From Computer Literacy to Informatics Fundamentals

Twenty years ago, informatics was introduced as a compulsory subject in A- trian secondary schools. During this period informatics has experienced drastic evolutions and even some shifts of paradigms. This applies to an even larger extent to the didactics of informatics. ISSEP-InformaticsinSecondarySchools,EvolutionandPerspectives-takes stock of how the developments in the ?eld are re?ected in school throughout Europe. Teachersofinformaticsatsecondaryschoolsaswellaseducatorsofsuch teachers propose innovative methods of instruction, discuss the scope of overall informaticsinstruction,anddiscusshowinnovativeconceptscanbedisseminated to students in education as well as to active informatics teachers. Duetothepenetrationofinformationtechnologyintosocietyatlargeandinto schools in particular, the relationship between informatics and education leading togeneralcomputerliteracyortotheuseofIT-basedapproachesinconventional subjects, e-learning in school, is an evident focus of many contributions. According to the broad scope of the conference its proceedings are split into two volumes. This volume, From Computer Literacy to Informatics Fundam- tals, covers papers reporting on national strategies of informatics instruction and their evolution in accordance with the penetration of information proce- ing equipment in our daily life. In one way or another, these strategies strive to accommodate the needs of basic skills in information and communication te- nology (ICT) with educational principles that can be conveyed by informatics instruction in a traditional sense. Hence, the papers on national strategies are complementedintwoways:?rstly,bycontributionsthatstrivetoidentifyfun- mental issues, informatics can contribute to the general education process of the youth; and, secondly, by papers presenting approaches on how to link or even to combine instruction about such informatics fundamentals with the need to introduce pupils to the productive use of ICT.