ABSTRACT
The boundaries of computing education and engineering education in primary and secondary education are blurry as they both operate at the intersections of hardware and software. Recently, there has been an explosion of educational technologies, such as LEGO Mindstorms, that are used within engineering education as well as computing education. Given the connections between the two fields, it is important for engineering educators to understand the background and contemporary issues in computing education. This chapter discusses the historical development of computer science education and the current push for everyone to learn computer science at primary and secondary levels, formally and informally. The authors frame general trends in computing education as aligning with techno-pessimism and techno-optimism, with the former overly emphasizing the harm of computing technologies and the latter overly emphasizing the positive role technology can play in our world. Finally, the chapter discusses trends that move away from these simplistic framings and show how recent computer science education is developing around techno-social realistic perspectives that are not overly celebratory or overly drab.
