COMPUTER SCIENCE BEFORE HIGHER EDUCATION

Information and communication technologies are basic in today's economy and in many countries there is a shortage of computing professionals. Therefore, computer science education is critical for any country that does not want to be left behind. But it is not enough to postpone the first contact of students with computer science until they reach higher education. In secondary, or even primary education, students should begin to acquaintance themselves with the basic principles of computing. However, the concept of computer science is not restricted to programming computers, and although in many introductory courses to computing, programming is the only topic covered, in this paper other subfields are mentioned and several issues regarding important ideas in computer education in primary and secondary school are discussed. If computer science education is to be started early, the pedagogical approach used should be adapted to the maturity and knowledge level of the student. In the final part of this paper, some methodologies that have been considered valuable by different authors in the context of primary and secondary school computer education are described.