Monthly+Newsletter+Readings

...about 177 articles from newsletter Oct 2012 to present... ===… From the December, 2017 issue of this newsletter ===

===[|__What the Future of Work will mean for Jobs, Skills and Wages__] . Another report on the future workforce environment both in the U.S. and globally. The link get you to a webpage that very briefly summarizes the report. I would suggest downloading and reading the Executive Summary. There you’ll find early in the summary an infographic entitled Jobs Lost, Gained, Changed with some compelling information that you as a computing teacher should be able to use to justify more computer science and computational thinking along with developing dispositions similar to the Common Core mathematics practices (higher order thinking skills). ===

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… From the November, 2017 issue of this newsletter
===[|__Why Tech Leadership has a Bigger Race than Gender Problem.__] This article is about a recent study which,, though primarily about Asians in leadership roles in tech companies, does also highlight issues in other minority communities, particularly blacks and Latinos. “ After sifting through the data, the authors concluded that race is a stronger impediment than gender when it comes to climbing Silicon Valley’s corporate ladder.” < [|__https://www.wired.com/story/tech-leadership-race-problem/__] > ===

[|__What Skills Will You Need to be Employable in 2030?__]  This is a summary of the Executive Brief of a 100-plus page study entitled “The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030”. [|__https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/608981/what-skills-will-you-need-to-be-employable-in-2030/__] The report itself is at this url: [|__https://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_future_of_skills_employment_in_2030_0.pdf__] This is pretty in-depth reading but you might take a look at the Executive Summary(pp 7-16) before wading through all of the detail. This would make an interesting discussion or Twitter Chat or other media if some of you are interested.

… From the October, 2017 issue of this newsletter
===<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Computer Science Learning: Closing the Gap: Rural and Small-Town School Districts__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This special brief from the Google Gallup study dives into the opportunities and challenges for rural and small-town communities. A number of findings based on nationally representative surveys from 2015-16, are discussed. <[]> ===

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Teaching Kids Coding, by the Book__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. This NY Times article focuses on the book Girls Who Code and its author Reshma Saujani. Later in the article, other books are identified including books aimed at even younger children. If you read or use one or more of these books, please contact your editor (Joe Kmoch < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__joe@jkmoch.com__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>) to possibly write a review, present a webinar or propose a session at a conference. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/books/coding-children.html?mcubz=3__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__The Maddeningly Simple Way Tech Companies Can Employ More Women__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. Although this is aimed at employers, I think there are lessons to be learned for our classrooms. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/opinion/silicon-valley-women-hiring-diversity.html__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

… From the September, 2017 issue of this newsletter
<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Comments on what’s involved with Computer Programming.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> This article is actually entitled “Why Coding Bootcamps Don’t Work” but has good insight to what’s all involved with Programming - and it’s a lot more than writing a “to-do list”. I think this short article is worth reading and considering as you teach computer science. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-coding-bootcamps-dont-work.html__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__How to Prepare the Next Generation for Jobs in the AI Economy__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. This article on the Harvard Business Review website is co-authored by Mark Stehlik, assoc dean at Carnegie-Mellon University and champion of K-12 CS Education for many decades. “ <span style="color: #222222; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">If the next generation is to use AI and big data effectively – if they’re to understand their inherent limitations, and build even better platforms and intelligent systems — we need to prepare them now. That will mean some adjustments in elementary education and some major, long-overdue upgrades in computer science instruction at the secondary level.” <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">< <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://hbr.org/2017/06/how-to-prepare-the-next-generation-for-jobs-in-the-ai-economy__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__You Don’t Have to Major in Computer Science To Do it as a Career.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> “ <span style="color: #222222; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Majoring in math, nuclear engineering, or even geology can lead to a well-paying software job.” <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">This article briefly discusses the Hamilton Report from the Brookings Institute which used US Dept of Labor statistics in its analysis. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.technologyreview.com/s/607946/you-dont-have-to-major-in-computer-science-to-do-it-as-a-career/#comments__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Women You Should Know.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> This article authored by Ruthe Farmer, herself the “real deal” for her efforts to expand opportunities to women and undererrepresented minorities, says ‘ <span style="color: #444444; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Like every social movement in history, this change (expand CS to all) didn’t materialize overnight – and like the great social movements that have shaped our country – women have been integral to this movement. I am honored to present just a few of the “Hidden Figures” of K-12 computer science education.’ <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.womenyoushouldknow.net/hidden-figures-of-computer-science-for-all/__]
 * ===<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16pt; vertical-align: baseline;">… From the June, 2017 issue of this newsletter ===

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__As Computer Coding Classes Swell, So Does Cheating.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> Growing numbers of computer science students are getting caught plagiarizing code, either from classmates or from someplace on the web. This article sparked a wide-ranging discussion on the SIGCSE Listserve <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/us/computer-science-cheating.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad__]

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Calling All Coders.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> According to the author Ellen Ullman “we have to develop more interest in these topics. One way to do that is by to show students that coding ties into nearly everything we do. And to do that, we need to incorporate programming into the curriculum…” a number of examples follow in the article. <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.techlearning.com/resources/0003/calling-all-coders/70559__]

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;">… From the May, 2017 issue of this newsletter
|| ==<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #008000; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Seymour Papert On Logo

<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1986 Seymour Papert, the "father of Logo," collaborated with award-winning filmmaker William Schwartz and Elizabeth Schwartz, who was Assistant Superintendent of the Ladue, Missouri School District, to produce Seymour Papert On Logo.

<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In this video series, Papert shares his vision of thinking, learning, and teaching in a computer culture, and also addresses technical issues about Logo and programming more generally. <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">These videos may be seen at <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/resources/onlogo/__] || <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Unconscious Bias in the Classroom: Evidence and Opportunities.__] <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #000000; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> This new Google research report highlights this problem and reports “ <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In sum, Unconscious Bias (UB) is a nontrivial problem in education, especially in CS and STEM education, and it is not easily addressed via traditional educational policies and interventions. However, interventions that identify and alter the frequently unconscious psychological processes that harm individuals’ outcomes are currently being developed and piloted. Teacher-facing interventions, which can be administered to both pre- and in-service teachers, are particularly promising. In part, this is because by addressing UB among teachers, we can help shape the entire classroom context in supportive ways. Furthermore, teacher-facing interventions are potentially cost-effective and scalable, because infrastructure for teacher training is already in place. (extracted by Mark Guzdial on his Computing Education Blog)

<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Hidden Figures of “Computer Science for All”.__] <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #444444; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> Ruthe Farmer. herself one of the most influential people in computer science education, has written this article for the site Women You Should Know. I find it very exciting to read about the work of these 11 women particularly in the past few years as the engagement of computer science in the education community and beyond has accelerated - mostly because of these women. Congratulations and I’m am personally honored to know most of these women professionally. < <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.womenyoushouldknow.net/hidden-figures-of-computer-science-for-all/__] <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #444444; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Readings from the April, 2017 issue of this newsletter // <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__How I’m Fighting Bias in Algorithms__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face — because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures. Now she's on a mission to fight bias in machine learning, a phenomenon she calls the "coded gaze." It's an eye-opening TEDxBeaconStreet talk about the need for accountability in coding ... as algorithms take over more and more aspects of our lives. <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">< <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.ted.com/talks/joy_buolamwini_how_i_m_fighting_bias_in_algorithms__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">> <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Half of the High-paying jobs in America Now Require This Skill.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> Wanna guess what this article talks about? Note the anecdotal quotations from lawn care company Lawnstarter, from a computer scientist entering the marketing field, from the firm Electrometals specializing in metal recovery and from small business loans compny LiftForward. Coding, computational thinking and computer science are everywhere! < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.marketwatch.com/story/half-of-the-high-paying-jobs-in-america-now-require-this-skill-2016-06-21__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">> <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__The Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. Makerspaces include opportunities for both computational thinking and more specifically computer science/coding. This article from about a year ago (which I just discovered) explores a lot of “questions and tensions” as makerspaces and the activities they contain are moving into the more traditional classroom arena. I did note that item #3 of the nine items mentioned suggests the book Invent To Learn… by Sylvia Martinez and Gary Steger referring to it as a “seminal handbook” which I agree with. The list of additional articles at the end is also very good. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2016/04/maker_movement_in_k-12_education_research.html?cmp=eml-enl-dd-mostpop__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">> //<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Readings from the March, 2017 issue of this newsletter //

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Her Scientific Discovery: Support.__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> This article written by an African-American and Mexican American woman describes the support and role models she had growing up which gave her confidence in herself. <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">While not totally about CS and IT, there is certainly a lot of truth that is applicable. And the link to the State of Girls and Women in STEM from the National Girls Collaborative Project is particularly enlightening (referenced in the link “selectie sorted out of engineering, math and science careers”). <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">< <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/25/business/women-minorities-science.html?_r=0__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__How the Pioneers of the MOOC Got it Wrong (from IEEE), as Predicted__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. Mark Guzdial writes on his Computing Education Blog about his “sense of vindication” about modest performance of MOOCS which misunderstand the importance of active learning. There are several links worth following in this blog post. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://computinged.wordpress.com/2017/02/17/how-the-pioneers-of-the-mooc-got-it-wrong-ieee-spectrum/__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__In Finland, Kids Learn Computer Science without Computers.__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is a great article about the approach Finland is taking toward CS in education along with some commentary about the situation in the US. (Thank you M. Talivier) < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/teaching-computer-science-without-computers/517548/?utm_source=atlfb__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">> One of those quoted in the article, Linda Liukas, did a TED talk which we noted in the January, 2017 issue of this newsletter. For a description refer to that issue on our wiki. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__http://iste-ctn.wikispaces.com/Monthly+Newsletter+Readings__ <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">> Here’s the link to her fun TED talk. <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">< <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_liukas_a_delightful_way_to_teach_kids_about_computers#t-651824__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__The Next Big Blue-Collar Job is Coding.__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> Author Clive Thompson in this Wired article asks “ What if we regarded code not as a high-stakes, sexy affair, but the equivalent of skilled work at a Chrysler plant?” Also, see the Related Stories sidebar with this article for other interesting info. < [|__https://www.wired.com/2017/02/programming-is-the-new-blue-collar-job/?mbid=nl_2817_p3&CNDID=31791183__] >

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the February, 2017 issue of this newsletter // <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__The Coding Advantage: Why Kids Should Learn to Program__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Coding can start at any age — from preschool through adult. It teaches problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and it fosters creativity. In this article the author notes four specific advantages to learning coding. At the end of this article there are several links to other resources to help you get started. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-coding-advantage-why-kids-should-learn-to-program/education__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Five Myths about Teaching Kids to Code.__] <span style="color: #212121; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning to code in the early years helps children to develop problem-solving skills, improve creativity and boost their attention. There are still some myths when it comes to learning to code in the early ages. We’ve picked the most common five of them to discuss. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.thetechedvocate.org/5-myths-about-teaching-kids-to-code/__] <span style="color: #212121; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Why Learning to Code is So Important for Children__] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="color: #212121; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">If we look at which way technology is heading, and in which aspect we use the products, be it offline or online, it is logical to consider how this bright future will affect children. Developing a coding literacy may mean a lot to them when they grow up. < <span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.thetechedvocate.org/why-learning-to-code-is-so-important-for-children/__] <span style="color: #212121; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the January, 2017 issue of this newsletter //

[|Is STEM Education in Permanent Crisis?] Author Michael Marder details how perpetual STEM teacher shortages are holding our country back. <http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/10/26/is-stem-education-in-permanent-crisis.html?qs=is+stem+education+in+permanent+crisis?+>

[|Inspiring the next generation of female engineers] Debbie Sterling is the creator of [|GoldieBlox], a set of toys featuring Goldie, a female engineer who guides girls to develop problem-solving skills and build projects, introducing girls to the world of engineering through a tech-savvy female role model. <[]>

[|A 12-year-old app developer] Most 12-year-olds love playing videogames — but Thomas Suarez taught himself how to create them. After developing iPhone apps like "Bustin Jeiber," a whack-a-mole game, he is now using his skills to help other kids become developers. []>

[|Linda Liukas: A delightful way to teach kids about computers - TED.com] Computer code is the next universal language, and its syntax will be limited only by the imaginations of the next generation of programmers. Linda Liukas is helping to educate problem-solving kids, encouraging them to see computers not as mechanical, boring and complicated but as colorful, expressive machines meant to be tinkered with. In this talk, she invites us to imagine a world where the Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow grow up to be optimistic and brave about technology and use it to create a new world that is wonderful, whimsical and a tiny bit weird. <[|https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_liukas_a_delightful_way_to_teach_kids_about_computers#t-651824]>

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the December, 2016 issue of this newsletter //

[|Her Code Got Humans on the Moon—And Invented Software Itself]. Margaret Hamilton invented software engineering as she and her team developed the software to get humans to the moon and back. Exciting! <[]>

[|Designing for Wide Walls] - Mitch Resnick, inventor of Scratch and Computer ClubHouses, wrote this short work to enhance the Papert notion of Low Floors and High Ceilings. Quick but great read. <[]>

[|Growing Computer Science Education Into a STEM Education Discipline.] Authors Mark Guzdial and Briana Morrison note that “Mathematics and science classes are common in schools today. Growing computing education so it is just as common requires recognition that education in computer science is different in important ways from education in STEM. We have to learn to manage those differences.“ <[]>

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the November, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|Diversity Gaps in CS: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and Hispanics.] This 27 page special report from Year 2 of the Google-Gallup study explores the structural and social barriers underrepresented groups face at home, in schools, and in society that could influence their likelihood to enter the computer science field. This and other reports are available on the Google Research site <[]>

[|Computer Science Education: Why does it suck so much and what if it didn’t?]Ashley Gavin at TEDxNYU; Ashley is a Computer Science professor at Wesleyan University. Ashley is the founding curriculum director for Girls Who Code. Her talk shines a light on the major problem that is American Computer Science education. In 2020, 1.4 million new jobs will be available for those with competing backgrounds, but we’ll only have engineers to fill two-thirds of them. Ashley shows us how we can right this wrong. <[]> [|A New Life for Computer Science in K-12] - Andrew Svehaug at TEDxKids@ElCajon (about 11 minutes). Andrew Svehaug, Founder and CEO of Code to the Future who expounds on the idea that including computer programming in the curriculum of youth as young as Kindergarten in all schools is a matter of social justice. <[]>

//<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the October, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|It’s more than just “teach kids to code]”. In this article the author, skeptical about teaching coding, thinks “it’s important to make computer science part of everyone’s education.” <[|https://medium.com/humane-tech/its-more-than-just-teach-kids-to-code-177fd6cb7184#.nnkyei3ue]>

[|The Importance of Recreational Math]. This is an interesting article about recreational math and computational thinking including Martin Gardner and his Mathematical Games series in Scientific American. No heavy duty math in this article. <[]>

[|Why Every Tech Pro Should Learn to Code]. The importance and prevalence of coding from a different perspective. As [|Burning Glass] analyzed their database of online job postings, “...interestingly, coding wasn’t confined to programming jobs; it emerged as a necessary skill in data analysis, arts and design, engineering, information technology and science” <[]>

// Readings from the September, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|Coding Snobs are not Helping our Children Prepare for the Future.] See what you think about the ideas that author David Bennahum describes in his June, 2016 online article. <[]>

[|How Art and Dance are Making Computer Science Culturally Relevant.] CS teacher Nettrice Gaskins describes how she and her students will learn CS differently with the new APCS Principles curriculum. <[]>

[|Why Every Tech Pro Should Learn to Code.] Here’s an article directed at professionals but there’s much good information for teachers to understand and use with their students and other teachers, counselors and administrators. <[]>

[|Computer Science Before College]. This is one of many articles on Computer ScienceOnline.org which appear to be very useful. This article has many links to resources for engaging kids at all levels with computer science. <[]>

[|From Computational Thinking to Computational Participation in K-12 Education]. Mark Guzdial highlighted this short paper in his Computing Education Blog. Within his blog post, there is a link to the full article on Academia.edu. <[]>

// Readings from the June, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|American Schools are Teaching Our Kids How to Code All Wrong]. The author Idit Harel argues that we really should be teaching rigorous computing and not be deluded by the “pop computing” efforts. “Our country must make a commitment to teaching every child computer science. That doesn’t mean teaching watered down content and using simple coding apps but a strong curriculum that leads students to achieve real deep and broad mastery of computer science.” <[]>

[|The End of Code - Soon We Won’t Program Computers. We’ll Train Them Like Dogs.] Welcome to the new world of artificial intelligence. Soon, we won't program computers. We'll train them. Like dolphins. Or dogs. Or humans. <[]>

[|“I had so many advantages, and I barely made it”: Pinterest engineer on Silicon Valley sexism.] The author Tracy Chou…”But even though I was completely immersed in tech culture, I had trouble envisioning a career in software engineering for myself. The issue wasn’t a lack of interest or ability. It was that the sexism I encountered, both in school and in the workplace, had me convinced that I wasn’t just good enough to make it in tech.”

[|Here’s Why Students Need Algebra]. This is a rebuttal to the recent, popular book “The Math Myth: and other STEM Delusions” by political scientist Andrew Hacker. Prof Hacker argues that we should not require high school students to take algebra. <[]> [|Stop Googling. Let’s Talk]. Smart phones harm human relationships. Amen. <[]>

// Readings from the May, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|Restocking the Pond.] This is a blog post by our CTN President Scott Horan. He speaks of the value of high school internships and his success over many years. <[]>

[|Women Write Better Code, Study Suggests]. Computer code written by women has a higher approval rating than that written by men - but only if their gender is not identifiable, [|new research suggests]. <[]>

[|Thawing from a Long Winter in Computer Science Education]. [|While the market need to teach computer science skills is undeniable and while equity demands giving all students the opportunity to learn them, operationalizing this kind of education for all learners requires careful planning and execution.] <[|http://www.forbes.com/sites/barbarakurshan/2016/02/25/thawing-from-a-long-winter-in-computer-science-education/2/#524b2e5253bc]>

[|Computational Thinking, 10 Years Later]. Jeannette Wing reflects on the 10 years since she published per three-page viewpoint in March, 2006. She considers how far we have come in those 10 years and notes that “We still have a ways to go, but fortunately, academia, industry and government forces are aligned toward realizing the vision of making computational thinking commonplace.” <[]>

[|The Real Reasons Behind the Tech Skills Gap]. “The issue”, the author states, “is the teaching of computer science in high schools – or the lack thereof – and how we’re squandering opportunities to better prepare students for an increasingly tech-centric job market.” He cites lack of resources and lack of trained teachers among other reasons. <[]>

// Readings from the April, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|Preparing for the Robots: Which skills for 21st Century?]“The robots are coming and are taking our jobs. Or are they?” So starts this interesting view of the future of jobs. Though the statistics are for Europe, the ideas presented in this short article are certainly interesting (at least to me). <[]> [|A Different Approach to Coding - How kids are making and remaking themselves from Scratch.] This article by Mitchel Resnick and David Siegel though written in early November, does a nice job of explaining their philosophy of coding and learning. “We see coding as a new way for people to organize, express, and share their ideas.” <[|https://medium.com/bright/a-different-approach-to-coding-d679b06d83a#.ugfyspofr]>

[|Thawing from a Long Winter in Computer Science Education.] “While the market need to teach computer science skills is undeniable and while equity demands giving all students the opportunity to learn them, operationalizing this kind of education for all learners requires careful planning and execution. “ Up to date stats and references to many programs to deal with the issues of women and computing are included here. <[|http://www.forbes.com/sites/barbarakurshan/2016/02/25/thawing-from-a-long-winter-in-computer-science-education/#5e105ec04fbf]>

[|Math Teachers Group Questions Allowing Computer Science to Count as Math Credit.] The NCTM cautions that “allowing computer science to substitute for a high school math course could ‘undermine students’ mathematics preparation.” <[]>

// Readings from the March, 2016 issue of this newsletter //

[|The Reality of Coding Classes.] “The Obama Administration is hopeful that the recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind, signals support for additional education spending. But is advocacy for the plan relying on faulty notions about the economy’s need for more coders? And is the price tag enough to underwrite the president’s ambitious goal?”<[]>

[|Robots and AI could leave half of the World Unemployed.] “Machines could put more than half the world’s population out of a job in the next 30 years, according to a computer scientist…” “...artificial intelligence’s threat to the economy should not be understated. ‘“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task.”’ <[]>

[|Beyond Academic Math: The Role of Applied STEM Course Taking in HS.] “This study examines the relationship between applied STEM coursetaking (i.e., 'scientific research & engineering' and 'information technology') in high school and standardized math achievement.” …”applied STEM courses have a statistically significant, but substantively small positive effect on math test scores. Students who fall lower on the math ability pipeline (i.e., who take only below average math courses like basic math and pre-Algebra) benefit much more from applied STEM courses than do students who take more advanced courses.” <[]>

// Readings from the February, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|CSforAll!] Here is the launch information about the President’s initiative that aims to give all US students the chance to learn computer science in school. It calls for new funding - $4 billion in his forthcoming budget and includes a 120 million commitment from already existing funding at NSF. This specifically calls out CS10K! More information is on this [|fact sheet] and also see more about [|NSF’s role] links: CSforAll: <[]> Fact Sheet: <[]> NSF’s Role: <[]>

// Readings from the January, 2016 issue of this newsletter // [|Seven Ways to Get Students Interested in Computer Science.] Author Neil Plotnick from Everest, MA describes “seven tricks for getting students to enroll in computer science classes - or engage them in computational thinking in your own classroom (you may have to login to get 3 free articles per month). <[]>

[|Jeannette Wing Promotes Computational Thinking at World Computer Congress.] Her message: “Students will benefit most when they learn to use computational thinking (CT), applying the principles and best practices of a video or a transcript of her presentation. <[]>

[|Jeannette Wing video]of her CT presentation on Feb 10, 2014 at the Columbia Journalism School as part of their Computing Technology in Media speaker series. The whole video is 108 minutes, her talk is a little less than half of that time. If you’ve never had the opportunity to hear Dr. Wing talk about CT (and even if you have), take time to watch this video. Starting at about 41 minutes she addresses CT in education, particularly K-12. <[]>

// Readings from the Dec, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Disrupting the Gender Gap in Computer Science]. Laura Blankenship blogs about shares her recent TED Talk: “I want to share with you some of things I’m sharing in my talk about why this is a problem, and what you can do to help fix it.” <[]>

[|A Million Progammers? How about a Billion Problem Solvers!] From the authors: “Thanks to initiatives like Hour of Code and major moves by some of the country's largest school districts, coding and computer science are finally starting to enter the mainstream of K-12 education. But as millions of students learn JavaScript, Python and beyond, we must make sure that teaching coding is about more than just creating millions of new programmers.” <[]>

[|You Don’t Have to be Good At Math to Learn to Code.] According to the author “Learning to program involves a lot of Googling, logic, and trial-and-error—but almost nothing beyond fourth-grade arithmetic.” <[]>

// Readings from the Nov, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Top 10 Tech Trends: Rise of the Robots.] Gartner has released its top 10 strategic predictions for 2016 through the end of the decade. This year's list highlights "smart" technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and the relationships of humans to machines. <https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/10/07/tech-trends-the-robots-are-coming.aspx>

[|10 Emerging Education Technologies]. Another top 10 see if how they’re different and how they’re similar. Includes Wearable tech, BYOD, mobile learning, clour computing, collaborative - also 3D printing and Gamification among others. <http://www.edudemic.com/10-emerging-education-technologies/>

[|Getting More Women Coders into Open Source]. Women coders should learn how to showcase their skills and build a reputation for deep expertise in certain areas, (Emory University Professor) Bharadwaj said: “Over time, the individual’s reputation grows and key members are recognized with high status in these communities.” Several good links are included. <[]>

[|Learn to Code, Code to Learn]. An article from a couple of years ago by Mitch Resnick, the MIT research professor who led a team to create and continue to update Scratch. <[]>

[|Pros and Cons of Computer Coding in School]. This is a short blog post but has several links to other articles. <[]>

// Readings from the Oct, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|CT Scan: Computational Thinking Broadens Student’s Analytical Thinking Skills]. This article appeared in the July, 2015 issue of Entrsekt, a publication for the membership of ISTE. This is a very good summary of the efforts thus far involving CT in K-12. <[]>

[|Are College Lectures Unfair?] “Does the college lecture discriminate? Is it biased against undergraduates who are not white, male and afflluent? A growing body of evidence suggests that the lecture is not generic or neutral…” Although this article refers specifically to post secondary, there is much of value for those of us in high school and maybe even middle school. <[]> [|10 Tips for Launching an Inquiry-Based Classroom]. “It takes time to build up a strong inquiry-based teaching practice, to learn how to direct student questions with other questions, and to get comfortable in a guiding role”. The author Katrina Schwartz does a very nice job breaking down this process. Definitely worth your time. <[]>

[|What Is Code?] This article by Paul Ford is very long (a pdf of the website is 95 pages long) but very interesting. Perhaps we could turn this into an article read buy those in CTN who want to participate. <[]>

// Readings from the Sept, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Searching for Computer Science: Access and Barriers in US K-12 Education.] This is a report commissioned by Google and created by Gallup examines the issue of including computer science explicitly in K-12 education. In the Executive Summary findings: <[|http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/searching-for-computer-science_report.pdf>]
 * students, parents and K-12 teachers highly value computer science,
 * many administrators do not perceive a high level of demand for CS
 * reasons for not including computer science is limited time available to courses not tied to testing requirements and low availability and budget for CS teachers
 * these problems are exacerbated for schools with low-income learners

Two articles about this report: Wired: [|Huh? Schools Think Kids Don’t Want to Learn Computer Science?] <[|http://www.wired.com/2015/08/schools-dont-think-kids-want-learn-computer-science/>]

USA Today: [|Should Students Learn Coding? Students, Schools Disagree, Poll Finds] <[]>

[|Computer Science Graduation Requirement Makes Sense.] This article comes out of Iowa. The author, a teacher in Sioux City School District, teaches PLTW’s CS courses, finding them “so valuable because their activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum applies the principles of computer science to a wide range of subjects, helping students develop computational thinking skills and computer science knowledge to take advange of thewide variety of career options <[]>

// Readings from the June, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // **[|Code.org Targets HS Computer Science].** Mid-May article on Code.org teaming up with College Board to push for more CS courses in HS and to increase the number of female and minoritiy students taking those courses. The article discuses the new partnerships in 35 of the nation’s largest school districts. <[]>

[|**Google’s Diversity Chief Nancy Lee Speaks the Truth in Silicon Valley**]. This is a Q&A article where Nancy Lee talks about her past, her current job and having to deal with the Google employment workforce which is 83% male, 2% Latino and 1% Black. < [] >

[|**Computer Science ‘job skill of the future,’ Should it be Mandatory School Curriculum?**] The writer talks with two Canadians about this situation in Canada which is very similar to the situation in the US. < [] >

[|**The Girls in the Room: Women plot a Silicon Valley Revolution**]. Silicon Valley is perhapsthe world’s leading crucibleof innovation. But it is a man’s world - with womenmaking up only 25% of the tech workforce. Meet the people working to change that. < [] >

// Readings from the May, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // **[|Let me tell you what I know about gender and CS].** Katie Cunningham in her blog Computer Science, Education, Fog begins this post with “I was very excited when one of the CS professors in my department, who had admitted he wasn't sure about the causes of gender disparity in CS, accepted my offer to share what I knew. Studying this topic has been my hobby since I stepped into my first core major CS classes and wondered where all the women went.” Actually the majority of this post is a detailed slide presentation that is eye-opening. < [] >

[|**Forty Computer Science Concepts Explained in Layman’s Terms**]**.** CS theories and concepts explained with analogies and moinimal technical terms. Don Yanek, president of CSTA-Chicago thins “some of the analogies hit the mark...some do not”. < [] >

// Readings from the April, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|**The Six Technologies That Will Change the Face of Education**]**.** One way or another, these all involve teaching about computing/computer science/information technology. Enjoy! < [] > // Readings from the March, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Coding in the Curriculum.] This blog post is from a teacher in New Zealand. He is working with others in his school to roll out a coding curriculum for 2015 linked to the Australian Curriculum. Interesting reading with plenty of student comments. <[]>
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: &#39;Arial Unicode MS&#39;;">Really important viewpoint → **[|**Why America’s Obsession with STEM Education is Dangerous**]**.** The author Fareed Zakaria argues that STEM by itself will stunt the very creativity that has made the US pre-eminent in creating and developing new technologies. “ This dismissal of broad-based learning, however, comes from a fundamental misreading of the facts — and puts America on a dangerously narrow path for the future. The United States has led the world in economic dynamism, innovation and entrepreneurship thanks to exactly the kind of teaching we are now told to defenestrate. A broad general education helps foster critical thinking and creativity. Exposure to a variety of fields produces synergy and cross fertilization. Yes, science and technology are crucial components of this education, but so are English and philosophy.” Well said and worth seriously thinking about. < [] >

[|Going Beyond Coding Puzzles.] This blog post on the CSTA Advocate blog is written by Sheena Vaidyanathan. She makes the case for going beyond the “one solution approach” to coding and into helping them generate creative ways to use this newfound skill. It’s a quick but insightful read. <[]>

[|Should We Really Try to Teach Everyone to Code?] The author describes the current almost insatiable need for apps. Then he says “In order to empower everyone to build apps, we need to focus on bringing greater abstraction and automation to the app development process. We need to remove code — and all its complexity — from the equation.“ A good, short read. <[|http://www.wired.com/2015/02/should-we-really-try-to-teach-everyone-to-code/>]

[|What’s the Purpose of Education in the 21st Century?] Not specifically about computer science, but the author makes the case that the purpose “doesn’t have to be either-or. Education should prepare young people for life, work and citizenship.” A worthwhile read. <[]>

// Readings from the February, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Advisor Guides Obama into the Google Age.] This is a good article about Megan J. Smith the chief technology officer of the United States, the woman whose division at Google dreamed up Google Glass and the driverless car. She “cringes when she hears highly educated adults say how bad they are at science and math, particularly when they do so in front of children. ‘That has to change’”. <[]>

[|Coding is not the new Literacy]. In this thought-provoking blog post by Chris Granger, the author makes his case. “Despite the good intentions behind the movement to get people to code, both the basic premise and approach are flawed. The movement sits on the idea that "coding is the new literacy," but that takes a narrow view of what literacy really is.” <[|http://www.chris-granger.com/2015/01/26/coding-is-not-the-new-literacy/>]

// Readings from the January, 2015 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|CS Teacher Series: The Importance of Computer Science by Alfred Thompson.]Alfred is one of our CS education gurus. Perhaps his last paragraph sums his thinking best: “Computing is a creative art as well as a mathematical or scientific area of study. It is one of the great ways to change the world for the better. Education is about opening doors for students, and the door into computer science is an important one.” <[|http://blog.microsoftnewengland.com/2014/12/08/cs-teacher-series-the-importance-of-computer-science-by-alfred-thompson/#] >

[|The Other Side of Diversity.] The prevailing narrative surrounding minorities in tech relates to how beneficial employing minorities can be for a company and/or how detrimental the lack of diverse perspectives can be. I’ve searched for, and have been disappointed to find that few studies have been done on the psychological effects of being a minority in a mostly homogeneous workplace for an extended period of time. (Update: There have been some very recently published studies surrounding this topic. I’m very appreciative of Jake Van Epps for pointing them out to me.) Here I’ll try to highlight how it has affected me, as I grew from a young black lady to a black woman in the predominantly white male tech industry. <[] >

[|The Tech Worker Shortage Doesn’t Really Exist.] The author cites Hal Salzman, a professor at Rutgers University who maintains that “The real issue is industry’s desire for lower-wage, more-exploitableguest workers, not a lack of available American staff.” Another research director, Dean Baker, says “It seems pretty clear that the industry just wants lower-cost labor.” < []> // Readings from the December, 2014 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Could this be the Answer to the Tech World’s Diversity Problem?] Kimberly Bryant hopes to crack the code with her organization that teaches young girls of color how to program. Inspirational! < []>

[|The Only Skill You Should be Concerned With.] Languages change, technologies evolve, and so-called experts come and go. Guess what skill you really should know and be teaching your students? Find out here… < []> // Readings from the November, 2014 issue of the CTN newsletter // [|Why Women Leave Tech: It’s the Culture, not because ‘Math is hard’]. Over 700 women who left tech were interviewed in this important article in Fortune in early October, 2014. Author Kieran Snyder: “Their average tenure in the industry was a little over seven years. All of them shared their single biggest reason for leaving, their current employment status, and their desire (or not) to return to tech.” <[]>

[|The Forgotten Female Programmers Who Created Modern Tech]. “Decades ago, it was women who pioneered computer programming — but too often, that's a part of history that even the smartest people don't know.” This is a nearly 7 minute audio clip from NPR’s Morning Edition. The script from the audio also appears here. <[]>

[|Anyone Can Learn Programming: Teaching > Genetics.] Mark Guzdial wrote this blog post in mid-October. He attempts (successfully, I believe) to debunk the “Geek Gene” hypothesis which is all too prevalent in the Computer Science community even if it’s not overt. This is definitely worth reading. <[]>

[|Coding with the Kindgarten Crowd]. This is a fun article on kids in grades K-2 using [|Scratch Jr] <[]> Amanda Strawhacker, research scientist on the Scratch Jr project, said “Teaching coding in kindergarten helps young students learn important creativity and problem-solving skills that will position them for success as they move through school” <[|http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/10/10/coding-in-kindergarten-653/?/]>

[|Ten Men Making Waves for Women in Tech.] Ruth Farmer, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at NCWIT, wrote this article recently about male advocates for women in tech. // Readings from the October, 2014 CTN (nee SIGCT) Newsletter // <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">On CS for Each. Here are two blog posts by Joanna Goode, Prof at University of Oregon and co-author of Exploring Computer Science. The first post is entitled [|‘Moving From "CS for a Few" to "CS for All" to "CS For Each"’]. As she notes “ Developing a computer science classroom that welcomes each child requires a culturally responsive pedagogy that views diversity as a strength that should be integrated within the curriculum.” In her followup on Mark Guzdial’s Computing Education Blog entitled “[|On CS for Each]”, she provides some very specific examples of this approach. Great reading! < [|http://computinged.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/guest-post-by-joanna-goode-on-cs-for-each/>] <[]> [|**Why Counting CS as Science or Math is Not Considered Harmful**]. Mark Guzdial from Georgia Tech in his blog post makes the point that cs “the critical part is that (cs) enters the schools, so that we start learning the lessons that move us toward universal computational literacy.” <[]> [|**How Diversity Makes Us Smarter.**] This article by Katherine W. Phillips, Professor at the Columbia Business School, details with many examples and research references why diversity enhances creativity and how diversity is good for the corporate “bottom line”. Her discussion also has implications for education. <[]> [|**10 Reasons Why America Needs 10,000 More Girls in CS.**]Ruthe Farmer, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer for NCWIT and also creator of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing makes a stunning case for influencing more girls to get into computing in a serious way. < [] >

// Readings from the September, 2014 CTN (nee SIGCT) Newsletter // [|**How to Get Girls Into Coding**]. This appeared in the NY Times in late May, 2014. The author’s view is that we have to go beyond the “Learn how to program” idea, advancing to “What do you want to program? What’s your idea?” andfor lots of girls that’s Minecraft. < [] > [|**We Can Code It!**] Why computer literacy is key to winning the 21st Century. Lots of interesting stuff here including the Adopt-a-Hydrant mobile app, the computational thinking that computer software programmers do, the kids in Vietnam and CS, and even a few paragraphs about the Exploring Computer Science curriculum in Los Angeles and the importance of changing the way CSis taught. < [] > [|**Computational Thinking: AP Computer Science vs AP Statistics.**] This is a food for thought posting on SlashDot. You’ll find some of the links interesting and perhaps even some of the comments below as you scroll down. [] [|**Cracking the Code of the New Economy: You Don’t Need a STEM Degree to Work in a STEM Field.**] As the authors note “don’t be afraid to stick with your liberal arts education. If history is any guide, it could be just as valuable as knowing how to write code.” < [] >

// Readings from the June, 2014 CTN (nee SIGCT) Newsletter //

[|**Coding in Schools: A is for Algorithm.**] An article on the Economist website highlighting computer science programs in England, Israel, Germany and Denmark - very useful information that is pertinent to efforts in the US. [|**Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately Coding.**] From this NY Times article ‘The spread of coding instruction, while still nascent, is “unprecedented — there’s never been a move this fast in education,” said Elliot Soloway, a professor of education and computer science at the University of Michigan. He sees it as very positive, potentially inspiring students to develop a new passion, perhaps the way that teaching frog dissection may inspire future surgeons and biologists.’ [|**Milwaukee Students Explore High-Tech Careers.**] This is an article and a brief NPR presentation about iFairs which have been held in Milwaukee, twice a year, since 2007. Students have the opportunity to explore careers in IT and Engineering by visiting about 20 booths presented by industries and post-secondary institutions; they also attend several workshops run by the business community exploring IT, Engineering and Employability Skills. // Readings from the May, 2014 CTN (nee SIGCT) Newsletter //

//This is a bit different type of “reading” assignment. Laura Blankenship (CS Chair at Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, PA) posted this email on the SIGCSE listserve.// I'm currently buying CS-related books for my graduating seniors (in HS), all of whom are women. It's been difficult to find books that I think would inspire them to continue their studies in CS. I think it's important to them to see themselves in the field and sadly, many of the books out there exclude them. And I'm sorry, but man-month (ref Mythical Man Month) is definitely exclusionary language (not necessarily in the book title since it is a product of its time, but certainly if companies still use that term). I've considered the following books, not all of which I'm happy with because of their gender bias, but maybe some of you will like them.
 * Cooking for Geeks (I have a student who really loves to cook)
 * The Confidence Code (an issue for women in male-dominated fields is having the confidence to speak out)
 * Unlocking the Clubhouse
 * The Circle (a techie novel with a female protagonist)
 * Close to the Machine by Ellen Ullman
 * Gödel, Escher, Bach by Doug Hofstader (I'm leaning toward this one for our department book award)
 * The Last Lecture
 * In the Beginning . . . There was the Command Line
 * JPod

// Readings from the April, 2014 CTN (nee SIGCT) Newsletter //

[|__The Myth of the Science and Engineering Shortage.__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">The author of this article on the Atlantic Monthly website, [|Michael S. T] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">eitelbaum contends that “American students need to improve in math and science—but not because there's a surplus of jobs in those fields.” Read his evidence and supportive arguments. [|__http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-the-science-and-engineering-shortage/284359/__]

[|__Rebooting the Pathway to Success.__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Subtitled “Preparing Students for Computing Workforce Needs in the United States”, chapter titles include Education Pathways to Computing Careers and Computer Science Education Initiatives. A state-by-state analysis is included. The site has very useful summary information. < [|__http://pathways.acm.org/recommendations.html__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

// Readings from the March, 2014 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * [|__You Can Already Code - You Just Don’t Know It Yet__] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. This brief article by Ed Cox starts “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333332; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">When someone tells you they code, it’s as if they’re calling you from inside the world’s most exclusive club.” WRONG! Read on. [|__https://medium.com/p/862044601a5a__]


 * [|__It’s Not too Late to Learn How to Code.__] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The author Jean Hsu’s intent is clear from the title but she makes a important comment in her second paragraph. “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333332; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">I took two Computer Science courses in high school, and I’m fairly confident that had it not been for those classes, I would have been way too intimidated to major in it in college.” < [|__https://medium.com/hacker-culture/cc05c4c222f7__>]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Video: ** [|__Is There a Diversity Problem in Silicon Valley (and everywhere else)?__] ** [| Kapor Center Managing Partner Nicole Sanchez and Code2040 Co-Founder and Executive Director Laura Weidman Powers discuss the opportunity gap in Silicon Vall] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">ey on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." < [|__http://bit.ly/diversity-in-tech__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Video: ** [|__The Machine is Us/ing Us__] **<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Interesting video (caution, it starts right away at least on my machine) in which Antrhopologist Michael Wesch explores significant changes to web programming (separation of content and form) then technology and human values suggesting that we have to rethink some things like copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, rhetorics, governance, privacy, commerce, love, family, ourselves. He has several other Youtube videos including several talks. < [|__http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g__] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

// Readings from the February, 2014 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * [|Anybody Can Learn - Computer Science is NOT a Foreign Language.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">I just stumbled across this Code.org Issue Brief. This article not only deals directly with the idea of allowing CS to count as a foreign langage, but in general provides excellent reasons why every kid ought to at least be exposed to this kind of thinking. While it’s not specifically noticed, this is (at least in this editor’s opinion) exactly what Computational Thinking is all about - developing computer science concepts in all manner of disciplines and at all grade levels.. < []>


 * [|Should Coding be the “New Foreign Language” Requirement?] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> This article from Edutopia in late October, 2013 makes this case. The recent policy change enacted in Texas which “enables computer science to fulfill the high school foreign language requirement” is highlighted. Read the comments here for other views. < []>


 * [|Tech’s Diversity Problem is Apparent As Early as High School]. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is the NY Times take on the article written by Barb Ericson at Georgia Tech. The comments are also excellent. < [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Audio) ** [|Is Coding the Language of the Digital Age?] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">As our past-President Luci Brown relates “ I was driving in the brrr degree weather of the Chicago area, when I decided to listen to NPR. It was 1:00 PM and time for Science Fridays. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the first topic was about coding? Here listen for yourself. The podcast takes about 20 minutes but is well worth it.” Also, read the comments to the video on this page. <[]>

// Readings from the January, 2014 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * [|We need Coding in Schools, but Where are the Teachers?] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is an excellent article by Sheena Vaidyanathan where she explores the role of teachers in the rush to bring coding to schools. Sheena is a regular presenter at ISTE and will make two presentations at ISTE 2014. < [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * [|How One “Hour of Code” can Launch an Entire CS Program]. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Sheena Vaidyanathan in this blog post asks the question “If schools do decide to go beyond the one hour and take the next step to add coding as a part of school curriculum, what will this look like?” < [|http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/12/how-one-hour-of-code-can-launch-an-entire-computer-science-program] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * [|Coding to Learn: the 21st Century Curriculum.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">author Peter Hutton: “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Innovation, STEM education, 21st century learning. As educators, it's our job to embrace these concepts, not reject them. K-12 educators in particular need to incorporate 21st century concepts into curriculums to make skills like computer programming an essential part of the student experience. [|As I've written before] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">and will say again, innovation is key when it comes to preparing our students for the new economy.” Great article. <[]>


 * [|Improving Student Engagement Through the Incorporation of Robotics into Introductory Computer Science Curricula.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This paper from professor Allison Thompson from the Dept of CS, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI discusses the Institute for Personal Robots in Education and their experiments with adding robots to introductory CS courses will increase interest. Her group’s role in creating labs used in the course is described. <[]>

//Readings from the December, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter//


 * UK Govt outlines CS Curriculum. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">The government has outlined the new curriculum for computer science in schools. A program has been drawn up for Key stages one through four, which will mean students will begin learning computer science from early primary school and then throughout their education. Definitely worth reading to see where the US could be with respect to CS. < @http://www.develop-online.net/news/uk-govt-outlines-computer-science-curriculum/0115853?utm_source=November+2013&utm_campaign=EdGate+Newsletters&utm_medium=email>.


 * I am Woman, Watch Me Hack **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Writer Catherine Rampell in the NY Times posits that “one of the biggest challenges...may be a public image problem...Public Narratives about a career can make a difference”. Role models can make a difference and the author cites the “CSI” effect as evidence. < @http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/magazine/i-am-woman-watch-me-hack.html?_r=0> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mark Guzdial, author of the highly regarded Computing Education Blog < @http://computinged.wordpress.com <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">> has a different take on this article indicating that we need more real role models and not necessarily role models in mass media. < @http://computinged.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/teasing-apart-the-issues-of-women-in-computing/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * Female Software Engineers May Be Scarcer Than Thought. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> A female engineer at Pinterest did some research and discovered that based on 107 companies, only about 12% of software engineers were female. That number is roughly half that reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While more research needs to be done, this is certainly a short, interesting article. Look for the partial list of companies and their percent of female SEs. It may surprise you. < @http://www.itworld.com/big-data/384215/female-software-engineers-may-be-even-scarcer-thought>


 * Ten Takeaway Tips for Teaching Critical Thinking. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> We teachers of computer science certainly espouse critical thinking in our courses. In 2011 Edutopia published this article, a quick checklist for you. If you regularly practice all 10 in your lessons, give yourself a pat on the back! < @http://www.edutopia.org/stw-kipp-critical-thinking-10-tips-for-teaching>

// Readings from the November, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * Forget the Stereotype: Profile of an IT Worker **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. This profile focused on two Dept of Labor job categories: Network and computer system administrator and computer support specialist. Both are very much in demand both pay well. The backgrounds of large chunks of these specialists may surprise you. < @http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB20001424052702303442004579123283162644524?mobile=y>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Play-i launched a crowdfunding campaign on Monday (10/28/2013). The company will make two robots, Bo and Yana, which can be used individually or together (both have Bluetooth 4.0). Along with an iPad app, kids as young as 5 years old can learn programming concepts while playing with the robots. "Tech has to evolve to be accessible and fun," Vikas Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Play-i, says. (courtesy of Jim Brazell < jimbrazell@ventureramp.com <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>) < @http://mashable.com/2013/10/28/playi/>
 * This Robot Can Teach Programming to Your 5-Year-Old (Mashable) **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">I wanted to expose my kids to programming because it’s a great skill and a powerful way of thinking. And my kids spend enough time playing Angry Birds and Cut the Rope on my iPhone that I figure they should get a peek behind the curtain at how programming works. So whether you’ve never programmed before or you’re a hardcore HAx0r (hacker), here are some tips on teaching your kids to program. (courtesy of Jim Brazell < jimbrazell@ventureramp.com <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>) <@http://www.geekwire.com/2013/commentary-taught-kids-python-programming/>
 * Matt Lerner (CTO, Walk Score): How I taught my kids Python programming (Geek Wire) **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Scratch Jr site: < @http://ase.tufts.edu/DevTech/ScratchJr/ScratchJrHome.asp <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>
 * Introducing Programming to Preschools. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> MIT’s Lifelong Kindgergarten group is collaborating with Tufts University’s Dev Tech Research Group to make Scratch Jr, a new version aimed at kids in preschool to second grade. The public release is planned for 2014. Article url: < @http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/02/introducing-programming-to-preschoolers/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

// From the October, 2013 issue SIGCT Newsletter //


 * Coding Horror: Please don’t learn to code. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Author Jeff Atwood: “The “everyone should learn to code” movement isn’t just wrong because it falsely equates codeing with essential life skills like reading, writing, and math. I wish. It is wrong in so many other ways…” What are your thoughts? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">< @http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/05/please-dont-learn-to-code.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * Experts Weigh in on K-12 Coding & CS Resources. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Tom Vander Ark reached out to lots of experts to get their recommendations for K-12 resources for teaching coding and computer science. This article is the summary with lots of links to resources. < @http://bit.ly/experts-on-k-12-coding-and-cs-resources <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> < @http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis-is-a-myth <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>
 * The STEM Crisis is a Myth **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Robert N Charette, contributing editor of IEEE Spectrum makes the case that there is no shortage in STEM careers, that the definition of STEM is unclear and that there is a STEM knowledge shortage.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__ <[]> __
 * STEM 2.0 - Transformational Thinking about STEM for Education and Career Practitioners. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Jim Brazell, international speaker with two decades of experience leading innovative design projects in education, technology and business innovation, published this in July, 2013. He addressed the STEM shortage and problems in the current definitions of STEM, arguing that labor market requirements are for STEM-based skills across many jobs not typically classified as STEM. The net effect, he argues is transformation of social institutions.


 * Rackspace Co-founder to Debut Computer-Coding Classes in San Antonio **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">**.** Graham Weston’s 80/20 Foundation set to introduce computer coding classes at Highlands HS this fall (2013). <@http://bit.ly/san-antonio-hs-computing>

//<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">Readings from the September, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">EdSurge.com Guide: Teaching Kids to Code. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> This guide has 12 articles and product comparisons (40 tools to learn coding). Read it and bookmark it for future reference. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__ [] >__

//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the June, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter //


 * Learning to Code Isn’t Enough <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shuchi Grover, a blogger working on her PhD in Computer Science from Stanford writes that “articles promoting the idea of kids learning to code often point to how it helps build computational thinking skills - a key skill for all in the digital age … it’s more about the ideas, not the artifacts...” This is definitely worth reading <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">. <@https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-05-28-opinion-learning-to-code-isn-t-enough>


 * Welcome to the Programmable World. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article from the current June issue of Wired provides some insight on why more people really need to learn how to read and write code - it’ll be all around us real soon now. Great read and one of those “what are we going to use this for” articles. < @http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/internet-of-things/all/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * Coding is Coming To Every Industry **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article highlights the real fact that coders are and will be needed everywhere, not just in the 1.4 million jobs projected over the next 8-10 years. A good read. < [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the May, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter **//


 * Opening a Gateway for Girls to Enter the Computer Field ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This focuses on 20 high school young women from Manhattan who are involved in a program to learn to program computers. The site Girls Who Code is highlighted. Quite interesting and exciting. < @http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/opening-a-gateway-for-girls-to-enter-the-computer-field/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * [|Four Reasons Why Kids Should Learn to Program.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">From the Tynker.com site (see the links below), this is a blog post where the author talks about these four reasons: Programming is a basic literacy, It’s a Way to Create Change, <span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #261204; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">“You have an idea for then next big tech innovation? Great. Can you bring it to life?” and Programming isn’t that Hard to Learn” < @http://www.tynker.com/blog/articles/stem-education/four-reasons-why-kids-should-learn-programming/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

==<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__ [|The Do’s and Don’ts for Raising the Ratio of Women in Tech.] __ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> A very interesting article in which “Etsy's Marc Hedlund shares the tactics he's using to boost the diversity of his engineering team.” < @http://programming.oreilly.com/2013/04/dos-and-donts-for-changing-the-ratio-in-tech.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">> ==


 * Turn STEM into STEAM with Arts Education. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">John Maeda, president of Rhode Island School of Design, makes this case along with others like Jim Brazell from San Antonio. < @http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2020721289_johnmaedaopedxml.html <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * Cyber-Security Needs Spur Job Growth in 10 Tech Industries <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. T **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">his article/slide show discusses the forcasted high needs for individuals interested in this area. Much of what will be going on with our SIGCT 2013 Forum and Playground center around this exciting field. < @http://www.eweek.com/security/slideshows/cyber-security-needs-spur-job-growth-in-10-tech-industries/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the April, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter **//

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">**[|Robots to Spur Economy, Improve Quality of Life, Keep Responders Safe].** (Georgia Tech). Many of us include robotics either in our courses or as an extension of computer science thinking. <[|http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=200741]>

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">**[|HTML and Computer Science]**. Alfred Thompson’s Blog. Alfred talks about this from his K-12 perspective. Definitely worth reading both his writing and the comments at the end and those embedded, also. <[|http://blog.acthompson.net/2013/03/html-and-computer-science.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=linkedin>]

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">**[|The Math Standards and Moving Beyond the Worksheets]**. This Article in Education Week hit me on several levels: first as a math teacher and lover of mathematics, second as a computer science teacher (are our classrooms more about understanding and creating or just following rote directions), and finally as a teacher who needs to adopt, infuse and relate to these Common Core Standards. <[|http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/03/27/26crowley.h32.html?tkn=LNSFw%2FMoqekT4IEeYBSFfusZ4rOHVCeJYo%2F0&cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1] > <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">(you don’t have to but you might want to join the edweek site)

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the March, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter **//


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|ICT Move to Computer Science More than a Makeover.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Starting off with an excellent definition of computer science, Ken Royal describes the situation of ICT in the UK. Worthwhile for all. A companion piece referenced in that blog is the following by Alfred Thompson.

===**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Computer Science - Part of English Baccalaureate] **=== <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px;">Alfred writes not only about the ICT changes but also about computer science in the US, addressing many issues. Both of these are great reads.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Teach U.S. kids to write computer code] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Douglas Rushkoff who wrote the book “Programmed or Be Programmed” and write a regular column for CNN.com. He writes about is then upcoming appearance before Congress. One of the 10 things he’ll saying is ‘4. "Computer class" can't be about teaching kids to use today's software; it must be about teaching kids to make tomorrow's software.’ Another worthwhile read (would I provide you with anything less?)


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Pathway from Poverty: Pioneering Program help Low-Income Children get Degrees, IBM Jobs] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is an article about the P-TECH in Brooklyn. This program has also very recently been the subject of an NPR discussion. Interesting approach to education ala 9-14 and having an associate’s degree as well as a stepping stone to a 4 year degree if the student is interested. (I’m still not sure why this is coming out of Utah, but the article is certainly first class).


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Women In Tech: What Has (And Hasn’t) Changed In 15 Years] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is an interview with Selina Tobaccowala who founded Evite in 1997. Very interesting interview on a blog that’s new to me and is definitely worth reading. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the February, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter **//


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Pentagon to Boost Cybersecurity Force.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article, one of many that I’ve recently seen, suggests the importance of cybersecurity and the job opportunities that surround this area. This also provides support and justification for having significant portions of both the SIGCT Forum and Playground events focus around cybersecurity. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Workshops teach computer science to African-American girls] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article not only talks about these workshops but also about an organization called Black Girls Code < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">> and also about the huge need to get underrepresented minorities into computer science. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the CMU Dave-to-girl ratio (please read the article to find out what this is all about). (reference from NCTM SmartBriefs 1/28/13. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Study: Tech classes correlate with better achievement.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">The study found that high school students who took at least one technology course and at least one industry certification exam had a better average attendance rate and grade point average than students with similar demographics who took no technology courses or exams during the same period. There was no difference in the rate of these students going to 4-year college and those who didn’t have this experience (usually it is thought CTE students matriculate to 4-year colleges at significantly lesser rates. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Programming Literacy done Right: It’s about the Tools] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Adam Wiggins. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">After unearthing an out-of-print book from the early 1990s entitled A Small Matter of Programming, he talks about the two comprehension gaps noted in the book: no-full setup and task-oriented tools. His concluding paragraph: “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #555555; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Broad programming literacy is crucial in a world increasingly made of computers. Despite common stereotypes, programming is not out of reach for the average person. If the tools are easy to set up and specialized on the programmer’s task, programming can be a small matter after all.” <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The author also has a number of embedded links that are pretty interesting also. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|STEAM (STEM+A) Education Gains Momentum in Schools.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Though this article doesn’t specifically address computer science it does emphasize for the increased need for innovation and creativity, notions that we in computer science and information technology talk about in good measure as an important feature of such involvement. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Report: Specialized Technologies] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">This report supported by Samsung includes several articles of potential interest: Full STEAM Ahead, Gaming - Not just for Fun Anymore and Revolutionizing Research with SuperComputers. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Readings from the January, 2013 SIGCT Newsletter **//

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Bergman’s thesis: “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The people who are in command of those digital tools will be the leaders of academia, research, business, politics, entertainment, and philanthropy.We’ve got to teach the students now how to learn to design, build, program, and reprogram their own digital tools so they can solve those problems.” <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Why Computer Science?] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Doug Bergman.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|A Small World View of CS Education] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Garth Flint The author attempts to answer the question “What should a CS Ed certification program teach in the way of programming?” (his blog is really worth reading on a regular basis, BTW) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Video Games in the STEM Classroom] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Shawn Connelly on Edutopia. Aspects of computer science are explored (computational thinking) along with the Processing Language (article suggested by SIGCT President Luci Brown). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">...from the December, 2012 SIGCT Newsletter: **//


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Learnable Computing] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Brad Victor. Although mentioned in the October 2012 reading list of this newsletter, here’s a recent post to the APCS Teacher Community: “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Victor's argument is so well articulated because he uses the same visual feedback approach he advocates to make his argument. It's a sobering and challenging read that will likely make you rethink how you teach programming. Anybody who has struggled with programming will appreciate his implied argument that programming in it's current form is "unlearnable. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">"

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">There’s also an accompanying video entitled “Inventing on Principle” which is also very good and worth your time seeing. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>. From the poster: “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bret Victor gave a wonderful talk on living a life on principal which for him as a creator of software meant creating a user friendly environment that let's creators get immediate feedback on what they create. That talk inspired the Khan Academy's computer science curriculum, so it was a bit surprising to see him lay out what's wrong with Khan curriculum, Javascript, Processing, and well, computer science education in general.” <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">(...posted by Art Simon 10/29/2012).


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|High Schools not Meeting STEM Demand:] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Another article on the lack of students going into CS&IT courses and careers; this article talks a bit more about the qualified teacher side of the equation. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|CodeHS Wants to Teach Every American High Schooler How to Code.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Good article exploring the new CodeHS system developed by two Stanford University instructors. They clearly state their site is about learning fundamentals like problem solving, not just learning to code for a job. Not particularly inexpensive but at least worth a look. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Study Looks at Why So Many Leave the STEM Field.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most interesting article which offers another side of the STEM career gap. <http://www.news.wisc.edu/21173>


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Computer Science Teachers offered Cash Incentive.] **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">From Britain, a novel approach to getting more teachers trained. < <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20003327>

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">...from the November, 2012 SIGCT Newsletter: **//


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Computer Science Should Be Required in K- ****<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">12 **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">“If U.S. technological innovation is to continue on a meteoric trajectory, our students need to become fluent. For that, we need to revamp and require computer science education in K-12 schools.”

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/10/should-computer-science-be-a-required-course.html#.UHvc2JyIeNg.twitter] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">(...from a CSTA email 10/19/2012 by Chris Stephenson)


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Should All Students Be Forced to Learn Computer Science? **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">“... <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #231f20; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">kids shouldn’t just be able to use computers better than their parents, they should be required to take computer science and understand how the technology works.”

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (...from a CSTA email 10/19/2012 by Chris Stephenson)


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Keeping the T in STEM. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Another good article with some ideas on how to get more kids involved. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">(...from the NCTM SmartBrief, October 24, 2012)


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">...from the October, 2012 SIGCT Newsletter: **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Learnable Programming] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">Very interesting somewhat lengthy essay on progamming systems and to some extent a rebuttal of the approach Kahn Academy takes to teach programming. Has two thoughts about learning: 1) Programming is a way of thinking, not a rote skill; 2) People understand what they can see. In the end he states “Visualize data, not code. Dynamic behavior not static structure” and “Programming releases trapped intelligence.” Definitely thought provoking and worth reading (suggested by Karen North, SIGCT Business Officer). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">-- **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Fostering Tech Talent in Schools] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">. **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">A good article in the NY Times published September 30, 2012 on the TEALS program at Microsoft where Microsoft Software Engineers spend time teaching computer science courses in schools in several states. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]