This blog post has been flying around the SIGCSE and AP lists this past week, but I wanted to post a link to it again. This is a great post and one that we all need to read.
Everyone needs to understand how to write a bit of code. In order to truly create or innovate, everyone need the basic skill of code writing. If we are going to remain a nation of innovators, we need to teach kids how to “crank code” as these skills are often used to help cool ideas take root.
My sons are both in elementary school and are learning to write code in Scratch. They will transition to languages like Python and Java when they are ready, but they are already learning fundamental Computer Science concepts like decision-making, iteration, and list processing that will enable them to create and innovate later.
Tag Archives: Careers
AP CS Principles College Pilots
The following colleges will be piloting the new AP CS Principles course in 2010-2011.
Metropolitan State College of Denver – http://LivingInAComputingWorld.org
University of California Berkeley – http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/fa10/
University of California San Diego – 09/23/2010
University of North Carolina at Charlotte – 01/10/2011
University of Washington – 01/03/2011
I will update this later once the other courses come online.
CS News – Dancing Robots
Robots can do everything these days apparently. I thought I was a pretty good dancer until I saw this video. These guys have moves. We use robotics at my school as students really like designing the bots and making them do things. We try to show these types of articles to the kids so that they can see what is going on with robotics more sophisticated than the Lego NXT kits that we use. The Robo Soccer Dogs are also good examples.
CS News – Computational Science and Math
Occasionally, some of my former students that are off attending college send me emails sharing their experiences. The one thing that I hear most often is “I am sure glad that I took a Computer Science class while in High School.”
Why is this? Are these students studying to be Computer Science majors and minors? No. Most of them are majoring in something related to Science, Engineering, or Math. I do have quite a few that go on to study CS, but that is not the majority.
Several of my students that have entered a study in Biomedical Engineering have emailed back to share that they are using Python. One even sent me some assignments that I shared with my Computer Science students. My CS students could not believe that this student was writing Python code in a Biology class. The class was a standard Biology class in the Biomedical track that required students to crank out some Python code.
Another group of kids went off to Texas A&M to study engineering and were using MatLab in all of their Calculus classes. I had my students check out one of the courses online to see what they were doing and once again they were really amazed. I had another student stop in that was at UCLA and he also stated that he was using MatLab in his math classes and was very thankful he took my class.
Computational thinking and learning how to use a computer and some tools to solve a problem is a very important skill to have no matter what you plan to do for a career. Students that are not planning to major or minor in Computer Science still need to have basic Computational skills. Often, they do not take Computer Science classes in high school as they are not interesting in learning the details of a specific programing language, but are very interested in learning how to use a computer to solve problems related to math, science, engineering, or whatever is their passion.
Offering a less language focused course that incorporates more cross-disciplinary problem solving is a way to get more of the Science, Math, Engineering students to take a Computer Science class. They are learning a ton of important Computer Science concepts and skills while learning why they need to learn Computer Science. We use this approach as much as possible and find that some students go on to study Computer Science as a major or minor that might not otherwise have done so. The students that had already planned to study CS all along really like this approach as well.
CS News – The Mobile App Revolution
Mobile App Revolution Will Change Your Life
I am not 100% sure that Cody has it totally right on this, but he does make some really good points. Mobile apps are everywhere and smart phones are getting more and more popular. My sons spend more time playing the game apps on my iPhone than I care to discuss. I have a hard time even getting to use my phone as those dang kids always want to play Deadly Chickens or Goofy Gorillas or some other off the wall kids game. They rarely play games on the computer anymore as they are always using my phone.
I have had my students work on iPhone games and Android games in the past and will continue that this year. I am also going to utilize the Google App Inventor that was recently released a few weeks back. The tie in to Scratch is nice and having an environment that is a bit simpler than Objective C will be nice. The Android market is growing. I also saw that DreamSpark has an option for Windows Mobile App creation now that could be useful as well.
We discussed Cody’s blog post today in my Computer Science classes and my students found it very interesting. Many of them want to write apps for phones and quite a few decided to study Computer Science for that very reason.
CS News – Gamers Help Solve Medical Problems
Gamers Help Solve Medical Problems
This is really cool! It makes sense to use a game to solve a problem as problem-solving is a essential part of playing any game.
I have made several posts about using games to teach Computer Science and the benefits. I have been using basic games, complex games, and the theory and logic behind them to teach Computer Science and problem-solving concepts in my classes for a long time. Games, like bowling, are just good family fun. Games are interesting and get students excited and they require serious thought and planning to build. I have my students build a sliding puzzle project in GridWorld and use it as a stepping stone to talk about using priority queues and the A* algorithm to write an automated solver. The A* algorithm is a fun algorithm to learn and can be used for lots of different games and such. Yes, I did just use algorithm and fun in the same sentence and meant to do it! The games are the hook and the rest of the concepts just fall into place.
Sliding Puzzle Image
CS News – Lack of CS Grads and Quality CS Programs
CS Education Act Press Release
The link above is to the press release detailing the Computer Science Education Act.
New Bill Focuses on Lack of CS Grads
The CS Ed Act should provide a much needed focus on CS education. This article discusses the act and its possibilities. This is an interesting development and one that quite a few different groups support. Anything that can get some attention focused on Computer Science Education is a good thing and it is even better when the plan makes sense.
The article also poses the question concerning the affects standardization could have on those programs that take a more non-standard creative approach to teaching the subject. I like the reference to making the program “sexier” in the description of the Porter-Gaud CS program. I have said quite few times that Computer Science programs need to be “sexier” if you want students to sign up. Computer Science has lots to offer but learning needs to be engaging and entertaining or students are just not going to get involved.
Most High Schools Lack Quality CS Programs
This is another interesting article that kind of piggy backs on the one listed above. I spoke with Erik when he was working on the article and he makes some really nice points about the issues facing Computer Science education. He spoke to quite a few people and has some really nice data included.
CS News – Java Developers in High Demand
Java Developers in High Demand
This article provides an overview of the current IT job market and pinpoints the Java Developer segment specifically. According to this report, there are 14,000 Java Developer jobs open in the US with an average salary of around 89,000 dollars per year. That is pretty decent money and the fact that the jobs are all over the US makes the job openings even better. This information is also consistent with the US department of labor jobs projections for IT jobs.
Once again, this is just another thing to share with our Computer Science students so that they can see the benefits of having Computer Science skills. The more tools you have in your tool belt the more marketable you are as an employee and the more flexible you are as an entrepreneur.
CS News – Supercomputing Skills
Undergrad Curriculum Focuses on Supercomputing Skills
This looks really cool. Students are learning how to use Supercomputers to further their research. This degree is helping students to understand how to use computing skills in many different fields. The degree is not a Computer Science degree, but certainly has lots of Computer Science in it. Scientific Computation is something that students definitely need to understand.
CS News – How Big Will Robotics Be?
Will the Robotics Industry Be Huge in the Future?
It sure looks like the field of robotics and the robotics industry could be huge. As the technology advances, I can see robots doing some really cool stuff. Bill Gates was quoted a year or so back as saying he thought robotics would be the next big tech industry. Really though – what does he know?
Check out some of the videos online for the Japanese robotics walking on the runways. Those images are spooky as the robots look to be able to walk and run better than I can. Not to say that I am the perfect example of running and walking, but I would like to think I was better at it than a robot. After watching those videos, I am pretty sure I have mechanic competition on the way.
My students and kids in general really do enjoy working with robotics. They like building them and writing code to make them go. Using robotics in class gets students excited and builds interest in Computer Science.