June 19, 2009
Computer Science For K-8? Yes! (With Curriculum Resources!)
* Do you teach students in elementary or middle school?
* Do you teach high school and find that students come to you with (incorrect) preconceived notions of what computer science is?
* Do you want to encourage your school or district to develop or enhance CS instruction at the lower grades?
* Can we teach computer science before high school?
* Can we engage girls' interest before they hit the age where they hear that girls aren't supposed to like/succeed with technology?
If you've been hanging around this blog or connecting with CSTA folks for any length of time, you've heard of the ACM's A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science, a vision and broad outline of computer science education in grades K-12. This curriculum consists of four levels, the first of which is for grades K-8.
CSTA has been developing implementation documents for these levels, first for Levels II and III, and now for Level I: Foundations of Computer Science . The Level I framework is in its final stages of development, and the authors are asking for critical review and feedback.
This document provides an outline and objectives; it does not describe a single course but "a broad and integrated set of student learning outcomes, held together by a coherent concept of computer science for younger students...(It) can be the starting point for a teacher, school, district, or state to make computer science a vital part of K-8 education" (from the Level I Overview).
The subject matter is divided into twelve topics, which are grouped into three categories:
Computers and software applications
Topic 1: Parts of a personal computer
Topic 2: Standard software
Topic 3: Operating systems
Topic 4: Networks
Topic 5: World Wide Web and Email
Problem solving with computer science
Topic 6: Representing information digitally
Topic 7: Problem solving and algorithms
Topic 8: Computer programming
Social context of computing
Topic 9: Privacy and security
Topic 10: Evaluating and using information from networked sources
Topic 11: Human-computer interaction
Topic 12: Computers in society
Each topic is divided into grade ranges K-2, 3-5, and 6-8, with focus areas and sample activities in each range.
How can we teach these topics?
To support the ACM Model Curriculum, CSTA developed the CSTA Source Web Repository: K-12 Computer Science Teaching and Learning Materials. Level I resources in the repository were originally organized into six classifications, to match the 1998 version of ISTE's NETS (standards) for Students (ISTE 1998), plus one for "Algorithmic problem-solving tools."" However, to align with the new curriculum for Level I, we are currently reclassifying these resources, as we'll do with any new resources that are being added, to match the new topic list above.
Check them out!
P. S. The upcoming CS & IT Symposium (June 26, Washington, DC) also includes several sessions of interest to teachers in K-8: Making CS Happen in K-8, Scratching the Surface of Computer Science with Scratch!
Debbie Carter
Co-Chair, CSTA Professional Development Committee
Posted by cstephenson at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2009
CSTA Leadership Cohort Update from Washington (State)
As a member of the CSTA Leadership cohort, I have had an exciting year in Washington. A group of very dedicated educators and business members have been working since January 2009 in the formation of a chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association in Western Washington State. We have met monthly since January 2009. We are a small team, but a very passionate one. We have been discussing what we want our group to accomplish, setting goals that are attainable and not overwhelming ourselves attempting to accomplish too much. There is so much that we would like to do, but we are taking small steps and ensuring that that which we do take on is done well.
We have started to put together a list of resources that have been vetted by our members, as well as information on programming language selection for courses. We have also shared information on related workshops in the area that our members might attend.
We were able to put on a very successful computer programming competition, hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle. A very capable member of our group was willing to relocate a contest she had planned to put on at her high school to the University of Washington. Members' industry contacts supplied us with many volunteer judges from industry. The University of Washington provided space, student-led tours of the Computer Science and Engineering facilities, some interesting lectures and lunch and snacks for the contest. Thanks to fast and efficient planning, the contest was a great success. We plan on repeating it in the fall and spring each year.
We are on meeting hiatus for the summer, but are planning a discussion on Alice 3.0 (if it releases on time) in September once we all return to school. We are also looking into other possible workshops and contests that we could offer to teachers and students, and will continue sharing information with our members, as well as other groups interested in what we are accomplishing.
We are a small team, but we are determined. There is a lot that we hope to accomplish, and we will over time.
Greg Kilpatrick
President
Puget Sound CSTA (pending chapter approval)
Posted by cstephenson at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2009
Exploring Robotics Options
At Georgia Tech, our students must take a senior design class before they can graduate and I often have them work together in groups to create something for me to use in my outreach to K-12 students. For example, I had a team create a LEGO robot that used the light sensor to read colors and play music. I had another team use an accelerometer to create a remote control for a LEGO NXT robot. I also had a team that created a bop-it type game using the PicoCrickets.
This semester I had some of my students create an activity for the Pleo robot from Ugobe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleo). These robots look like a baby dinosaur and act as if they are alive. They like to be petted and make noises to tell you if they are happy or sad. They have a color camera, a tilt sensor, sound sensors, and lots of touch sensors.
These robots are very engaging for both boys and girls. My research team tried the robots with several groups of elementary and middle school students. When they asked the kids what the worst thing about the project was the kids said, “ you made us leave the robots to go to lunch”. The robots can currently only be programmed using MySkit which is similar to Flash. Ugobe was working on a development kit in a C like language and had released a beta version of this environment. The biggest problem with the Pleos is the battery life. A fully charged battery only lasts about 1.5 hours and it takes 4 hours to fully charge.
Unfortunately, Ugobe has filed for bankruptcy. We bought 12 Pleos so that we can use them in our summer camps and outreach programs. Hopefully another company will buy the rights to these and continue this promising new direction in robotics. See http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/943 for the materials my senior design team created for the Pleo.
Barb Ericson
CSTA Board of Directors
Posted by cstephenson at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2009
Endings and Beginnings
Hurray! It's over! Another school year in the books. AP and IB testing are complete. Final exams are submitted, printed and ready to administer. It's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy life!
Wait, not so fast you say. What about next year? What about summer professional development programs? What about new textbooks, new programming labs, and new content? And, oh by the way, just what will I be teaching next year? No more AB level for my AP students. How many smiling faces will I see in September? What third prep awaits the unsuspecting Computer Science Teacher?
So goes the life of the high school computer science teacher. For many of us, teaching computer science is an avocation, not exactly a hobby, but certainly not our primary job. Many computer science teachers have two or more other classes they must teach in order to have that one section of AP or IB or just plain old Computer Science. How much effort is involved in our avocation as compared to our other classes? What can we do to better manage our time and control our destiny?
I don't have a solution. Unlike many of you, Computer Science has been my focus. However, looking ahead to the 2009 - 2010 school year, I see one section of AP Computer Science (20 students), one section of IB Higher Level Computer Science (6 students), 2 sections of Computer Programming with Alice (40 + students), and 2 sections of AP Statistics (40 + students). I see changes in both the AP and IB curriculum (though thankfully not major) and a new textbook (maybe one I can actually use). And don't even ask me about professional development this summer! Between AP, IB and CSTA commitments, I think I will get to relax for a week or two in August.
My school's total AP and IB examination numbers were up this year, over 1000 AP Exams and over 1200 IB exams (school population about 1800), and my AP and IB exam numbers showed some increase over past years. However, the Computer Science numbers are not growing as fast as other courses. We know there are major curriculum changes on the horizon for AP and IB Computer Science. How will that affect us?
What can we do? We need to be our own advocates, actively recruiting students by tying Computer Science to 21st Century Skills, touting the good jobs that are solving today's real-world problems in a collaborative environment. We need to break the stereotype of computer scientists as loner nerds who seldom bathe and eat only junk food. While that image sells movies, it isn't real and is hardly attractive to the kinds of students we want to recruit.
Where do we start? Join us in Washington, DC in June at the CS & IT Symposium (www.csitsymposium.org). Network with other computer science teachers to form professional learning communities, local CSTA Chapters, or just a valuable resource. Convince your guidance directors and building administrators that computer science is a viable career path for our talented students.
Personally, I intend to put my feet up, unwind, and enjoy the next few weeks as the school year winds down. Then, it's off on a whirlwind tour of the US, seeing old friends and making new in the pursuit of improving Computer Science education. Won't you join me?
John Harrison
CSTA Board of Directors
Posted by cstephenson at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2009
Wisconsin Leadership Cohort Update
Hello from Wisconsin, land of Harleys, cheese, breweries and great ethnic festivals!
As part of our work on the CSTA Leadership Cohort, Sarah Huibregtse and I have been busy with many advocacy activities.
On May 7 and 8 at the Wisconsin Mathematics Council Annual Meeting, we assembled a strand of nine sessions - sort of a mini CS/IT Symposium. The most popular were the GameMaker, Website Development, Visual BASIC and the FANG game engine programming using JavaWIDE (25-30 at each). We had a great discussion at the certification session, which included one of the two DPI leaders for the statewide committee. The Robotics workshop featured four “play” stations, each with a different kind of robot. The sessions on Boolean Logic and on ideas to broaden participation were also great.
About a dozen teachers attended a session that focused on forming a state-wide CSTA chapter. After much discussion, we decided to develop a website where we could post materials from sessions like those at this meeting plus other potentially useful materials. We also discussed asking our statewide teacher organization to put together a one- day strand (it's a 2-day conference) dealing with CS and IT. Our immediate goal, though, is to continue to build our teacher network throughout the state.
Sarah and I have also been involved in a number of activities where a small group of us have been meeting with mostly guidance counselors in various parts of the state, trying to generate enthusiasm for CS/IT courses in their schools.
We also organized our 5th and 6th iFairs(sm), career fairs which feature an exhibit area set up in a trade show atmosphere. Businesses and a few post-secondary institutions sell IT and Engineering careers to visiting middle and high school students by showing how exciting and invigorating they can be. Over these 6 fairs, we had about 2800 student visitors from Milwaukee Public Schools. We're already planning out 7th and 8th fairs during the next school year. The general website for iFairs(sm) is
http://ifair.pbwiki.com
As members of the CSTA Leadership Cohort, we have also been involved with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in an attempt to establish a committee to deal with the original CS Endorsement certificate (from 1986) and to establish CS/IT standards for K-12. We continue to seek funding for this.
We also continue to involve groups of business leaders from Washington HS of IT, Milwaukee Public Schools Partnership, the Milwaukee Partnership Academy and PoweredUp in our attempts to expand the visibility of CS/IT in the schools throughout Wisconsin.
Finally through these groups and other contacts, we continue to involve a number of both two and four year post-secondary institutions in this quest.
Joe Kmoch
CSTA Leadership Cohort Member (WI)
Posted by cstephenson at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)