The Texas Computer Science Association (TCEA) is taking a lead in advocating for Computer Science and other Technology Application Courses by testifying at the Senate Education Committee hearing: http://tceaadvocacy.wordpress.com on HB 5. Please support this by writing our Texas Senators.
To be a well-educated citizen as we move toward an ever-more computing-intensive world and to be prepared for the jobs of the 21st Century, students must have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computer science. – from the ACM/CSTA “Running on Empty” report.
From the video below Starring Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, will.i.am, Chris Bosh, Jack Dorsey, Tony Hsieh, Drew Houston, Gabe Newell, Ruchi Sanghvi, Elena Silenok, Vanessa Hurst, and Hadi Partovi.
Learn about a new “superpower” that isn’t being taught in in 90% of US schools.
This superpower has been around for decades, the problem is educators keep waiting for Superman. They are looking in the wrong circles. I have been teaching programming for 30 years and know that Everyone can learn to code!! That is if your school introduces you to the world of computer science. Some kids are lucky enough to have friends or parents help them. In Texas there are 9 High School Computer Science courses. Programming is part of the Math TEKS and Technology Application TEKS. My 2005 research data shows that computer programming can increase mastery of algebraic computation skills.
We need champions and change agents!!
Please help make computer science part of the Texas HB5.
Please write your legislators to add:
To Foundation High School Program SECTION 5(c-1) (1) add computer science endorsement.
Added by Committee
To SECTIONS 52(b)(1)(B) and 53(b)(1)(B) add to “critical thinking ** and problem solving” *computational thinking*. NOTE: Computational Thinking is critical thinking + computing.
;; GreenCircleInRedSquare number -> drawing
;; Draw a Green Circle inscribed in a Red Square
(define (GreenCircleInRedSquare radius)
(overlay
(circle radius “solid” “green”)
(rectangle (* radius 2) (* radius 2) “solid” “red”)))
I am not alone, as there are many organizations that support CS education including CSTA and NCWIT. I am trying to help locally promote CS Education. More videos on Computational Thinking can be found at scoop.it/t/computational-thinking-in-k-12.
Teaching programming physically changed my brain by building dendrites that did not exist when I was in high school, thus creating an ability to write and think computationally.
We need all teachers, especially elementary school, to be able to think computationally to build C-STEAM researchers and entrepreneurs.
Fatima – Houston ISD Piney Point ES now Revere MS Student – at EYH
Victor is a leader. The book “World Class Learners – Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students” leads me to think that our education system requiring teachers and students to be followers is killing that spirit. Those who lead tend to get in trouble.
I think we should eliminate multiple choice testing in elementary school and replace it with Tests of Creative Thinking. As others have found, I observed in my 4 years as an ES teachers that testing of young children must stop.
Fatima is one of my learners that was in my daughter’s presentation at the Expanding Your Horizons Conference. I wonder what I can do to help her become one of our future leaders and entrepreneurs.
Research shows that “high school students who exhibit creative personalities are more like to drop out of school than other students.” We as a society must do something to build the creative spirit of our children though hands-on projects and free thinking time in schools. Buckyballs are Everywhere. We need learners like Stephen Hawking who made no excuses and overcame his difficulties. I have been saying for decades that computer science opens the doors for creative thinking. So, when is action going to be taken on making computer science and engineering a required academic area. Even the President agrees.
More videos on this can be found at code.org. So decades after I produced a video on this very thing, seems people are finally finding it important. Want to see programming in action, please see my Programming with Graphics Video. And this is just the short version.
Learn about teaching computational thinking with a robotic spelling bee, a number line and line dancing. This supports the Texas standards for technology applications and the new Texas math TEKS, which includes computational thinking and computer programming.
ISTE SIGCT 6-24-13 Forum: Computational Thinking, Cybersecurity Education, Cyber Citizenship, Scratch, Programming Robots – infusing the nine core competencies rooted in computer science work in the classroom.
Randy Pauch, computer science professor who wrote the “Last Lecture” advocated for CS education because he wanted to create more research brains to design a cure for the cancer that was killing him. I want to create more research brains to design a better way for dialysis then sticking big needles into my mother’s arm three times a week.
Are we programming students or are students creating programs? Are students the robots following the lead of their teacher or are teachers giving students the power to create products of learning following their unique pathssion?
… Public school districts, HISD included, are not doing enough to prepare students or encourage them to pursue high tech careers. This has to change… We need to start working with students at a young age to spark their interest in technology and computer science. Our children should not just know how to use apps and video games, they should know how to create apps and video games… We must elevate computer science classes to be part of our core curriculum.
Celebrating CS Education Week Ms. Creek’s 2nd grade creating a robotic line dance at Piney Point in HISD
The students I taught to program a line dance at Piney Point ES in Houston ISD and Bendwood in Spring Branch ISD now want to program the NAO to dance, design video games, and write their own mobile apps. Their teachers must maintain that spark, that passion to learn to program.
While young girls and boys use technology every day to communicate, play video games, download and listen to music, their interest in majoring in STEM has steadily declined over the past decade. Fewer students are enrolling in computer science and graduating with computer science degrees. If this trend continues, the technology industry will only be able to fill half its available jobs with candidates with computer science bachelor’s degrees from U.S. universities, according to the National Center for Women in Technology.
The Thiel Fellowship has fueled a fierce debate about the value of a college education in a changing economy, one where the skills to write software or build a robot, coupled with an outsize dose of ambition and a youthful belief in one’s ability to change the world, have the potential to produce fame and fortune in a way that few other professions do. – New York Times
… How do we bring together organizations in Houston to scale Brain Building PBL in the classroom?
… And reach out to book publishers to add programming enrichment activities. The standards breakouts can be found on the TEA website. This lists the technology application TEKS as well as the 9 new high school CS classes including
Game Programming and Design
Mobile Application Development
Robotics Programming and Design
Digital Forensics
Discrete Mathematics
Volunteering with outreach programs to build our future …
… Our future computer scientists, inventors, designers, entrepreneurs, engineers and brilliant thinkers.
(a)(1) The desire to achieve educational excellence is the driving force behind the Texas essential knowledge and skills for mathematics, guided by the college and career readiness standards. By embedding statistics, probability, and finance, while focusing on computational thinking, mathematical fluency and solid understanding, Texas will lead the way in mathematics education and prepare all Texas students for the challenges they will face in the 21st century.
(a)(2) … Students will select appropriate tools such as real objects, manipulatives, algorithms, paper and pencil, and technology, and will apply appropriate strategies such as mental math, estimation, number sense, generalization and abstraction to solve problems…Students will effectively communicate mathematical ideas, reasoning, and their implications using multiple representations such as symbols, diagrams, graphs, computer programs, and language….
Why all our kids should be taught How to Code There is a growing consensus that the way children in schools are being taught information technology is in need of a radical overhaul. … starting in primary school, children from all backgrounds and every part of the UK should have the opportunity to: learn some of the key ideas of computer science; understand computational thinking; learn to program; and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of excellence in these activities.
Texas now has computational thinking and computer programs in the Technology Application standards and the math standards. The law is in place. The question is, what action plan do you have in place to change the way technology is used in your district, your school, your classroom, your home?
“Robotics innovation represents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth
akin to automobiles, aerospace, and information technology.”
- Closed vs. Open Source Robotics Debate
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