Addressing 21st century skills by embedding computer science in K-12 classes

Abstract

School districts across the country are embracing 21st century skills, and grappling with how to teach these to their K-12 students. At the same time, computer science educators are grappling with how to broaden participation. These two dilemmas are related, in that computer science can be used to teach many of the 21st century skills, and bringing computer science to all K-12 students can help broaden participation. For computer scientists, key 21st century skills [4] include creativity & innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication & collaboration, information literacy, media literacy and information, communications and technology (ICT) literacy-these skills go beyond traditional "computational thinking" skills because they include reflections on how computation affects social processes (such as the role of computational media in society). Since 2009, K-12 educators and computer science graduate students in the Engaging Computer Science in Traditional Education (ECSITE, pronounced "excite") project have developed curricular units that are embedded into non-computing K-12 classes [3]. These units collectively address many 21st century skills, and have been introduced into arts, geography, government, health, music, and science classes. Copyright © 2013 ACM.