Informatics based tasks development in the bebras contest management system

Abstract

The paper deals with the contest management system (CMS) of the International Bebras challenge on Informatics and Computational Thinking. The challenge is established in 2004 in Lithuania with the aim to engage children in learning Informatics (Computer Science or Computing). Started as a single annual contest on Informatics in a few countries, the Bebras challenge has upraised to over 50 countries and successfully developed a worldwide network of Informatics educators. The challenge is one of informatics activities provided for students during informatics lessons. The paper overviews various contest-based learning environments used to engage student’s in learning informatics, discusses the main features of activities development and illustrates how Bebras CMS is used for purposes of challenge management in Lithuania. This is demonstrated through the description of a system architecture, functionality and tasks development.