The Role of Computer Science Education for Understanding and Shaping the Digital Society

In the omnipresent discussion on the role of ICT in education, the contribution of computer science education is often mentioned, but not always understood. This paper discusses the relation between ICT education and computer science education and the benefits of understanding the fundamental concepts and ideas of Computer Science (CS). Computer science is a dynamic and highly innovative science, whose products make a significant contribution to the development of the so-called “Digital Society.” How should computer science teaching be adapted to the continuous technical further developments? Based on the outcomes of several research projects, this paper will outline how innovations in computer science can be taken up in order to improve the teaching of computer science. i.e., the topic of “databases” will in future offer a broader perspective on how to deal with data in the sense of “data management”. Agile methods, which are known from professional software development, can support learners and teachers, despite difficult school conditions, to better achieve the objectives in project based teaching. Programmable microcontrollers extend the view of computers as standing on a desktop towards ubiquitous embedded or also cyber-physical systems, which enable new and motivating approaches for the design of computer science lessons in the context of physical computing. As a target perspective, pupils should be able to understand the phenomena of the “digital society”, but also to be involved in the design of them in accordance to their needs.