Book contents
- The Age of Algorithms
- The Age of Algorithms
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Algorithms Intrigue, Algorithms Disturb
- 2 What Is an Algorithm?
- 3 Algorithms, Computers, and Programs
- 4 What Algorithms Do
- 5 What Algorithms Don’t Do
- 6 Computational Thinking
- 7 The End of Employment
- 8 The End of Work
- 9 The End of Property
- 10 Governing in the Age of Algorithms
- 11 An Algorithm in the Community
- 12 The Responsibility of Algorithms
- 13 Personal Data and Privacy
- 14 Fairness, Transparency, and Diversity
- 15 Computer Science and Ecology
- 16 Computer Science Education
- 17 The Augmented Human
- 18 Can an Algorithm Be Intelligent?
- 19 Can an Algorithm Have Feelings?
- 20 Time to Choose
16 - Computer Science Education
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2020
- The Age of Algorithms
- The Age of Algorithms
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Algorithms Intrigue, Algorithms Disturb
- 2 What Is an Algorithm?
- 3 Algorithms, Computers, and Programs
- 4 What Algorithms Do
- 5 What Algorithms Don’t Do
- 6 Computational Thinking
- 7 The End of Employment
- 8 The End of Work
- 9 The End of Property
- 10 Governing in the Age of Algorithms
- 11 An Algorithm in the Community
- 12 The Responsibility of Algorithms
- 13 Personal Data and Privacy
- 14 Fairness, Transparency, and Diversity
- 15 Computer Science and Ecology
- 16 Computer Science Education
- 17 The Augmented Human
- 18 Can an Algorithm Be Intelligent?
- 19 Can an Algorithm Have Feelings?
- 20 Time to Choose
Summary
In many countries, governments are now conscious of the importance, in the age of algorithms, of computer science education. In the United Kingdom, for example, the Royal Society published a report in 2012, “Shutdown or Restart: The Way Forward for Computing in UK Schools,” recommending the introduction of computer science education in schools. At about the same time, Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s devastating critique attracted a lot of attention: “I was flabbergasted to learn that today computer science isn’t even taught as standard in UK school. Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it’s made.” As a result, the United Kingdom engaged in a complete reconstruction of its computer science educational system. In the United States, an “advanced placement” course called AP Computer Science was introduced in 1984 as a specialized high school subject. But the education system is quite fragmented and schools are not required to offer it. Barack Obama declared in 2016, “In the new economy, computer science isn’t an optional skill. It’s a basic skill, right along with the three R’s.” In 2018, only about 135,000 out of the 15 million high school students in the United States were enrolled in the course.
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- Information
- The Age of Algorithms , pp. 133 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020