health care, driverless cars and autonomous robots. Thus, informatics represents a radical and fundamental novelty, which calls for pertinent education of future generations. The digital world increasingly impacts the conduct of lives in leisure time, during education and at work; indeed, it has changed where and 7 See Annex A.1 for a brief description of the discipline of informatics. how these activities are undertaken. Informatics in general, and the particular development of artificial intelligence (AI), underpinned by machine learning and data science, is changing human knowledge, perception and reality – and, in so doing, changing the course of human history. Informatics has made it possible to automate an extraordinary range of tasks, and has done so by enabling machines to play a role – an increasingly decisive role – in drawing conclusions from data and then taking action. The growing transfer of judgment from human beings to machines denotes the revolutionary aspect of informatics and brings new concerns. It is now considered important that future generations become equipped not just with operational skills (digital literacy), but with the knowledge, understanding and skills of informatics bringing new ways of thinking about and tackling problems in both the real world and its digital counterpart. As a result of the empowerment brought about by education in informatics and with guided attention to their social responsibilities, pupils will be attuned to identify opportunities for improvement and innovation, and will be equipped to embark on such activity. This is needed to bring about change, to contribute to the development of the digital environment and to ensure the evolution of a safe, secure, environmentally conscious and just society. In this respect, we are aligned with the European Commission, which considers informatics education in school to be of the utmost importance. The Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 explicitly states:8 “Computing education in schools allows young people to gain a sound understanding of the digital world. Introducing pupils to computing from an early age, through innovative and motivating approaches to teaching, in both formal and non-formal settings, can help develop skills in problem-solving, creativity and collaboration. It can also foster interest in STEM-related studies and future careers while tackling gender stereotypes. Actions to promote high quality and inclusive computing education can also impact positively on the number of girls pursuing IT8 See (DEAP 2020a, p. 13). ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 2ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 2 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM Informatics Reference Framework for School | 3 Informatics for All coalition, we hope to support the advancement and development of compulsory informatics education for all, particularly from primary through upper secondary education. 3. A Common Informatics Reference Framework Recognising that within Europe education is a devolved matter, this document outlines a common informatics reference framework that can support the design of school curricula in informatics across Europe. The document is intended to inspire and facilitate curriculum designers across Europe. The aim is to stimulate discussion and debate about informatics education at all levels of school education. This can be seen as the beginning of a longer conversation; we want to engage further with policymakers, curriculum designers, informatics specialists and practitioners across Europe to inform next steps in designing and implementing informatics curricula. We advocate that informatics should exist as a discipline at all stages of the school curriculum, starting early in primary school and continuing to exist and develop through upper secondary school. Moreover, we suggest that education in informatics should be compulsory for all pupils from primary through secondary education, having a status and standing similar to that of language and mathematics. Well-educated teachers and teacher-teachers are essential to realise this vision. This informatics reference framework represents the core for the design of an ideal informatics curriculum, but by no means presents a curriculum in its totality. The core is conceived as a set of core topic areas with their associated practices in informatics that all pupils are expected to be competent in by the end of upper secondary education.11 In presenting the informatics reference framework, the Informatics for All coalition is aiming to 11 Countries use a variety of structures for describing phases of education. We use the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to define school phases. ISCED level 1 is denoted “Primary education”, level 2 “Lower secondary education” and level 3 “Upper secondary education”. The combination of the three, we denote “General education”. related studies in higher education and, further on, working in the digital sector or digital jobs in other economic sectors.” It includes as action 109 “a focus on inclusive high-quality computing education (informatics) at all levels of education”, and in the accompanying document, states:10 “Informatics education in school allows young people to gain a critical and hands-on understanding of the digital world. If taught from the early stages, it can complement digital literacy interventions. The benefits are societal (young people should be creators not just passive users of technology), economic (digital skills are needed in sectors of the economy to drive growth and innovation) and pedagogical (computing, informatics and technology education is a vehicle for learning not just technical skills but key skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and creativity).” Inclusion, diversity and gender remain important issues in informatics education. Inclusive education is a fundamental principle, diversity is a feature of inclusion and gender concern is an issue of diversity. There is now general acceptance that informatics education must be made accessible, enjoyable and empowering for all. Pedagogical approaches have been developed that encourage and motivate a diverse range of pupils and many new resources have been created to support inclusive informatics education. For example, collaborative learning and physical computing have been shown to support a diverse range of pupils in engaging with informatics. The gender issue is a particular concern in informatics; engagement with informatics at an early age can promote self-efficacy and tackle gender stereotyping before prevailing views become entrenched. Compulsory informatics education counteracts a tendency for girls to opt out and puts the onus on curriculum developers and teachers to create a curriculum that engages girls as well as boys. With this report, and related initiatives by the 9 See (DEAP 2020a, p. 15). 10 See (DEAP 2020b, p. 47). ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 3ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 3 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM 4 | Informatics Reference Framework for School support the European school informatics education community in responding to current needs. Our intention is to help those involved in curriculum design to devise informatics curricula that support all pupils in general education (approximately from 6 to 18 years of age) and are attractive and appealing to them through all stages of their school education. The document is deliberately synthetic and short, to provide a minimum set of high-level common requirements, leaving space for the national communities of colleagues in various countries to derive fully-fledged curricula both attuned to their culture and needs, and coherent with a common European vision of informatics. Specific curricula will have to be defined in each country, taking into account their traditions, language, culture, and particular synergy with developing basic digital competences and the use of informatics in other subjects. However, we are convinced it is valuable to provide a common reference of understanding that is shared across Europe. This should be seen as a high-level document that serves as a general reference framework for the implementation of the two-tier strategy for informatics in general education. 4. The Informatics Reference Framework The teaching of Informatics should be undertaken only by teachers who have obtained an education and a qualification in Informatics as well as appropriate subject-specific methodological and pedagogical training. 4.1 Introduction to the informatics reference framework We present a foundation that is enduring and can be used flexibly to support curriculum design in different education systems and for different types of schools. Our reference framework provides key features that enable curriculum designers to create specific curricula to meet their needs. It consists of aims and objectives, core topic areas and suggested outcomes and is deliberately presented succinctly using generic and invariant terms, in order to possess temporal robustness and to make room for local priorities during its instantiation. It starts with a description of overall aims and objectives – what any concrete informatics curriculum should be seeking to achieve for pupils by the end of upper secondary education. 4.2 Aims and objectives We are increasingly surrounded by digital artefacts, digital technology and an abundance of data. It is essential that pupils develop knowledge and skills that enable them to competently use existing digital artefacts as well as synthesise data and digital technology for personal and societal needs. For this to be realised, pupils must gain insight into aspects of informatics broadly in society and acquire insights into significant applications of informatics including their social impact and their relevance to the future of work and life in general, thus fuelling an interest in novel applications, including those in support of other disciplines. At the same time, pupils must develop creative practical skills that initiate, complement and strengthen these insights, particularly with a focus on the impact their products could cause. ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 4ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 4 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM Informatics Reference Framework for School | 5 Table 1: Core topic areas and brief descriptions Core topic areas Description Data and information Understand how data are collected, organised, analysed and used to model, represent and visualise information about real-world artefacts and scenarios. Algorithms Evaluate, specify, develop, and understand algorithms. Programming Use programming languages to express oneself computationally by developing, testing and debugging digital artefacts; and understand what a programming language is. Computing systems Understand what a computing system is, how its constituent parts function together as a whole, and its limitations. Networks and communication Understand how networks enable computing systems to share information via interfaces and protocols, and how networks may introduce risks. Humancomputer interaction Evaluate, specify, develop and understand interaction between people and computing artefacts. Design and development Plan and create computing artefacts taking into account stakeholders’ viewpoints and critically evaluating alternatives and their outcomes. Digital creativity Explore and use digital tools to develop and maintain computing artefacts, also using a range of media. Modelling and simulation Evaluate, modify, design, develop, and understand models and simulations of natural and artificial phenomena and their evolution. Privacy, safety and security Understand risks when using digital technology, and how to protect individuals and systems. Responsibility and empowerment Critically and constructively analyse concrete computing artefacts as well as advanced and potentially controversial techniques and applications of informatics, particularly from an ethical and social perspective. The list of core topics should by no means be conceived as a guideline for organising teaching and learning material, but merely as a way of structuring the framework. The overall purpose of informatics education in school is expressed here as a set of five overall aims and objectives. 4.3 Core topics In this section, we provide a high level and robust set of core topic areas that provide a framework for specifying in curricula the concepts, principles and practices of informatics. These topic areas are all related to the aims and objectives listed above, and should be cross-referenced with that list when developing concrete curricula. The core topic areas are deliberately presented in concise form using generic and invariant terms. This supports temporal robustness and accommodation of local priorities when using the framework to design specific curricula. Proposed names are evocative more than prescriptive, and specific curricula might adopt different terms more suited to a national situation. The set of core topic areas is presented in Table 1. Figure 1: Overall aims and objectives At the end of upper secondary education, pupils will: ➞ Use digital tools in a conscious, responsible, confident, competent and creative way. ➞ Understand the phenomena, concepts, principles and practices of informatics and the multifaceted ways of applying them to model, interpret, and operate on reality. ➞ Analyse, design, frame and solve problems by devising representations, designing algorithmic solutions and implementing these in a programming language. ➞ Develop computational models to creatively investigate, understand and communicate about natural and artificial phenomena and systems. ➞ Identify, analyse and discuss ethical and social issues associated with computational systems and their use as well as their potential benefits and risks. ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 5ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 5 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM 6 | Informatics Reference Framework for School 4.4 Contemporary context and implications To illustrate the richness and relevance of the topic areas, we develop in this section a discussion on how those core topic areas might be interpreted and expanded in a contemporary context. Compulsory informatics education should not only prepare pupils for the present and the future, but also provide a fascinating and useful insight into the connections of informatics to other subjects. Data and information. Data about individuals as well as data about the world now form a routine part of life and can influence how people live. Data can take various forms including text, multimedia (sound, video, etc.) and sensor data. Digital devices can be used to collect data on a wide variety of topics (possibly over time). It is important to ensure the quality of collected data; often they should be carefully guarded and used with caution. Collection and use of personal data about individuals should always respect human rights. The analysis of welltargeted data, whether just visualising them using such mechanisms as charts or graphs or using them to provide virtual reality scenarios, can yield new insights or sometimes improved performances in areas such as business or the medical field. Important developments have been made recently in utilising vast amounts of data (“big data”) to fuel advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics. Generally, there are important ethical and legal issues associated with the collection and use of data. With certain forms of data, security, privacy and confidentiality become prime concerns. The availability of huge quantities of digital data and the increased computational power of tools and systems for their analysis offers the opportunity for data science to feature in interdisciplinary education across many school subjects. There are various matters that typically have to be considered: what data should be selected for collection; what units should be employed in measuring the quantity and frequency of their collection; what kind of processing is to be employed; who makes decisions about the kind of analysis to be performed. To ensure the quality of the overall process, these important questions go hand in hand to allow students to develop a “data mindfulness” that will become increasingly important in the future to help development and progress of society. Algorithms and programming. The combination of the concepts of programming, algorithms and programming languages supports software development. This topic is about the creation of computational structures – eventually sequences of instructions – that can be executed on computers. This is an essentially creative activity that, with an appropriate appeal to design and human-computer interface concepts, underlies the development of all software that runs on the computers of today. The activity also facilitates the realisation of new ideas and new possibilities that can lead to innovation. Computing systems. Computing systems exist as an essential component in many devices: mobile and smartphones, robots, pacemakers for the heart, health monitors, aeroplane construction and operation, autonomous vehicles, etc. They importantly support service and production. The requirements on such systems vary greatly, and impact all aspects of the systems, including their hardware and software, their connectivity, their reliability, the safety and security they provide, and whether the systems exhibit “intelligent”12 behaviour. This topic should provide an opportunity for pupils to explore a range of computing systems and to identify the impact of the application of requirements on its structure and functionality. A newer and powerful version of computing systems is based on artificial intelligence (AI), a broad field whose study cuts across many of the core topics of informatics and which has been part of the discipline since the 1950s. Due to its recent rapid developments, driven by machine learning and facilitated by the huge quantities of data now available, it is now seen as a fundamental topic with the potential to fuel economic and other developments. Moreover, the field of AI is also rife with philosophical issues: e.g., how far should AI be developed (if at all), whether AI should be restricted in its application areas, how can decisions made by complex AI systems be made explainable. It is therefore important for pupils to understand concepts and various approaches to the development of AI, to draw comparisons between AI and human intelligence, and to recognise applications of AI in the real world 12 By “intelligent”, we mean behaviour that would be considered intelligent if exhibited by human beings. ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 6ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 6 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM Informatics Reference Framework for School | 7 needs or disabilities, such as colour blindness, deafness, etc. Generally, in determining an optimal approach, a disciplined approach to testing is required, and this involves a carefully chosen set of metrics associated with evaluating the experience and effectiveness of the human-computer interface. An increasingly important application area, both for social relations and entertainment, and subject to very rapid technology-driven changes, is computer graphics, the term commonly used to describe the computer generation and manipulation of images. Its uses include cartoons, film special effects, video games, medical imaging, engineering, as well as scientific, information, and knowledge visualisation. There has been a recent boom in virtual reality personal devices, where users are immersed in highly realistic 3D computer-generated scenarios, sometimes even with haptic feedback; augmented reality possibilities are related and offer support in many areas, e.g., healthcare. This makes them areas of great interest for school education, at least at the level of awareness of technical possibilities and social impacts, and also due to its connections with mathematics, physics and other sciences. Design, development and digital creativity. This topic concerns the ability to use computing in creative, liberating ways. Software is formed through design processes that include critical decision-making; pupils should learn how to creatively develop software, taking stakeholders’ viewpoints into account, and should learn how to analyse and understand the impacts of software and digital artefacts in general. Modelling and simulation. Computational modelling is an ideal way of gaining insight into phenomena and dynamic systems in a domain (e.g., natural, social, economic, technical or cultural systems). They also offer ways to explore designs and alternative solutions to problems. More generally, informatics literacy and modelling have the potential to become drivers for renewal and innovation of other educational disciplines. Simulators play an important role in allowing training or exploration in situations that are, for instance, dangerous or exceedingly expensive, e.g., flight or space simulators. Important developments in this field involve the creation of “intelligent” systems. Even from an early stage of informatics education, pupils can use simulators in a variety of including advantages, limitations and implications for society. Experiments with simple AI applications incorporating machine learning (ML) could facilitate such understanding. ML techniques enable computing systems to adjust their behaviour as a result of their interaction with the surrounding environment; and for example, they have obtained well-publicised results within game-playing. They have progressed to enable computers to rival humans’ ability at even more challenging, ambiguous, and highly skilled tasks with profound “real world” applications, such as: recognising images, understanding speech, and analysing X-rays. Today, such machine learning based computing systems are able to reliably perform activities that previously were done (and doable) only by humans. They can therefore be used to both augment human decision making and, in some cases, replace it with fully autonomous systems, the latter requiring particular attention to their technical, ethical, legal, economic, societal and educational consequences. Networks and communication. The Internet enables searching for information in diverse forms, across many facilities through the use of search engines. It provides access to the World Wide Web that holds vast amounts of information, including those in multimedia and hypertext formats. Networks enable computing systems to communicate with one another. These networks may be private and located within one organisation. However, they may also be public, academic, governmental, etc. A very important aspect of networks and communication concerns cybersecurity. Pupils can learn about related ethical issues but also about simple ways of protecting messages, many of these stemming from a historical perspective on code breaking. Additionally, social media provide an important set of communication channels, which can support online learning, for instance. Human-computer interaction. The interface between the computer and the user is crucial in determining the usability of systems. Different forms of usage give rise to different requirements: for instance, use for display purposes, use for entertainment including games, involvement in in-group sessions via video conferencing systems, and use for learning and education. A particular set of issues arise in considering interfaces for users with special ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 7ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 7 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM DOI: 10.1145/3592625 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0 It is currently made up by the following organisations: The ACM Europe Council aims to increase the level and visibility of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) activities across Europe. The Council comprises European computer scientists committed to fostering the visibility and relevance of ACM in Europe and is focused on a wide range of European ACM activities, including organizing and hosting high-quality ACM conferences, expanding ACM chapters, improving computer science education, and encouraging greater participation of Europeans in all dimensions of ACM. CEPIS is the representative body of national informatics associations throughout greater Europe. Established in 1989 by nine European informatics societies, CEPIS has since grown to represent over 450,000 ICT and informatics professionals in 29 countries. CEPIS promotes the development of the information society in Europe. Its main area of focus is the promotion and development of IT skills across Europe. CEPIS is responsible for the highly successful ECDL programme and produces a range of research and publications in the area of skills. Informatics Europe represents the academic and research community in informatics in Europe. Bringing together university departments and research laboratories, it creates a strong common voice to safeguard and shape quality research and education in informatics in Europe. With over 160 member institutions across 33 countries, Informatics Europe promotes common positions and acts on common priorities in the areas of education, research, knowledge transfer and social impact of informatics. IFIP was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, as a federation for societies working in information processing. IFIP’s aim is two-fold: to support information processing in the countries of its members and to encourage technology transfer to developing nations. As its mission statement states: IFIP is the global non-profit federation of societies of ICT professionals that aims at achieving a worldwide professional and socially responsible development and application of information and communication technologies. The Informatics for All coalition Informatics for All is a coalition whose aim is to establish informatics as a fundamental discipline to be taken by all students in school. Informatics should be seen as important as mathematics, the sciences, and the various languages. It should be recognized by all as a truly foundational discipline that plays a significant role in education for the 21st century. International Federation for Information Processing ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 14ACM_I4A2023_V08.indd 14 4/24/23 4:15 PM4/24/23 4:15 PM