Bridging the Computer Science Teacher Shortage with a Digital Learning Platform

Abstract

Although computer science is important in the many aspects of the world around us, computer science education is insufficient, partly due to a shortage of qualified computer science teachers. Co-Teach Informatica offers a temporary solution to high schools in the Netherlands to overcome this shortage. With online learning materials, local remote support desks, and guest teachers, it offers a computer science course following the curriculum guidelines. This paper presents the design of an online learning platform specifically designed for the Co-Teach Informatica program. The design has two important pillars: independent learning and progress tracing. Both are important to ensure that students can follow their computer science course without a qualified computer science teacher in their classroom. Finally, we discuss the design of the student progress tracing component using a student modelling approach and the requirements of the different user groups.