Month: March 2013

CITIDEL: Computing and Information Technology Interactive Digital Educational Library

CITIDEL Repository is powered by DSpace and developed by the Department of Computing Sciences at Villanova University and the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech University.

CITIDEL is an integral part of National Science Digital Library (NSDL) which serves the community of computing educators.

via CITIDEL: CITIDEL Home.

Nifty Assignments

The Nifty Assignments session at the annual SIGCSE meeting is all about gathering and distributing great assignment ideas and their materials. For each assignment, the web pages linked below describe the assignment and provides materials — handouts, starter code, and so on. See the info page for ideas about what makes a nifty assignment and how to apply for the Nifty session (Nifty 2013 applications are due Sept 4th 2012.) Please email any suggestions or comments to Nick Parlante@cs.stanford.edu with “nifty” in the subject. Nick’s Home, greatest geocache ever

via Nifty Assignments.

About the CS10K Community | CS10K Community

Computer science should be part of everyone’s education, and everyone should have a path to a career in computing. Teachers of Exploring Computer Science (ECS) and Computer Science Principles (CSP) are putting this belief into action. The CS10K Community is where they come to connect with each other and with the resources and expertise they need to excel. With the support of a team of expert facilitators and supporting professionals, teachers get answers to their burning questions, share their experiences, and work together with others to develop materials and strategies they need to embrace powerful pedagogies, get students engaged with exciting technologies, and make the case to potential students and to school leaders that computer science education is integral to preparing future leaders.

If you are a teacher of ECS or CSP or would like to become one, we invite you to dive in. Anyone is welcome to join the community, but certain sections of the site are restricted to participants in particular programs, such as the CS10K professional development Projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Most resources, discussions, and events are linked to elements of the curriculum of ECS or CSP. Members can also participate in Groups focused on more general topics, such as project based learning or addressing the challenge of recruiting students. If you don’t find a group that matches your interests, you may start your own. Your can also find other teachers in the People section with whom you might collaborate with, mentor, or be mentored by.

via About the CS10K Community | CS10K Community.

Column: A push toward more computer science education | USA Today

(EDITOR’S NOTE: As the U.S. fights to keep up in math and science, a growing effort has started to encourage better education in computer science. In this guest column, Code.org founder Hadi Partovi weighs in on the topic.)

We all know the U.S. is falling behind China and India in math and science, and we worry if this will hurt our future. But the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on fixing this problem ignore the fastest-growing sector of innovation and job growth: computer science.

In 41 states, computer science doesn’t even count towards high school graduation requirements. Although programming jobs are growing at double the pace of the nation’s average, computer programming is declining in our education system. This is a skill that can be taught as early as 5th grade, yet it’s not even offered in 90% of US schools. Why isn’t today’s curriculum preparing our students for the 21st century?

via Column: A push toward more computer science education.

Highland Park High School clubs creates apps – chicagotribune.com

By Denys Bucksten, Special to the Tribune

February 27, 2013

The month-old Hello World computer science club at Highland Park High School has more than 30 underclassmen in a school lab learning to write code for mobile apps, with new members joining every week.

The club and its free-style study model is the brainchild of freshman Ethan Eirinberg, who asks more questions of himself and others than Alex Trebek in a round of Jeopardy.

Eirinberg said a teen’s idea of a cool app is “Snapchat,” which allows a user to text a photo for friends to enjoy — after which the images disappear and aren’t downloadable. Also popular are apps like Instagram, Alien Blue, Unblock Me and Subway Surfers, according to a quick poll of club members.

via Highland Park High School clubs creates apps – chicagotribune.com.

The Common Core Must Include Computer Science

Maggie Johnson and Jordan Lloyd Bookey

At Google, we are passionate about empowering students to become creators of new technology, along with the educators, parents, and organizations who work with them. We applaud the efforts of so many people who are also helping to make this happen and hope that through our products, tools, and programs, we are able to make a positive impact.

Today, we are writing to sound the alarm on something we see as a major flaw in the emerging set of Common Core standards. For those who don’t know, the Common Core is a shared set of educational standards that states can voluntarily adopt. Prior to this, each state had its own process for developing, adopting, and implementing standards. As a result, what students learned varied widely from state to state. Over the past year, the state-led Common Core State Standards Initiative released the Mathematics and English Language Arts standards and Achieve released the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This standardization and the increased ability to measure progress across states is a significant improvement.

via Maggie Johnson: The Common Core Must Include Computer Science.