This message was sent to ##Email##
|
|
|
|
CSTA (commentary)
Mina Theofilatou, a contributor for CSTA, writes: "I haven't been shy to expose the insane decisions of the Greek Ministry of Education when necessary; one such time was 3 years ago, when the government removed the elective 'Application Development in a Programming Environment' from 12th Grade Curriculum and the Greek University Entry Exams, in the context of a law ironically titled 'New High School.' My writings reached EU headquarters in Brussels to no avail, but an e-mail I sent to the CSTA caught the attention of Chris Stephenson and played a decisive role in my being nominated and elected as International Representative on the Board of Directors."
READ MORE
Orlando Sentinel
Florida now has official computer science standards, which schools could use to devise lessons and classes in that field. The State Board of Education added computer science to its science standards adopted in 2008. Florida is the first state in the nation to adopt computer science standards, Brian Dassler, a deputy chancellor at the Florida Department of Education, wrote on Twitter after the board's vote. But the computer-science benchmarks are not required instruction and will not be part of Florida's standardized science tests, department officials said.
READ MORE
Education Week
Virginia has officially become the first state to add computer science to its core academic requirements for elementary, middle, and high school. As we wrote in April, the state legislature unanimously passed a bill adding "computer science and computational thinking, including computer coding" to Virginia's K-12 standards. Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the legislation on Monday, as was expected.
READ MORE
U.S. News & World Report
Coding may be the new educational buzzword, but how can schools teach computer science in a meaningful way when their resources are already stretched to the max? At "Ready, Set, Code: The New Essential Skill" — a breakout session of the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference in Baltimore on Wednesday — four experts spoke about the challenges they face in making coding and computational thought an integral part of K-12 curriculae, and to instill an interest in STEM that lasts long after the school day is over.
READ MORE
Missed last week's issue? See which articles your colleagues read most.
|
Don't be left behind. Click here to see what else you missed.
|
PBS Newshour
On a recent Friday afternoon at a Brooklyn public school, the children of Sabrina Knight's second-grade class listened intently as she used a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to talk about algorithms. Moments later, a student volunteer walked back and forth across the room to demonstrate looping, a technical term used in the field of computer programming. "Thumbs up if you got it," Knight said, as a flurry of 7- and 8-year-old hands and thumbs shot up in the air. "Open up your computers and thumbs up when you see the blue screen." Students grabbed their headphones and flipped open yellow laptops issued to Park Slope's PS 282. The rest of the lesson would be devoted to coding, as the class of 15 used simple equations to command cartoon characters to move across their monitors.
READ MORE
MIT News
Computer science and engineering, a.k.a. CS or Course 6-3, was the most heavily enrolled major at MIT in the 2015-2016 academic year, with 594 undergraduates. The major has grown rapidly over the last several years, and with this growth CS faculty noticed students were starting out with a range of programming experience. Some students entering the major already had experience as programmers, whereas many others were underprepared for introductory classes, says Srini Devadas, the Edwin Sibley Webster Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. CS faculty recognized that it was time to give students a solid foundation in programming. In response, they have developed 6.S04 (Fundamentals of Programming), a new course focused exclusively on programming ability.
READ MORE
Mashable (commentary)
Christina Warren, a contributor for Mashable, writes: "I'm sitting on the floor at The Academy of Talented Scholars (PS 682) in Bensonhurst, watching kindergarteners create robots on an iPad. It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen, and I don't even like children. The exercise is part of the curriculum led by co-teachers Stacy Butsikares and Allison Bookbinder, focused on helping the 5- and 6-year-old students come up with ways to solve problems."
READ MORE
U.S. News & World Report
Science, technology, engineering and math, better known as the STEM fields, need to be integrated throughout a child's education to be most effective. That was the the key takeaway at the "Shattering Silos: Implementing Interdisciplinary Learning" breakout session at the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference. Panelists included Doug Moore, vice president of digital education strategy and business development at the New York Hall of Science; Greg Pearson, scholar at the National Academy of Engineering; Amy Sabarre, PK-12 STEM coordinator at Harrisonburg City Public Schoools; and William Wolfe, chair of the engineering department at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.
READ MORE
 |
|
ACM, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession. CSTA appreciates ACM's ongoing support!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
|