Today’s NYTimes has a great article about the evolution of computer science education. IT has become a necessary component for exploration and analysis in most every field of study: medicine, law, environmental science, manufacturing, etc. And computer science students learn more than just the programming. They are taught to “manage complexity; to navigate and assess information; to master modeling and abstraction; and to think analytically in terms of algorithms, or step-by-step procedures.� These skills are increasingly valuable in today’s service economy.
Employers want and need people who can think, analyze and communicate. As IT systems become more pervasive and complex, analysis and decision making are based on algorithms and predictive models.
A liberal arts education was valued in the 20th century because it taught students critical thinking and communication skills. Computer science may be the prerequisite for working in the 21st century.
Do you think that's true? Already, our work language is filled with computer metaphors -- input, feedback, loopback, data architecture, etc. I can't tell whether that means we're already integrated into the computer age, or whether we're hoping the language makes us look like we belong in the IT society.
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