New Perspectives in Science Education
For a debate on the use of artificial intelligence in schools: the importance of some contributions from the 1990s onwards for a better understanding of the current times.
Guglielmo Abbruzzese, Department of Mathematics, Tor Vergata University (Italy)
Abstract
In the first decades after its inception in the USA [1], computer science and ICT teaching were primarily aimed at providing adequate scientific and technical preparation. This approach strongly characterized the informatics teaching in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decades, the legislative and cultural framework reflected a broader European and global trend toward integrating technological skills in education. The progressive penetration of ICT into schools was accompanied by an increasing diffusion of digital environments across all subjects, which has led informatics education to coexist with broader digital education at all levels (not infrequently causing confusion about the true nature of computer science [2]).
This coexistence brought pedagogical challenges, as education researchers adopted cognitive models emphasizing human-machine interaction as an effective educational paradigm [2]. These models risked oversimplifying the epistemological foundations of informatics as a discipline [2].
A group of Italian intellectuals and educators deeply engaged has contributed significantly to clarifying these issues, proposing an informed pedagogical approach that integrates scientific and technical rigor with humanistic reflection [3][4]. Today, their work is crucial for teacher training, particularly because of the rising integration of artificial intelligence into education, which demands careful epistemological and ethical consideration for its social implications. Informatics now faces the challenge of combining its traditional scientific and technical dimensions with a renewed humanism [5].
Keywords: informatics education, artificial intelligence, digital humanism.
References:
[1] Blikstein P., Moghadam S. H., Computing Education. In S. A. Fincher, A. V. Robins (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. p. 56-78.
[2] Abbruzzese, G., L’insegnamento dell’informatica nella scuola italiana dagli anni Settanta ad oggi: evoluzioni passate e sfide future. Annali online della Didattica e della Formazione Docente. Forthcoming.
[3] Biuso A.G., Filosofia, intelligenza artificiale e apprendimento. Punti Critici, 9, 2004, pp. 57-83.
[4] Stelli G., La rivincita di Eutifrone: didattica postmoderna e intelligenza artificiale. Punti critici, 5/6, 2001, pp. 13-62.
[5] Nardelli E., No Digital Citizens Without Digital Humanism. In H. Werthner, C. Ghezzi, J. Kramer, J. Nida-Rümelin, B. Nuseibeh, E. Prem., A. Stanger (Eds.), Introduction to Digital Humanism, Cham, Springer, 2024, pp. 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45304-5_7
