The computer science education sector is undergoing significant change and growth. The 2018-2019 academic year saw a growing institutional adoption trend of edTech platforms, as well as moves by major traditional textbook publishers to accommodate educators' needs with technology and interactive content.
Pearson CEO John Fallon recently said that “the $300 textbook is dead, we have to reinvent and make a future for this company around $40 to rent an ebook, $80 for a completely integrated package that provides much more personalization, adaptive assessment capabilities that support faculty. That’s still a sustainable business, but then it provides a platform by which we can, if you like, be the disruptor.”
CS is taught in a range of classroom formats and sizes—from one-on-one tutoring to traditional university lectures to Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)—a factor that seems to be accelerating the adoption of platform-based technology that improves learning outcomes and drives greater student engagement.
From new research and policy initiatives to edTech acquisitions by major publishers, let’s take a look at some of the key highlights of the past year in CS education...
September 2018
- Code.org releases State of CS Education Report focusing on K12 Policy and implementation
- Gracehopper Celebration in Houston, Texas
October 2018
- The University of Texas announces launch of online Masters in Computer Science starting Fall 2019
- Campus computing releases The 29th National Survey of Computing and Information Technology in American Higher Education
- Turnitin acquires Gradescope, “an assessment platform that reduces the time associated with grading in college courses”
- Ada Lovelace Day
November 2018
- 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
- Wiley acquires Learning House, “a diversified education service provider”
December 2018
- Computer Science Education Week
- Codio launches C-Books
January 2019
February 2019
- RTI releases Alternative and Independent: The Universe of Technology Related “Bootcamps” report
March 2019
April 2019
- AI Now releases DISCRIMINATING SYSTEMS Gender, Race, and Power in AI report
- Inaugural Symposium on Computer Science and Learning Sciences at Northwestern
May 2019
- Cengage and McGrawHill announce merger
- National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Summit
- Wiley acquires Knewton’s assets, “a provider of affordable courseware and adaptive learning technology”
June 2019
- OpenUpEd releases The 2019 OpenupEd trend report on MOOCs
- U.S. EdTech funding nears $1 Billion in the first half of 2019
July 2019
- 24th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education in Aberdeen, UK
- Girls Who Code release report that leads to legislation requiring federally funded CS initiatives to report demographic data to the Department of Education
- Alan Turing announced as new face on the UK's £50 note
- Wiley acquires Zyante (parent company of Zybooks), “a leading provider of computer science and STEM education courseware”
August 2019
- Codio launches Global Assessments Library of auto-graded assessment questions
- Online degree market forecasted to reach $74B in 2025 by HolonIQ
- Amber Johnson becomes the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in computer science at Purdue
- Girls Who Code release “APPLYING FOR INTERNSHIPS AS A WOMAN IN TECH”
- Course Report releases 2019 Coding Bootcamp Market Size Study
- Pearson, the leading textbook distributor, declares “the $300 textbook is dead” at the ACM International Computing Education Research (ICER) conference in Toronto, ON, Canada
September 2019
- Chegg announces plans to buy Thinkful for approximately $80m
- Codio releases Advanced Learning Insights tool