LIKES: Educating the Next Generation of Knowledge Society Builders

Although information technology (IT) is used extensively in the education of all disciplines, the computing-related fields are facing tremendous challenges, such as declining student enrollment and a lack of representation from minorities and women. Strengthening the connection between computing and other fields could help instructors to integrate IT in their teaching and to support the learning of students, who will become the next generation of Knowledge Society builders. Presently, this connection is weak due to the lack of interdisciplinary collaboration and mutual understanding among faculty in computing and other fields. Our ongoing effort entitled “Living in the KnowlEdge Society (LIKES) Community Building Project” aims to build a community that will define a socially-relevant way to make systemic changes in how computing and IT concepts are taught and applied in both computing and other fields. In this paper, we review previous efforts in this area and summarize our project’s achievements and lessons learned. We also provide recommendations on integrating IT into other curricula and on strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations.