«Computer science in pre-university education. The case of the Spanish Olympiad in Informatics»
Marco Antonio GómezSpanish Olympiad in Informatics organizer
Abstract
The presence of Computer Science in the curriculum of pre-university education in Spain is, in general, anecdotal. From many different areas, they are fighting to change this situation and for computer science studies to be established, once and for all, in both primary and secondary schools. One of the oldest projects in Spain that pursues this goal is the Spanish Informatics Olympiad (OIE), held year after year since 1997 and whose winners represent Spain in the International Informatics Olympiad. In this talk we will do a quick review of its 25 years of history and we will know the challenges that have been overcome and those that remain to be overcome.
Bio
Marco Antonio Gómez Martín is a Doctor in Computer Science from the Complutense University of Madrid. His doctoral thesis entitled “Architecture and methodology for the development of educational systems based on videogames” reflects his interest in both videogames and education, especially programming. This last part has led him, among other things, to be a promoter of programming contests for university students (AdaByron, https://ada-byron.es/), for students of higher-level training cycles (ProgramaMe, https://programame.com/) and for the general public (Las 12 uvas, https://las12uvas.es/). In 2019 he joined the National Committee of the Spanish Computer Olympiad (https://olimpiada-informatica.org/) which is responsible, among other things, for the general supervision of the project, ensuring its continuity and evaluating each edition. His involvement in programming contests led him to participate in the creation of an online judge, Accept the challenge! (https://www.aceptaelreto.com) which today has more than 500 problems and more than 20,000 registered users.
