The Computer Science Revolution In Schools

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The Computer Science Revolution In Schools. IIT Bombay is Changing The Way Computer  Sciense is Taught in Schools

In the 21st century, Computer and Internet skills have acquired therelevance of life-skills and become benchmarks of literacy alongwith the traditional 3 R's-reading, writing and arithmetic.

Schools have largely taken the responsibility of equipping the newgeneration withtechnical skills. Children these days are exposed tocomputers at a very early age, laptops, I-pad etc. at home. They findit more interesting to work and eventually learn on these devicesrather than the conventional books or chalk and board. Traditionalchalk is now getting replacedby Interactive Projectorboards. The schools have, therefore, integrated ICT into theschool curriculum which is instrumental in developing a cultureof critical thinking, exploring, lifelong learning and socialresponsibility. Given the sudden surge and demand of ICTbased education in the developing countries, it is imperative toinvest in computer education as this can play an instrumentalrole in building indigenous technological capability and greater independence in the long run.

In India, less than 10 percent of all schools havecomputers and these are skewed in favor ofurban areas (26.41%) leaving the rural areas(6.66%) marginalized. Even when computers areconsidered for study in schools, the emphasis islargely on acquiring skills to master technology(computers) and there is little deliberation onconcepts to be taught at each level.

In today’s scenario, there is a proliferation ofeducation related material. There is a lot of sensible content present but there is an overdose ofinformation in many forms. As a result children and teachers are overwhelmed and confused. Althoughsome of theeducation boards have defined a course for high grades, the content is fairly open forinterpretation for the elementary and middle

schoollevels. In the absence of a clearly defined computerscience curriculum, computers tend to be relegated asentertainment devices for children.

Understanding the current scenario, there is need for asystematic curriculum which can develop clarity ofthought and nurture positive attitude towardstechnology.

It is highly important to focuson conceptsalongside skills to ensureoverall development inthe subject of computerswhich continuouslyevolves at a steady pace.There is a strong need for curriculum which teaches thoughtful technologies.

Here is a story where the Westcan look to the developingworld, to a country like Indiawhich is using technology innovatively. We are talking aboutComputer Masti. Computer Masti (CM) (‘Masti’ means fun inHindi) is a program to teach computer science in schools. It is currently being used by 3,00,000 students spread across India.

CM addresses the need for active computer learning through a cutting edge Computer Sciencecore curriculum. It is a collaborative product of IIT Bombay and InOpen Technologies. ComputerMasti Learning Solutions constitutes of graded Text Book (or ebook) with support of Teacher Training,Handholding and Assessments.

It is worth mentioning that Computer Masti (CM) has successfully introduced a fun way of learningcomputers where interaction happens in the most creative way, using a series of books, eight of whichare already out and the rest are in progress. Childrenread the books and meet three new friends - Jyoti, Tejasand Moz. They are three imaginary characters in thebooks. Tejas and Jyoti who learn computers from theirteacher Moz (a mouse) are amazed by the way acomputer works. CM adopts a constructivistpedagogical approach, which encourages the charactersto keep asking questions in a guided enquiry manner.

Rupesh Kumar Shah, Co-founder and CEO of InOpensay “We want to change the way Computer Science inschools is taught and learnt. The emphasis should be onunderstanding Computer Science thoughtfully andholistically and not just learning some temporary skills. Webelieve that in the information age, it is important that we equip the students with the right combination ofcognitive (thinking), behavioral (life skills or the 21 century skills) and attitude (self-learning abilities). Webelieve that there is a need to present content in a way that is simple, yet very engaging. There is a need toemphasize concepts and nurture thinking skills rather than memorization ofinformation. By a process ofsimplifying and strengthening, we believe that we will create confident and clear thinking next generationlearners future citizens.”

Computer Masti is instrumental in developingalgorithmic thinking and organization skills. This notonly lays a foundation for future programming skills,but also develops important life skills. Computer Mastiprovides a unique opportunity for boosting naturalways of learning. Integration of ICT into the schoolcurriculum is instrumental in developing a culture ofthinking, lifelong learning and social responsibility.

Prof Sridhar who is the chief architect of the projectsays “The objective is to develop an active high qualitycontent which can be universally acceptable and can bedeployed across different kinds of infrastructure”.

Computer Masti team began theprocess of writing instructionmaterial for computer educationafter a study of existing curriculumof various educational boards of India as well as other developing countries such asPakistan and developed countries such as United States. They found that IndianEducation boards define standards to be met for grades 9-12, but standards/detailsof what should be taught in previous grades were missing. Hence, the team started out by identifying topics to be taught in

various grades and rationale for thesame. Computer Masti (CM) curriculum for each standard is broadly divided into three groups: basicconcepts, usage skills and social aspects. The course aims to establish computer fluency by addressingcognitive (clarity of thought include with topics such as step wise thinking, logical reasoning, systematicgathering information, brain storming and mind mapping, multiple representation), behavioral (e.g. ITusage skills such as word processing, drawing graphs, data analysis, multimedia presentation) and affective components (e.g. positive computer attitude).

Computer Masti adopts a reverse thematicintegration approach; in that it reinforces topics taught in other subjects while teaching computerconcepts and skills. The curriculum is spiral, as learning of new topics or advanced features is based onthe previous understanding and explicit connections are made to topics already taught.

The implementation process adopted by InOpen is fairly interesting. InOpen strongly believes that inEducation Sector ‘One Size doesn’t fit all.' InOpen believes that every school is different and comeswith its own learning. Every school gets its customized curriculum which involves a different set oflearning material, extensive training and assessmentguidelines. The goal is to help schools reach the rightlevel.

The content apart from teaching the computerliteracy skills, also teaches other concepts likestepwise thinking and logical reasoning, problemsolving forms an integral part and are taught andconnected to computer and programming skills.CM understands the needs of students fromdeveloping countries. This is realized in the form ofreverse thematic integration and used of tools thatare Operating Systemindependent.

CM uses Scaffolded learning.Real-life problems always havemore than one path to a solution that students learn best by doing, and thatcuriosity should drive exploration.

Use of free and open source applications results in reduction of implementation cost, thus ensuringensure sustained access. Moreover, it allows the students to become creators of technology, ratherthan remaining mere users of the technology.

For InOpen, teaching computers is just an excuse to, Develop clarity in stepwise execution of anytask, right from planning to execution ; Develop clarity in communication, right thinking to creativepresentations and Develop confidence in solving complex problems using simple thinking.

In other words, InOpen has chosen Computer Science as a vehicle to mould next generationtechnology users.

The response from the schools for Computer Masti has been great. InOpen started implementingComputer Masti from Dec 2009.

From 2000 students’ then, InOpen now serves approximately 3,00,000 students spread across 125+schools. The company has trained more than 2000 teachers so far. Computer Masti is also nowavailable in 8 Indian Languages and 2 Foreign Languages. The E-Book has been downloaded in 125countries.

InOpen plans to slowly and gradually expand and make CM available to masses by means ofconducting workshops, summer and winter camps and other activities.

InOpen is looking forward to expand its operation in Middle East and developing countries likeBangladesh and Srilanka.