I'm especially fortified in making this claim, seeing the recent push to democratize the STEM field and to tear down the bro-culture of silicone valley's coding world. Whether it's featuring Lego kits with female scientists or Hollywood making a commitment to showcase STEM roles for actors and actresses from underrepresented minority groups, we are moving in the right direction. Couple this with grassroots efforts by groups like Black Girls Code and we have the inspiration for the next generation of problem solvers.
A snapshot with the ladies during Hour of Code. They made unbeatable versions of Flappybird & Star Wars games.
HFA students participated in Hour of Code in December. Witnessing exponential growth in only its third year, this global movement highlights access to CS initiatives. Schools need not have a mega lab to join in--just a willingness to try to code. Our students made games and even crafted binary code bracelets--mine being green and yellow, go SVC Bearcats!
Checking Out Game Design
Today I joined the sophomore Game Design students in Dr. Brandaõ's class. The students began the year modifying games, or creating mods. Already halfway through the course, their growth is impressive. I checked out the video games that they designed for the arcade-a-thon. Similar to the Mario of my youth, the game design students used Floors to create six level games that can be designed and played via the Floors app. There is even an option to design it on-paper, then snap a pic and upload your creation. Pretty groovy if you ask me!
CS for All Students - PD for All Teachers
(I sketched this note upon completing my Google class... As a child after a hard-fought victory on the softball diamond, I hopped on my bicycle and grabbed a celebratory ice cream cone.)
I'm serious about this initiative--as I believe that the White House and other vested stakeholders are. If we want it to happen, for real, we need to get more teachers on board. The best way to do this is to open up quality, free PD.
For example, I took a free Google class over the summer--Computational Thinking for Educators. It was awesome: at its completion, I felt proud, knowledgeable, and empowered. I even designed my own CS project that can be used to track the frequency of word use across decades. This will be incredibly useful as we begin to study the rhetoric of the Civil Rights era.
Teachers will buy-in when they see the opportunities presented before them--the world that our students are entering is vastly different than the one that we stepped into upon graduating from high school. We need to equip our teens to meet these diverse challenges.
Looking Toward the Future
I'm proud to work at a school that prioritizes professional development. I'm optimistic that there are districts that feel the same way. Perhaps, while the house and congress wrangle over the dollars and cents behind making this CS for All initiative a reality, companies like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and others will continue to offer high quality PD.
More than that--lets advocate that they open these PD sessions to educators and other stakeholders with a vested interest in our children's futures. That these corporations see that this is critical is a no-brainrd... But will they finance the PD for the teachers shaping and molding the next generation of innovators, that remains to be seen.
Final thoughts: as I listened-in on the #CSforAll teleconference earlier this week, I was delighted to hear the questions about adaptive technologies for the visually impaired and others living with disabilities. We need to be mindful that the progress that we make in STEM fields acknowledges the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. As our nation marked 25 years since the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we need to make strides to incorporate better design and accommodations for the disabled. Furthermore, we must ensure that individuals with disabilities make up the diverse workforce of highly sought-after careers in STEM fields.
Equity and access is key.
#CSforALL students
#PDforALL teachers
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