Presentation made at CEED 2 workshop in CHisianu

1. Informatics curriculum development
in three Baltic states
Mart Laanpere, PhD, senior researcher in the Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University
Moldova CEED II project on Informatics curriculum development :: Chisinau, July 23-24 2014

2. Body of knowledge in school informatics
 Three alternative sources/communities/vocabularies:
 Computer science: academic discipline in university
(programming, algorithms, data structures, networks,
architectures, and computational thinking skills)
 ICT skills/Digital Literacy: universal ICT application skills at the
future workplace (ECDL: office software, internet)
 E-learning: ICT as a pedagogical tool for teaching and learning
different subjects (presentations, Web publishing, digital
creativity, online collaboration)
 Three Baltic countries were at the same starting point in 1991,
then each chose a different route in school informatics

3. Informatics in Lithuanian schools
 Compared with Estonia, no radical changes, strong leadership of
V.Dagiene’s research group in Vilnius University
 “Information technology” course is compulsory for the 5-10th
grades of the lower secondary (basic) school with 1 hour per
week, 35 hours per year
 Optional modules include programming, Web design etc.
 In the upper secondary school (Grades 11-12) can choose the
advanced optional modules of the subject (incl. programming)
 National exams in IT and programming since 2006
 Declining interest towards programming due to old approach

4. Informatics in Latvian schools
 All students in the 5th, 6th and 7th grade study informatics on the
basis of the elementary education standard (inspired by ECDL);
 In the 8th and 9th grade, students expand their knowledge by using
ICT in the study of various subjects (digital literacy);
 All 10th grade students take “Informatics I” course (based on ECDL);
 All students in Grade 11-12 specialising in mathematics, the natural
sciences and technologies take the “Informatics II” course (topics:
Information and its processing, Programming languages, Algorithms
and data structures, Applied programming elements, Design of
computer-based systems)
 National exam in informatics (optional)

5. School informatics in Estonia
 1991-1996: few regulations, complete freedom, many schools
continued to teach programming, some tried new ideas
 National curriculum 1996: informatics as an optional subject in
the upper-secondary level, 4 modules (close to ECDL); IT as cross-
curricular theme without clear learning outcomes or content
 National curriculum 2002: IT and media as cross-curricular theme
with explicit British-style learning outcome definitions, most of
the schools continued to teach informatics in grades 6-8, national
test in Grade 9 (2002 – 2005)
 National curriculum 2011: 4 optional courses (35h) in informatics
with standardised curriculum; cross-curricular themes
“Technology & Innovation” and “Knowledge environment”

6. Informatics curriculum change dimensions
Input-based
Independent subject Integrated
Pragmatic
Outcome-based
Theory-driven
1986 1996 20012011

7. Informatics courses in Estonian schools
 Grade 5-6: “Learning with Computer” (writing an essay,
preparing a presentation, data sheet, internet search…)
 Grade 8-9: “Information Society Technologies” (online
collaboration, e-services, creating a personal learning
environment, digital content production)
 Grade 10: “Computers in Inquiry” (searching for research
information, data collection, statistical data analysis,
presentation), see http://aku.opetaja.ee
 Grade 11: “Programming and Software Development”
 Additional courses (mandatory for Science orientation):
”Geoinformatics”, “Mechatronics & Robotics”

8. Cross-curricular theme
“Tehcnology & Innovation”
 Every student in Grades 10-12 has to participate in a
technology-driven innovation project, requirements: external
client, heterogeneous teams, involves both technology and
innovation, project-based (planned, documented, reported,
supervised)
 Sample scenarios: Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media
Marketing Campaign, Multilingual Web site, mobile/Web polling
of local people, GeoCaching track, Robotics e-textbook
 Teacher training (mainly for non-informatics teachers)

9. PR trick with ProgeTiiger
 Forbes: Why Estonia Has Started Teaching Its First-Graders To
Code
 The Verge: Estonia to make coding part of first-grade education
 BBC: Computer coding taught in Estonian primary schools
 Wired: Estonia Reprograms First Graders as Web Coders
 VentureBeat: Guess who’s winning the brains race, with 100%
of first graders learning to code?
 Financial Times, New York Times …

10. Reality of ProgeTiiger.ee
First steps in
programming
Kodu Game Lab
MSW Logo
Scratch
Python
Web design
HTML + CSS
JavaScript
Client-side apps
Server-side apps
LEGO WeDo
NXT-G
NXC Grade 8
NXC Grade 9
Primary schools Game coding Web development Robotics
Original resources + teacher training CodeAcademy

11. Scratch: programming for kids
http://scratch.mit.edu

12. Discussion
 Which of the three scenarios (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian)
makes the most sense to you? Why?
 What are advantages and disadvantages of each scenario?
 If you could make change towards one of these scenarios in
Moldova, then which one and why?

13. Some Rights Reserved
 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution Share Alike 3.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.
 The photo on the title slide comes from Flickr.com
user Michael Surran