3 of 20

International Trends (Digital Technologies)

Europe, despite having comprehensive collective planning, tends to implement in very different ways.

Nordic countries are pedagogical driven with a current shift away from DT to more traditional approaches, particularly championing inquiry and PBL, though Finland is introducing DT in preschool.

UK has focused on Computational Thinking as CS in P-12, but trending towards US model as DT/DL. Spain, Switzerland and France are introducing primary DT. Germany is shifting to a competency model for DT in HS.

Eastern Europe is leading nation wide initiatives with well developed P-12 curricula.

4 of 20

International Trends (Digital Technologies)

USA is very diverse, with advanced curriculum in a few states and ICT in lower socioeconomic states, 53% of schools offer DT. In general computational thinking is seen as a digital literacy and not exclusive to computer education and there is a move to transform libraries to focus on digital literacy development. USA has not yet explored comprehensive DT/DL in primary.

Asia - productivity tool focus with systematised rote learning with a few exceptions such as Singapore, but trending to DT/DL.

Africa, Pacific and South and Central America all struggling to implement basic ICT skills, with politicised policies, lack of trained teachers and infrastructure, including power in some countries.

5 of 20

International Trends (Digital Technologies)

Computational Thought was included in PISA testing (15 year olds) in 2021

Learning in the Digital World will be included in PISA in 2025 to measure students’ ability to engage in self-regulated learning while using digital tools.

Generally PISA results have shown progressive improvements internationally.

Australia does not provide PISA testing on computational thinking preferring our own NAP-ICT testing.

6 of 20

International Trends (Computer Science)

Difference in terminology and focus provide a fractured approach to computer science, computational thinking and digital literacy education.

Tertiary trend towards competency based learning instead of outcomes.

USA is generally focused on STEM integration with CT seen as a general capability to be taught and developed in all subjects.

UK and Australia focus on CT as a base for Computer Science education.

In general, the USA model is gaining traction, but for 90% of the world, the focus is on digital literacy and they do not provide computer science education, i.e. programming.

7 of 20

National Trends (Digital Technologies)

Now have all states in agreement and implementing Digital Technologies.

While the curriculum is fully implemented, it is not fully enacted.

Reporting is an indicator of enactment achieved by only half of Australian schools.

Qld going backwards a little with the excuse of v9 and the latest CARF providing opportunities for even less enactment of the curriculum.

Different implementations by states threatens the overall implementation.

VIC (DL integrated), NSW reviewing already, QLD introducing a new approach.

8 of 20

National Trends (Computer Science)

There remains no senior national curriculum following on from DT.

Some states and territories are still ICT focused (TAS/SA/NT).

Other have traditional tertiary first year CS focus (VIC/NSW).

Some have an integrated approach including ICT and CS, with CT and entrepreneurship focus (WA/ACT).

9 of 20

Queensland Trends (Digital Technologies)

New CARF for State Schools, while the learning area must be taught, Digital Technologies itself is not mandated and there is only a requirement to teach/offer a Technologies subject in one semester each two year band.

This recombination of Digital Technologies into the Technologies Learning Area has significant enactment implications for the subject in Queensland, with primary schools now able to officially not teach Digital Technologies.

This legitimises an already minimal approach by some schools, with an integrated model common, and even more common is a minimal enactment of hours, with concentration of these in specific terms/years making spiral progression more difficult.

10 of 20

Queensland Trends (Digital Technologies)

QCAA has introduced a different foundational theory to inform the teaching and planning of the Australian Curriculum subjects - the New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives by Marzano and Kendall instead of Bloom used by ACARA, with cognitive verbs being the expression of this in assessment.

Though there is little evidence that schools are adopting this framework below senior schooling, it now exists from P-12 and guides Queensland curriculum development, creating the potential for further divergence with the Australian curriculum.

11 of 20

Queensland Trends (Computer Science)

Digital Solutions combined ITS with ICT/Entrepreneurship focus and IPT with CS focus, but lost the real world project based emphasis of previous subjects.

Reframed as a traditional first year uni CS course and course content is highly dependent on the ease it can be assessed by QCAA processes.

Numbers reducing 10% per year after a massive drop when DS introduced.

While QLD had almost reach parity with female participation, it is now rapidly approaching NSW/VIC participation levels of <10%.

QCAA had hoped ICT would absorb losses from the general subjects but no great influx of numbers occurred and ICT numbers are also decreasing.

12 of 20

Queensland Trends (Computer Science)

Tension exists between DT and DS with students in 9/10 learning OOP and some other advanced concepts not developed in DS, particularly losing the focus on CT and other discipline specific high order thinking process such as design thinking, systems thinking, futures thinking, entrepreneurship, data thinking, etc. and the change from project based to problem based learning.

DT is generally leading innovation, particularly in 9 & 10 electives.

13 of 20

Queensland Trends (Computer Science)

Some innovation is occurring in applied courses, but the new applied curriculum is less flexible, with trends in general syllabus development unnecessarily spilling into applied syllabus development despite not have the assessment processes driving these changes.

IB despite its slow improvement cycle, is providing a more flexible alternative to Digital Solutions with VET & school based subjects providing alternatives to ICT.

This is a significant loss for QCAA curriculum leadership, with innovation occurring in curricula not developed by the QCAA.

14 of 20

Teacher Education Trends

Most university Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs focus on Educational Technology applications that teachers can use to support their teaching.

Many others (but not all) include teaching Digital Literacy to prepare ITE students to teach their students to use of digital technologies in schools.

Fewer include preparation for the teaching of Digital Technologies, more for primary programs, fewer in secondary, and almost none for shorter career change programs. Many programs combine Technologies with other subjects, Arts, Mathematics, Science, or STEM.

15 of 20

Teacher Education Trends

Almost no universities have secondary computer science teaching programs.

Griffith and ACU are the last remaining specialisations in QLD, though some combine STEM subjects to have sufficient student numbers, but these tend to be dominated by mathematics, then science, and lastly computer science (engineering is usually ignored).

16 of 20

Teacher Education Trends

While Digital Solutions is sometimes mentioned as a priority recruitment subject, the loss of many schools offering Digital Solutions has provided a pool of available teachers, and the limited expectations on schools to offer Digital Technologies, has minimised the need for large numbers of Digital Technologies teachers, but if subject numbers pick up, Queensland has limited capacity to respond quickly to increased demand in both Digital Solutions and Digital Technologies, though universities would respond to such demand in time, the lag would be at least 1 to 2 years, and there is limited capacity in qualified ITE educators to meet this demand so they will draw on existing teachers to fill this need.

17 of 20

Future

Artificial Intelligence will be included in the curriculum.

Supportive coding tools will result in a shift from coding to programming.

Trend will be towards performance based assessment in response to GAI.

Computational Thinking will be defined or replaced, probably with AI.

We will swing back towards integration (e.g. STEM) vs a discipline focus.

Trends to incorporate citizenship education with ICT to form digital citizenship will reverse with increasing overlap between civics education and digital literacy, migration from DL to civics, will eventually return DL back to ICT skill development.

18 of 20

Future

Trends towards competency vs outcomes (VET vs General) will continue.

With the new assessment model in place, QCAA may allow more flexibility in curriculum development, but may also deviate from Australian Curriculum through the use of the Revised Taxonomy, particularly as it aligns assessment in junior high school with the current processes used in the senior years.

With challenges from some states, especially NSW, ACARA may introduce quicker update cycles, or more flexible descriptors that permit innovations in content to be introduced without needing to wait for update revisions.

19 of 20

Q&A

Dr Jason Zagami Griffith University

20 of 20

2:45 - 3:15 (30 min) Day 2 Lockhart 2 (3 min per slide)

Trends in Computer Education

Current trends and challenges in computer education nationally and internationally from a Systematic Quantitative Literature Review, statistical analysis, and 2022 ACS national survey.