Computer Science Educator

Paul Baumgarten

Teaching CS at Sha Tin College, Hong Kong · Author · Building tools & communities that make Computer Science accessible to all.

Projects

Initiatives aimed at improving CS education, representation, and student engagement.

Computer Science for the IB Diploma

NEW — Out Now

Published by Hachette · Approved by the IB

The textbook fully addresses both SL and HL content, caters to either Python or Java as the language of instruction, and includes a thorough 40 page guide to the IA filled with exemplar work from former students, top tips, common mistakes, and checklists.

Authors: Paul Baumgarten, Ioana Ganea & Carl Turland

ISBN: 9781036009007 · Published 24 April 2025

A big thank you to my co-authors Ioana Ganea and Carl Turland — it was a lot of fun doing this project together.

CodeHers HK

300+ girls · 42 schools

Girls in Computer Science · 11 International Schools collaboration

Computer Science remains heavily male dominated. CodeHers is a collaboration of 11 International Schools within Hong Kong that provides a safe, supporting and encouraging environment for girls to have a go. The ultimate aim is to normalise the presence of women in tech, making the need for such events obsolete.

The inaugural event in 2024 attracted over 300 girls in attendance. The 2025 event also saw over 300 girls, coming from 42 schools across all of Hong Kong.

code.pbaumgarten.com

Online Python learning environment

An online Python learning environment built for CS educators and their students. No installation. No distraction. Just code.

Designed to remove every barrier between a student and writing their first line of Python. Works in the browser, requires no setup, and stays out of the way so students can focus on learning.

Coding Quest (2022-24)

800+ students · 100 schools

Annual coding competition for secondary students

An annual competition specifically for secondary students to showcase their knowledge and understanding of algorithm design, data structures and computational thinking. No prizes, just bragging rights — students compete against themselves.

Started during the Covid era, Coding Quest grew to over 800 students from 100 different schools by 2024. An archive of all the coding challenges from the project is available on GitHub.

Curriculum Resources

Open teaching materials for secondary Computer Science courses. All resources are freely available.

Computer Science in the Age of AI

The rise of AI is remarkable but unlocking its full potential still demands a strong foundation in logic, computational thinking, abstract reasoning, algorithms, and data structures.

Fundamentals

The Fundamentals Still Matter

Just as calculators never eliminated the need to understand arithmetic, AI won’t eliminate the need to understand programming. Computer Science is everywhere, rapidly changing every industry. Whether pursuing a career or just exploring it, a solid foundation will be valuable.

Perspective

More Than Programming

It’s more than programming, and programming is more than coding. As Dr. Leslie Lamport notes, coding alone is like just learning to type. Programming languages are the tools we use to express solutions. Ultimately, Computer Science is about solving problems.

Opportunity

An Exciting Time for Computer Science

We, as Computer Scientists, are the ones who will be best placed to capitalise on the opportunities that will unfold. We are the ones who understand what these AIs are doing and how best to make use of them. Society is only going to become more reliant on computing, and therefore the people needed to make it work. It really is an exciting time to pick it for a career!

About

I’m a Secondary Computer Science teacher, currently working at Sha Tin College, an international school in Hong Kong where I teach Computer Science through the IB Diploma, IGCSE and MYP. Previously I have also lived and worked in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Perth, Australia, which is where I was raised.

I’m the co-author of Computer Science for the IB Diploma, published by Hachette in April 2025. I also co-organise CodeHers HK, run an online Python coding environment at code.pbaumgarten.com, and maintain this collection of open teaching resources.