Hey everyone,
Google is hosting an introductory workshop for high school teachers on Teaching CS with Web Development, and you're invited! If you want to learn more about recent research in CS at Google and have a fun introduction to teaching CS using web development (HTML/CSS/Javascript), this workshop is for you!
While its become increasingly clear how important it is to teach Computer Science before college, with CS for All initiatives having kicked off in NYC public schools and even at the federal level with Obamas recent call to action, there are still many misperceptions and biases about Computer Science in education. Google has commissioned a number of Gallup studiesthat show many students, parents, teachers, and principals have little understanding of what Computer Science actually is and a number of harmful biases about who can succeed in the field. If we ever hope to truly realize the vision of CS for All and create a more diverse and inclusive field of future tech innovators, we must address these issues head on.
In the first half of this workshop, Ed Fuquen, software engineer at Google, will talk about the results of this research and provide better insight into Computer Science for educators of all backgrounds. Participants will discuss some practical lessons learned from teaching Computer Science in the classroom, hearing from ScriptEd volunteers and students. In the second half, participants will do a hands-on exercise that will introduce basic Computer Science principles, focusing on developing a basic understanding of algorithms, and some helpful web development tools (i.e. http://jsbin.com/) for teaching Computer Science in the classroom. The exercise will be similar to lessons provided in the ScriptEd curriculum, openly available and developed on Github. No prior knowledge of CS or web development is needed or expected. The goal of this workshop is to give participants a clear understanding of what Computer Science is and how it can be accessible to a much wider audience than many might assume. Finally, Ed will talk about steps you can take over the summer and the next semester to learn and teach Computer Science.
