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Examiner
More and more school districts are requiring their schools to offer computer science classes, but according to computer science educators, certification requirements to teach the subject are often vague or ineffectual, which could prove problematic as more schools face the need to hire more such teachers. Mark Nelson, executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association, said that most states don't even offer specific certification or licensing to be able to teach computer science. Some of those states have added computer science to teaching licenses they already provide that are necessary to teach related fields, such as math or science, he said.
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Gotham Gazette
Advocates for arts education support Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposal to expand access to computer science in city schools. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Learning to code flexes many of the same creative and problem-solving muscles as participating in the visual and performing arts. In the arts and in computer science students often start with a blank slate and build something from nothing. The tools may be different, but the process of exploration, experimentation and critical reflection is the same.
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Calling all hackers, coders, and technical high school women and the educators who support them! Applications for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing and the NCWIT Educator Award are now open!
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Education World
Computer science classes are currently one of the most in-demand additions to the K-12 curriculum, but scarce resources and a lack of trained teachers in the field present challenges to providing classes in schools. IT Future Labs, an initiative of the Creating IT Futures Foundation, has created a free webinar available for viewing at any time to help teachers take advantage of free professional development training in teaching computer science.
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The Washington Post
Swetha Prabakaran dreamed of becoming a physician, using the power of medicine to heal the sick and to are for the ailing. She studied biology in middle school, but the course of her life changed during her freshman year at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Virginia. She took an introductory class on computer science and learned about programming, becoming fascinated with coding and the intricacies of how to teach computers to make life easier for people.
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USA Today (commentary)
Jinny Gudmundsen, a contributor for USA Today, writes: "Fifteen years ago, I started this column with the advice that 'computers are not a passing fad — they are here to stay.' In this, my last column as USA Today's Kid-Tech Columnist, my advice is: teach your kids how to code. By comparing the advice given in these two columns, it's easy to see how far children's tech has come: from kids as consumers to kids as makers. Introducing kids to coding is the hot new thing. Even President Obama is promoting it. By teaching children how to write code, we enhance their understanding about how computer science makes so many things work."
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Inside Philanthropy
Recently, Microsoft announced that it would renew its commitment to computer science education to the tune of $75 million. As part of its Youthspark program, launched in 2012 with an initial $500 million in funding, this new round of funding will allow Microsoft to expand grants and programs to improve access to computer science education and build computational thinking skills for underserved youth over the next three years. The Microsoft announcement comes on the heels of growing concern over the inability of traditional K-12 education models to keep up with an increasingly digital world.
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Yahoo News
The media (social and otherwise) has been buzzing lately about the importance of science, technology, engineering and math skills to our collective future — and, as a consequence, about the importance of teaching them to our kids. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. will create 1.4 million jobs in computer science related fields by 2020. Obama's 2009 Educate to Innovate initiative hopes to move American students from the middle to the top of the world pack in science and math over the next decade. Even so, only about one in ten K-12 schools teach coding. And most parents are completely unequipped to teach the topic themselves.
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