Alternate Unit: Artificial Intelligence – Exploring Computer Science Acknowledgments Artificial Intelligence (alternate unit) was written and developed by Beverly Clarke. She is author of the book “Computer Science Teacher – insight into the computing classroom.” Additionally, she is an Education consultant and former teacher. In writing this unit the following are acknowledged for their contributions in proof reading, checking for technical accuracy, testing activities in the classroom, filming, being sound boards and committed to seeing an AI curriculum available for high school students – Mike Mendelson (NVIDIA), James McClung (formerly of NVIDIA), Joanna Goode (University of Oregon), Alison Lowndes (NVIDIA), Rosie Lane (South Wilts Grammar School for Girls), Peter McOwan (Queen Mary University of London), Paul Curzon (Queen Mary University of London), Liz Austin (NVIDIA), Gemma Bond (Screen Boo Productions) and Neil Rickus (University of Hertfordshire).
for Education This section is provided to help teachers quickly learn the basics of Computational Thinking (CT), and determine how to incorporate it into their own teaching and lesson plans. Why do this? There is a hypothesis that CT is a critical skill for 21st-century students. The hypothesis states that not only is this skill critical for our students and ultimately our population to use computing and technology effectively to solve problems. How to start? Another aspect of CT is "data skills", that is, being able to collect, analyze and represent data in meaningful ways. Where to apply it? When a teacher can connect the data skills used in social studies or math with the same data skills used in science, it reinforces their importance, and helps students understand that it’s the same set of skills applied in different domains.
New Tech City: The Way We Teach Computing Hurts Women Up until the mid 1980s, women flocked to computer science in droves. Then they dwindled away like the dinosaurs. Now, only about 12 percent of computer science majors are women and they hold just one in four "computer workers."* It's bad, but not bleak. We bring you tales of success from technology's gender gap on this week’s New Tech City from the president of a college that quadrupled its female CS majors to a woman whose invisible friend named Ruby helps her code. We bring you the story of the shift. Solutions, stories, and why rolling back tech's gender gap could make all the difference to the future of the U.S. economy. *A previous version of this post stated the incorrect percentage. Your Back-to-School Bootcamp with our free online training Are you ready to FEEL THE BURN…of your heating laptop? And MAX THOSE REPS…using forever loops? Then get your programming muscles into the best shape possible with our free online training courses. Pump up your programming skills for free Today we are excited to announce our new online training course Programming with GUIs — now open for sign-ups on FutureLearn. Your Back-to-school Bootcamp has something for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners, and all the courses are free, thanks to support from Google. Also keep in mind that all the courses count towards becoming certified through the National Centre for Computing Education. Couch to 5k…lines of code If you’re just beginning to learn about coding, the perfect place to start is Programming 101: An Introduction to Python for Educators. For Primary teachers, our course Scratch to Python: Moving from Block- to Text-based Programming is ideal. Sign-ups are open until the end of August. Tell us about your workout routine
Women in Computer Science The Current State of Women in Computer Science The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects computer science research jobs will grow 19% by 2026. Yet, women only earn 18% of computer science bachelor's degrees in the United States. The computer science field has been trying to appeal more to female employees by moving toward longer maternity leave and better work-life balance for working moms. Why aren’t more women involved in computer science? Starting when computer technology first emerged during World War II and continuing into the 1960s, women made up most of the computing workforce. Computers are now commonplace, especially in classrooms. By 1970, however, women only accounted for 13.6% of bachelor's in computer science graduates. The percentage of women working in computer science-related professions has declined since the 1990s, dropping from 35% to 26% between 1990 and 2013. Why should women want to work in computer science? Work/Life Balance Maternity Leave and Childcare Tech Trek
Bootstrap Time to Raise the Profile of Women and Minorities in Science Gloria Steinem said, “Women have always been an equal part of the past. We just haven't been an equal part of history.” Along these lines, over the past few years, we discovered some pretty ugly news about our beloved Google Doodles. We had been making these embellishments to the corporate logo on our home page, often in honor of specific people on their birthdays, ever since the company was founded in 1998. For the first seven years, we celebrated exactly zero women. Between 2010 and 2013 we did a little better: women accounted for about 17 percent, men of color 18 percent, women of color an appallingly low 4 percent; 62 percent of the honorees were white men. We had not noticed the imbalance. The Web did, however. Visibility matters. The Doodle analysis turned out to be a learning opportunity. Google recently commissioned a project to identify what makes girls pursue education in computer science. To fight these biases, in May 2013 Google created an Unconscious Bias work stream.
TM111 | Introduction to Computing and IT 1 Open University Student Budget Account The Open University Student Budget Accounts Ltd (OUSBA) offers a convenient 'pay as you go' option to pay your OU fees, which is a secure, quick and easy way to pay. Please note that The Open University works exclusively with OUSBA and is not able to offer you credit facilities from any other provider. All credit is subject to status and proof that you can afford the repayments. You pay the OU through OUSBA in one of the following ways: Register now, pay later – OUSBA pays your module fee direct to the OU. Joint loan applications If you feel you would be unable to obtain an OUSBA loan on your own due to credit history or affordability issues, OUSBA offers the option to apply for a joint loan application with a third party. As additional affordability checks are required when processing joint loan applications, unfortunately, an instant decision cannot be given. Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA). Credit/debit card
| Mouse Create Coding Course Sign up for a Mouse Create Spark membership to get access to this course, or email membership@mouse.org with questions!. Just looking for a new version of X-Ray Goggles? Try it out on now: x-ray-goggles.glitch.me. The Coding course gets youths familiar with one of today’s most valuable 21st century skills. Youth learn front-end web design skills with activities on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, programming experience in the command line using high-level languages, and basic computer programming processes. Mouse has designed several courses as recommended learning sequences for groups that want to focus on competency areas that complement one another thematically. On Mouse Create, youth ages 13 and older have the opportunity to earn digital badges through Credly to recognize their accomplishments, which they can share on social media networks and college applications.
Class Tech Tips: 24 Hour of Code Resources for Teachers and Schools Does your school participate in the Hour of Code each December? Looking to integrate computer science into the school day all year long? Here are a handful of my favorite resources for computer science and coding. Hour of Code‘s website is a great place to get started if you want to learn about this event. BONUS: Check out Swift Playgrounds and Apple’s special resources! If you found these resources useful, click here to get a free ebook with more favorites! TechCrunch - The latest technology news and information on startups TM112 | Introduction to Computing and IT 2 Open University Student Budget Account The Open University Student Budget Accounts Ltd (OUSBA) offers a convenient 'pay as you go' option to pay your OU fees, which is a secure, quick and easy way to pay. Please note that The Open University works exclusively with OUSBA and is not able to offer you credit facilities from any other provider. All credit is subject to status and proof that you can afford the repayments. You pay the OU through OUSBA in one of the following ways: Register now, pay later – OUSBA pays your module fee direct to the OU. Joint loan applications If you feel you would be unable to obtain an OUSBA loan on your own due to credit history or affordability issues, OUSBA offers the option to apply for a joint loan application with a third party. As additional affordability checks are required when processing joint loan applications, unfortunately, an instant decision cannot be given. Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA). Credit/debit card