OTAN News

Computer Science Education Week Begins

December 3 to 9 is Computer Science Education Week, a time to highlight the importance of computer science education and encourage students to take an interest in computer science. The first CSEdWeek was in 2009, and it includes December 9 to honor the birthday of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, one of the pioneers of computer programming who also was a United States Navy rear admiral. She was honored posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

CSEdWeek has evolved from a focus on setting policy and influencing policy makers to recognition of the importance of integrating computer science education in the K-12 curriculum. In recent years, CSEdWeek has zeroed in on creating opportunities for students to learn coding, broadly recognized as one of the most importance technical skills for the world of work and civil society in the future. During CSEdWeek, teachers are encouraged to try an Hour of Code with their students to introduce coding or, for those with a little bit of experience, try a more advanced project. You can learn more about CSEdWeek and the Hour of Code at the website https://csedweek.org

With education’s emphasis on getting students to begin coding at younger and younger ages, what about getting our adult education students started with coding? Fortunately, there are a number of websites that introduce the topic in layman’s terms and include coding projects that appeal to all ages, not just kids. ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) has a nice article  that breaks computer programming down into four easy-to-understand steps and another article  that explains computational thinking. The article 8 Wonderful Websites for Easy Coding Activities for Any Age or Level  lists a few sites where adult ed teachers and students can explore coding, including Code.org, Khan Academy, and Made with Code.

Now is the time to try coding with your adult ed students!

Source: Computer Science Education Week website https://csedweek.org

Source: Computational thinking for all

Source: 8 Wonderful Websites for Easy Coding Activities for Any Age or Level  !