Programm

As AI reshapes coding and digital skills, educators face a key question: How can education empower learners to think critically, create, and adapt in an AI-driven world?

This international online panel brings together experts from research, practice, and industry to discuss how programming education is evolving - from programming to computational thinking, problem-solving, and AI literacy. Each panelist will provide a 20-minute input, followed by a 30-minute moderated discussion with the audience.

Panelists

Chronis Kynigos
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
As a Professor and Director of the Educational Technology Lab, Chronis Kynigos has researched and promoted programming as a key individual and dialogic competence, integral to our intellect. To support this, he developed MaLT2, ChoiCo, and SorBET.

Abstract
In the future, programming might become as effortless as doing arithmetic with a calculator, with technology handling much of the work for us. This raises an important question which Chronis Kynigos will discuss in his presentation: If coding itself becomes so easy, how can programming competence remain a vital part of human intellect – worthy of both personal effort and collective investment? From an educational perspective, learning to program should remain “hard fun”: challenging but enjoyable, and a way to creatively and humanely solve problems while building playful, useful, and meaningful artefacts. Choosing the right programming languages and representations is key to supporting this kind of learning, helping learners engage deeply with concepts rather than just executing instructions. Finally, for someone already skilled in programming, how can AI tools act as apprentices in the sense described by Ken Kahn – that is, as collaborative partners that help learners think creatively and solve problems, rather than merely doing the work for them?

Justin Edwards
Minecraft, Seattle, USA
Justin Edwards is Director of Learning Experiences at Microsoft, leading Minecraft Education and introducing AI tools such as Lesson Crafter. He is a former CEO of CCEA, an award-winning producer, and a Microsoft Hackathon winner.

Abstract
Generative AI challenges traditional coding pedagogy but does not diminish the value of learning to code. Justin Edward’s work synthesizes guidance from the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, the European Commission, and leading universities to propose a reimagined model of coding education. He advocates shifting the focus from memorizing syntax to cultivating computational thinking, problem decomposition, AI prompt engineering, verification, debugging, and ethical judgment. Students should learn to collaborate with AI systems – framing problems, evaluating outputs for bias and error, and maintaining human agency throughout development.

Eva Marinus
PH Schwyz, Switzerland
Eva Marinus is a Professor and Head of the Research Chair in Computer Science Education. She works with children and pre-service teachers, focusing on programming, assessment, core computing concepts, and issues of data protection and privacy.

Abstract
While AI tools are an extremely powerful tool for experts who possess deep domain knowledge built through traditional education and programming experience, the impact on novice programmers is uncertain. The use of Vibe coding facilitates cognitive offloading, which is beneficial, but also hampers the development of programming skills, conceptual knowledge, and the motivation for critical thinking. As we enter this transitional phase – in which students start learning to programm in interaction with AI –, we face a major challenge: If we delegate too much core cognition to the AI before novices build their knowledge base, we may halt the development of future human experts, who are able to check and improve the computer programs. Eva Marinus’ presentation explores this critical knowledge transfer challenge and discusses how and when AI could be used in the programming learning process.

Chairs

Bernadette Spieler
Zurich University of Teacher Education, Switzerland
Bernadette Spieler will chair and moderate the panel discussion. She is a Professor of Computer Science Education at the Zurich University of Teacher Education, where she researches inclusive computer science education, playful programming, and AI literacy. 

Tobias Röhl 
Zurich University of Teacher Education, Switzerland
Tobias Röhl will moderate the online questions. He is Professor of Digital Learning and Teaching at Zurich University of Teacher Education, where his research at the Centre for Education and Digital Transformation focuses on how schooling evolves in the context of artificial intelligence, with a particular emphasis on pedagogical professionalism.

Format

Fachveranstaltung

Weitere Informationen

For anyone interested in the future of computing education, including teachers, school leaders, and educational researchers.

This panel is part of the Education and Digitality event series, which explores how the potentials of digitization in education are being realized in research and practice, as well as the associated risks.

More info on the series

Veranstalter

Centre for Education and Digital Transformation, Zurich University of Teacher Education

Kontakt

zbdw@phzh.ch