Back to the future?

The way in which universities moved from an elite system of education in the 1960s to a more inclusive system of education in the 1990s has been a great success story. Computer Science has played its part, becoming a subject taught in some form in almost every university in the developed world. Those of us who were in the subject at the start of its significant growth remember the battles to get Computer Science recognised as an acceptable academic subject, and the ways in which it subsequently came to dominate many of the more traditional subjects in a university's portfolio. But as we move into the 21st century universities are entering the most volatile and turbulent time for higher education since the early 1980s, and the dangers for Computer Science are acute.For the first time in its history Computer Science is not expanding; other disciplines are encroaching on its territory; the science base (at least in English schools) is in decline; the computing industry is tentative. We are now seeing 18-year-old students with at least 10 years computing experience, who can write flawless code while holding a dozen simultaneous e-conversations and watching the TV. In their highly parallel universe, they find "hello world" uninteresting (even if it has a browser interface). They are natural collaborators - wired, extrovert and hyper-social; they are digital natives whereas their teachers are digital immigrants.How will Computer Science survive the current turmoil? What can the past tell us about the future?