Informatics and ICT in Polish Education System

The reform of the Polish national education system started in the school year 1999/2000. One of the main features of it is the plan to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into almost all school subjects. The second important feature is preparing students to use computers and software in other subjects during separate ICT lessons. The separate lessons on using computers and ICT are called informatics. Informatics lessons are obligatory in primary schools and in middle schools (gimnazjum). In high schools (liceum) there is an obligatory subject called information technology (IT) and an elective subject called informatics (computer science). It is possible to take the maturity exam in informatics when someone has graduated from the high school. The authors work as a team, and have prepared subject curricula, informatics textbooks, electronic materials for students and accompanying guidelines and books for teachers for all stages of the education system. We are also engaged in teacher-education and in-service training. We want to exchange our ideas, as realized within these materials, and we would like to present our experience in making these ideas alive in our schools. The realization of informatics education in secondary schools is a continuing process. We are at the moment, in the year 2005, when the first graduates of the new education system will come to study in our universities. So it is necessary to make some reflections on the past.