outreach committee report 2012-13

OUTREACH COMMITTEE REPORT 2012-13

Danny Silver – Acadia University

Daryl Hepting – University of Regina

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OUTLINE

Purpose and Mandate of the Committee Progress in 2012-13 Election of 2013-15 Chair Opportunities Requests/Recommendations for coming year Discussion

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PURPOSE OF THE OUTREACH COMMITTEE

To increase Canadian youth interest in the study of Computer Science and its many areas of research and application

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2011-13 MANDATE OF THE COMMITTEE

To shift the CS perspective of teachers, counselors, administrators, and policy makers in the educational systems of our provinces & territories

To encourage formal teaching of computer science and growth of Computer Science Teachers Association or CSTA-like organizations CSTAs provides opportunities for K-12 teachers

and students to better understand computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare them to teach and learn. http://csta.acm.org/

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CS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS IS HEATING UP

UK: Computing in Schools has made great strides in this regard http

://royalsociety.org/education/policy/computing-in-schools/

http://www.computingatschool.org.uk USA: Computing in the Core program is

starting to have an impact http://www.computinginthecore.org

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PROGRESS -WEBSITE

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PROGRESSSIGITE 2012 PANEL DISCUSSION OCTOBER, 2012 CACS/AIC (with encouragement from CSTA) organized

a Panel Discussion at the 13th Annual SIGITE (Information Technology Education) conference in Calgary in October, 2012, entitled "CS/IT Outreach from a Canadian Perspective". Daryl Hepting (moderator), University of Regina Gerry Donaldson, University of Calgary Rick Gee, Okanagan College

The panel gave a representation of very encouraging CS/IT outreach efforts in Canada offered by various organizations working in this space: Canadian Association of Computer Science/Association

d’Informatique Canadienne (CACS/AIC) Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills (CCICT) Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA –

international, with chapters forming across Canada) 7


PROGRESSCSEDWEEKDEC, 2012

Several universities reported events during this period: UBC, Calgary - Lab tours by students Lethbridge - Robotics Day Saskatchewan – Connect 2012 for female secondary

students Regina – co-organized luncheon with CIPS Brock – Annual CS Fair Queens – Open house Waterloo – CS4U Day 2012 U of T Mississauga – School visits by faculty

Preference over CanCompEd in February: Late start for CanCompEd.ca marketing Some say that access to faculty and university students

better in December8


PROGRESS CANCOMPED.CAFEB 22, 2013

16 universities reported events: Acadia – Robot Programming Competitions Dalhousie – Computational Linguistics Olympics UNB – CS Unplugged events, Teaching for the future McGill – Technology Career Fair Guelph – Tech Showcase Windsor, York – Open house Manitoba – integrated with INFO DAYS Regina – Interactive sessions with students CIPS Alberta – Women in Technology U of A – Growing the High Tech Sector Lethbridge – Reading Week Camps UBC – TeckTrek

Need to capture greater media attention in 2014 9


PROGRESS SCRATCH DAY CANADAFEB 22, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqDkqYEwTgA

In Regina, busy from start to finish: Scratch LEGO WeDo Makey Makey S4A (Scratch for Arduino) Enchanting (Scratch/BYOB modified for control of LEGO

Mindstorm robots)

Media coverage: http://www.leaderpost.com/technology/

welcomes+elementary+students/8005566/story.html http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/

Computer+literacy/7988359/story.html10


PROGRESSFORMATION OF CSTA CHAPTERS PEI and Newfoundland – Efforts have been made to

work with Ministry of Education Nova Scotia – Committee formed, CSTA chapter

submission by end of June! New Brunswick – Working to form a committee Quebec – Youth Fusion Quebec, since 2008 Ontario – Assoc. for Computer Studies Educators

(ACSE) Manitoba - ?U of Manitoba? Saskatchewan – CSTA formed in 2012 Alberta – CSTA formed in 2011 British Columbia – CSTA formed in 2012 Northwest Territories - ?Aurora College? Nunavut - ?Nunavut Arctic College? Yukon - ?Yukon College? 11


EXPERIENCES IN REGINA Summer Camp CSEdWeek luncheon with CIPS (panel: “Making IT

for Everyone”): now Education is on CIPS radar, committee to meet in Regina

Technovation Challenge (Hack Day, competition) CanCompEd Day / Scratch Day: good turnout &

interest amongst 8-12 yr. olds http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/binary-

guessing-game-activity Science Rendezvous: Digital Rockstar Bootcamp

Reprised CanCompEd Day activities Presented to Sciematics (Science/Math Teachers) UCOSP Blog about it: http://www2.uregina.ca/yourblog/?

s=computer12


ELECTION OF OUTREACH CHAIR 2013-15

Call for Nominations: Chair – Daryl Hepting, U of Regina

All current members willing to continue: Vice-Chair – Danny Silver, Acadia U Secretary – Debbie McAnany, UNB

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OPPORTUNITIES

1. Awards for High School students Modelled after US-based scholarships

http://ww2.ncwit.org/award/award.index.php [HS] http://www.cra.org/ [undergrad]

Local & National competitions and awards national could be (more) symbolic local could have scholarships (alumni, local business

contributions)? Opportunity for publicity Define terms, process

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OPPORTUNITIES

2. Schools of Education: CS Teacher educationo Development of Certificates and Masters in CS

Educationo CSTA workshop: instructional methods course

based on “Exploring Computer Science”o Get free, ready-to-use, resources for teachers

(Scratch 2.0 is web-based)o CSTA benefit: Oracle Academy, free of charge

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OPPORTUNITIES

3. Provinces: Make CS “teachable subject”o Create CS beyond 20/30 (Grade 11&12) levelso Move CS into Science from “Practical & Applied

Arts”, “Tech Ed”, etc.

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OPPORTUNITIES

4. Survey Schools and Teachers (Nationally):o http://csta.acm.org/Research/sub/

HighSchoolSurveys.htmlo http://ce21maryland.umbc.edu/files/

2013/01/CE21%E2%80%93Maryland-Report.pdf

o Get good data from which recommendations can be made

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OPPORTUNITIES

5. Work on a national umbrella group that can deal with K-12 CS Education (computinginthecore.org)

o Opportunities for greater participation in CanCompEd events outside CACS/AIC: SIAST, Humber College, etc.

o Empower as lobbyists on our behalf:o School Administratorso Teacherso Parents

o CSEdWeek is initiative of computinginthecore.org, funded by membership fees

o Letters to Provincial Ministers of Education for lobbying for CS education 18


REQUESTS / RECOMMENDATIONS

6. Update web presenceo Wikipedia entryo Facebook, twitter?o Link 3rd-party blog: stories about what is happening

at 59 member institutions

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OPPORTUNITIES

7. Outreach Committee:o Regional representation; each ctee member be the

contact for 5-10 of 59 member institutions:o Encourage participation in one (or more) of

national outreach opportunities to get kids on university campuses:

CSEdWeek: Dec. 8-14, 2013 (Regina exams start Dec. 7) CanCompEd Day + Scratch Day Canada: Feb. 21, 2014 Science Rendezvous: May 10, 2014

o Solicit blog entries about their local activitieso Encourage CS4HS applicationso Encourage involvement in teacher conferences

[Science, Math, Middle Years, etc.] (contribute sessions, help to get CS speaker (ACM Distinguished Speaker program?)

o Support committee members in attending conferences like CSTA, SIGCSE, SIGITE

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REQUESTS / RECOMMENDATIONS CACS/AIC

continue support for CSTA chapter, or CSTA-like organization in every province

Support Canadian Computing Education Day Authorize Outreach Ctee to get others “into tent” (may

spark larger discussions Ask Awards Ctee to consider framework for HS awards Support survey to assess CSEd in Canada

CACS/AIC members: become institutional members of CSTA (free for 1st

year, $200 afterwards) encourage faculty to apply for CSTA membership (free

of charge) Commit to 1 (or more) national outreach opportunities Investigate local requirements for new HS award 21


MOTION

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Approve up to $15,000 for Outreach Committee to engage in activities: National Survey ($6000) Conference representation ($6000) CanCompEd promotion + website ($3000)


DISCUSSION

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outreach committee report 2012-13

Documents

outreach committee report

outreach committeeto

cs perspective of teachers

cs education

study of computer science

university students

technology u

canadian perspective