The Challenges of Computer Science Education in the 21st Century education in a Developing Economy

Abstract

This paper made an effort to describe the difficulties in the teaching of computer science education in developing countries with emphases to the case of Nigeria. Computer science education had been included in the school curriculum for about two decades now even from the elementary to the tertiary education, yet the Nigeria education system still is not ready for the teaching of computer education in her schools as there are no trained computer science education teachers nor is there any program in place to train or retrain even the existing ones. The paper explained what computer education is and its different branches as a discipline; it described the part teachers should play in the teaching of computer science education, the benefits of the discipline to students then the challenges of teaching computer science education in Nigeria. It concluded that the full potential of computers is yet to be exploited within the Nigerian school system and that the development in digital technology has left many teachers especially the old educators struggling to keep up with current trend. Recommendations include that in order for computer science and classroom teachers to become confident in the use of computers and ICT facilities, they should understand the benefits of digital literacy; teachers need to be involved in an extensive on-going training and exposure to the use of ICT, training in the use of ICT should be recognized by institutions and the government as very essential for teaching computer skill, and schools should invest in, and also implement long term ongoing training and continuous professional development in order for the teachers to keep up with rapidly evolving digital technologies.