March Inaugural Irish Computer Science Education Summit Held at NUI Galway

The School of Education at NUI Galway recently organised and hosted the inaugural computer science education summit, CSforAll. The Summit was supported by Google and marked the first time CSforAll was hosted outside of the United States, with attendees from across Ireland, Europe and the US. This coincided with the announcement that the School of Education at NUI Galway will commence a new BA Education (Computer Science and Mathematical Studies) undergraduate initial teacher education programme in September 2019.

CSforAll is a large-scale global movement to mobilise and promote computer science education among all students and teachers. Initiated and championed by President Barack Obama when he hosted the inaugural CSforAll Summit in the White House.

Key stakeholders such as National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Professional Development Service for Teachers, and the Department of Education attended along with international speakers from Michigan State University, Munich University, industry and James Whelton, the co-founder of Coderdojo who delivered the keynote address.

Gaelscoil Riabhach, Loughrea, Co. Galway, Castleblayney College Monaghan, Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount, Dublin, Coláiste Chiaráin Limerick and Scoil Bhríde Mercy Secondary School, Tuam were the selected Showcase Schools at the event.

A key message and conversation topic of the day was about the equity in Computer Science – reiterating the message that one can be a great programmer no matter background, gender or race. What is important is increasing baseline Computer Science knowledge amongst all and providing everyone with the opportunity to learn – computer science is about equity, fun, transformation, digital literacy, and so much more. There was discussion also regarding the mental health issues around computing and social media.

Dr Cornelia Connolly, event organiser and Lecturer with NUI Galway’s School of Education, said: “As the first CSforAll outside of the US, NUI Galway's event marks an historic development in Computer Science education in Ireland, bringing together the key educational stakeholders and partners in celebrating and exploring the potential of coding and computational thinking in Irish classrooms and schools. At a time when Irish schools are piloting Computer Science as a Senior Cycle subject, we were delighted to host CSforAll and the watershed initiatives taking place around the country and internationally, including the inspirational work of Irish pupils and teachers working creatively with a range of innovative technologies, including micro-controllers, coding applications and software.”   

The Summit website, including photos from the day, are available at https://sites.google.com/view/csforallirelandsummit/home.