Sharing computer science education ideas: Israeli-Russian collaboration

This article describes a unique Israeli-Russian project, in which Israeli high school computer science (CS) teachers promote curricular reform in the Russian region of Penza, based on the Israeli high school CS curriculum. The reform involves local schools, universities, the hi-tech industry and local government officials. It includes changes in courses, textbooks and other teaching materials. The Israeli teachers provided workshops to assist the Russian teachers in the assimilation of the reform. This collaboration may encourage other countries to collaborate and not necessarily re-invent the wheel; for some countries it can serve as a catalyst to assist in bringing computer science education into schools.