The State of the Computer Science Nation in Canada with Tony Targonski

Yesterday, I interviewed Tony Targonski about the state of computer science in Canada and CompSci.ca:

If you haven't had an opportunity to check out CompSci.ca, it's a site dedicated to students and faculty who wish to discuss matters relating to computer science. Tony is one of its contributors and maintains a blog where he writes about his own experiences as a student at the University of Waterloo.

During our conversation, I asked Tony to give me his opinion on the state of computer science in Canada and provide me with some of his own insights as a second year student. Overall, he was optimistic about the how Canadian institutions are teaching today's youth in the basic fundamentals of computer science (i.e. algorithms). Combined with real-world work experience through co-op programs, potential/current computer science students have great opportunities to be successful in today's economy.

One call-to-action that Tony wanted to see here was to have as many high school faculty (who teach computer science) check out CompSci.ca. In his words:

The forums are an excellent place to find help with assignments or [to] get feedback on personal projects. This fall we are also starting a new season of our high school programming contest at https://dwite.ca/ -- it's a team based competition with a variety of difficulty in the questions, so it should be accessible to all levels of students; it's a good way to test out what was learned in class, keep track of improvements (the competition is hosted 5 times per academic year), or as practice for bigger contests like Waterloo's CCC or ECOO.

Great stuff!

About Tony Targonski

Tony Targonski is a student at the University of Waterloo, pursuing a degree in Computer Science. This programming blog explores computers in education, career, and personal lifes of students, teachers, and those interested in any of the above.