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MindShift
U.S. high schools got a high-tech update this past school year. Not by federal fiat or by state law, but largely at the hand of independent nonprofits, including one founded by twin brothers less than five years ago. The College Board last fall introduced a new course and exam called AP Computer Science Principles. Eight years in the planning, it was the largest such course launch in history. While the existing AP Computer Science course focuses on the Java programming language, the new course is billed as a creative exploration of real-world problems. It's designed to appeal to people who might have assumed that computers were not for them.
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The Huffington Post
Computer science is a world where women are disproportionately represented. This leads to a gender bias in the way our technology is innovated in the workforce. Technology and computers permeate through many aspects of society and provide the foundation for most modern innovation, but according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, women are significantly underrepresented in the creation of technology. That's a problem.
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eSchool News
These days, it seems like Minecraft is second-nature for many kids. The beauty of Minecraft lies in its sandbox structure–students can create anything, with limitless resources, and often their creations are astounding. Is it any wonder, then, that educators are incorporating the popular block-based game into their curriculum? With a little creativity, educators can use Minecraft with history, math, writing and language arts, foreign language, and more.
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Lose the boring coding platforms—bring coding to life with Vidcode. Vidcode teaches students how to code through their favorite hobby: video making. Get free resources today!
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EdSurge
Rich Lehrer knew that 3-D printers could do more than spit out keychains and Yoda heads. In 2013, he led a group of eighth graders at the Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts that designed and printed a prosthetic hand for Lehrer's then 3-year-old son, Max. But it was a suggestion from a colleague that unleashed the full potential of 3D printing and Making as a way to teach middle school students design thinking skills — as well as empathy and collaboration. The idea? Have the students work with senior citizens to identify real world problems that could be addressed by designing and prototyping solutions.
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WRDW-TV
As the cyber security field continues to grow in our area, so does the education for it.
Right now high school students can choose to take cyber security classes on their own, but in Columbia County it's mandatory for elementary school students to take computer classes, which could help them in a future career in cyber.
The computer class is fun for the students at Lewiston Elementary, especially the young ones who only think they are playing.
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THE Journal
In the largest rollout of new badges in a decade, Girl Scouts of the USA has introduced 15 specifically tied to STEM. The youth organization worked with the Society of Women Engineers, GoldieBlox, Code.org, SciStarter and WGBH's Design Squad to create the new experiences. Among the doings girls will be encouraged to try: designing robots and race cars, creating algorithms, trying engineering and collecting data (in the great outdoors).
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CNBC
Harvard computer science professor Radhika Nagpal will begin using a robotic toy she helped developed, Root, to teach coding languages like Python and Javascript in her undergraduate courses this fall. She is already using a Root prototype in her research lab. The hexagonal Root, priced at $199, looks something like iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaners. But instead of driving around a home sucking up dust bunnies, the Root can climb walls and roll across any smooth surface it encounters. It scans surfaces, writing or erasing as it goes, and can play music and sense and respond to its environment. Users can remotely control the Root or create programs for it through an iPad.
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Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
The room is filled with the sounds of play. Dice clatter across tables, playing cards are shuffled and dealt, tokens and game pieces change hands, and every once in a while, the room fills with shouts of laughter and triumph. But this isn't the back of a comic book store — it's a computer science class at Columbus State University. "Underneath all this, there is problem solving, decision making, there are statistics and mathematics that actually go into making these games," said Rodrigo Obando, Ph.D, an associate professor of computer science at CSU, creator of CSU's game design program, and architect of the board game design class.
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Healthcare IT News
The number of female students participating in AP Computer Science exams increased by 135 percent — or 15,066 girls — since 2016, according to Code.org. About 29,000 girls took the AP Computer Science exam in 2017, which is remarkable when compared to just 10 years ago when only 2,600 female students took the exam. One in four people who took the test last year were women. Minorities also saw a transformative increase with 22,199 taking the exam this year, which almost tripled the previous year's 8,283 students.
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The Journal
Could states use their ESSA plans to formulate innovative ways to advance STEM in their schools? That's the hope of an organization that recently examined the Every Student Succeeds Act plans developed by states for submission to the U.S. Department of Education. The analysis looked at the 17 plans that have already been submitted as well as eight other draft plans. The work was undertaken by education consultancy Education First on behalf of Overdeck Family Foundation, a family non-profit that supports programs for developing children's love of education and especially the STEM subjects.
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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!
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