Preparing High School Students for College with Informatics

As we begin the 21 st century, a concern among many educators is whether we are providing our students with the skills they will need in this brave new world.Discussion often centers on the issues of globalization and the demands it brings for cultural awareness and appreciation.While these factors do distinguish the 21 st century, another equally important factor is the utilization of computing, specifically digital information.This skill is no longer the sole purview of backroom analysts and computer programmers.From health care professionals and educators to scientists and engineers, every 21 st century professional will be working with digital information.The utilization of this information is studied within the field of informatics (information + automatic).While several informatics degree programs and areas of study are emerging at universities around the country, no such training exists at the secondary school level.This is a serious omission.Just as 21 st century professionals will need to utilize digital information, so will students studying for those professions.We teach all high school students to write research papers even though relatively few of them will ultimately become researchers.The reason is that they need to be able to conduct and write about their research in order to be successful in college regardless of their major.Similarly, 21 st century college students need to be able to collect, analyze, and present information in order to be successful in college regardless of their major.This paper describes an informatics course suitable for upper level high school students.The course introduces students to skills that will allow them to work comfortably and effectively with digital information during their college studies.Successful completion of such a course would empower college-bound students and help them succeed in the 21 st