The first 25 years of computers in education in Poland: 1965-1990

Abstract

The first regular informatics lessons in schools were organised in Poland in the second half of the 1960s. Some of the lessons in Wrocław were devoted to programming a mainframe computer located at the university, and school students in Warsaw had a chance to learn theoretical models of computers and foundations of computations. In the mid-1970s, the government of Poland recognised the importance of computers in the state economy and also in preparing the society for new challenges in the job market and social life. Several national programs and projects were initiated and funded by public money which brought to schools the key components of computer education technology, such as: microcomputers (Elwro 800 Junior), curriculum and syllabuses, educational software, textbooks and materials for teachers, journals. In this paper we shortly characterise all these components and describe their role in informatics education in Polish schools. The ‘investments’ in the area of new educational technology, hard and soft, technical and intellectual, made in the 1960-1980s to the education system in Poland, have paid off in the next years and until today, when technology, such as the Internet and mobile tools, are rapidly changing our lives and education.