Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

3 ways teachers can navigate the evolving field of computer science

As recently as a decade or two ago, technology education consisted of typing, learning to draft emails, or doing a little work in a spreadsheet. Learning those skills may have been relegated to a business information class or weekly trips to a computer lab. Today, most students are expected to learn to code, and most states have coding requirements—some starting as early as kindergarten.

That’s a significant change in less than a generation. Computer science is a rapidly advancing field; educators have to make those changes if they are going to prepare their students for the modern world. Trying to teach a subject that’s ever-changing might feel a little intimidating to some teachers, especially if they don’t have a background in the field. Fortunately, the skills students learn in computer science are evergreen, and many of the changes within the field are manageable for the educators involved.

Here are three keys to preparing to teach this dynamic subject without feeling like the ground is constantly shifting under your feet.…Read More

Can we make STEM more accessible for girls?

Are girls really underrepresented in STEM? Yes. 

In the U.S., the workforce is pretty evenly split between men and women, but in STEM fields men make up 73 percent of the workforce to women’s 27 percent. Why?

It’s easy to want to find a well-meaning solution for this disparity, or even to brush it off as unimportant. But achieving a gender parity in STEM fields (particularly computer science, engineering, and programmers, among others) isn’t just a feel-good social justice crusade. The number of open tech jobs far outpaces the population of traditionally qualified candidates—data projections have pointed to a global shortage of 85 million tech workers by 2030.

It’s not a matter of encouraging girls to pursue STEM programs just for the heck of it, to prove they can and earn a good paycheck—it’s a matter of graduating enough highly-skilled workers to meet economic demand.

Still, the imbalanced statistics for the genders in STEM are damning. What can K-12 schools do to play their part in preparing the next generation for a talent-hungry workforce?

Let students lead…Read More

4 resources to differentiate computer science instruction

Differentiating instruction is not a new approach to bridging the varying learning styles of students with different backgrounds and learning abilities. For years, educators have strategized how to differentiate instruction in math, ELA, and science. Countless articles and books offer best practices for differentiation in those subjects, but comparatively, very little has been written about differentiating computer science instruction. 

I believe computer science is more important than ever. In the age of artificial intelligence, the study of computers and computational systems—including their theory, design, development, and application–represents a new frontier in science. 

New fields in computer science seem to emerge each day and now include computer systems and networks, security, database systems, human computer interaction, vision and graphics, numerical analysis, programming languages, software engineering, bioinformatics, and theory of computing.…Read More

North Dakota to require computer science for all K-12 students

North Dakota has become the first state to require computer science and cybersecurity education for all K-12 students.

Gov. Doug Burgum and North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler celebrated the governor’s signing of HB1398, which requires the teaching of computer science and cybersecurity and the integration of these content standards into school coursework from kindergarten through 12th grade. Baesler said North Dakota is the first state in the nation to approve legislation requiring cybersecurity education.

“Today is the culmination of years of work by stakeholders from all sectors to recognize and promote the importance of cybersecurity and computer science education in our elementary, middle and high schools,” Baesler said at the bill’s signing ceremony on March 24.…Read More

Codelicious Renames Itself Ellipsis Education to Reflect Curricula Beyond Coding

CARMEL, Ind. – Codelicious, a leader in computer science curriculum for K-12 education, has changed its name to Ellipsis Education in an effort to better represent the wide scope of its computer science offerings beyond coding.

“We’re excited to adopt a new name that more accurately reflects the breadth of computer science education,” said Dr. Whitney Dove, Vice President of Product at Ellipsis Education. “We chose Ellipsis because it evokes something in progress, something with momentum behind it, yet incomplete, just like computer science. It’s a field that’s ever-changing, and we’re proud to offer curricula that are also constantly evolving to reflect the industry and keep teachers abreast of the trends to ensure their students are prepared for a world that is also always in flux.”

Ellipsis Education’s mission is to remove barriers to teaching computer science. Regardless of their level of subject-matter experience, educators can use Ellipsis to effectively teach computer science. Ellipsis Education offers 13 full-year courses with detailed lesson plans, pacing guides, and standard maps. Every course includes four lesson types: unplugged, coding, digital citizenship, and STEM careers. Ellipsis also offers professional development workshops to encourage continuous learning.…Read More

What is computer science education lacking?

The evolving needs of the IT workforce are constantly discussed–even people who are far from it understand the constantly growing needs for computer science. And yet, U.S. high schools don’t consistently offer computer science education and IT classes.

Current situation

According to CSTA reports, a little over half (53 percent) of U.S. high schools offer a single computer science course–a fundamental subject critical to the nation’s economic and security health. Modest yet significant growth is being observed–in 2018 this index was 35 percent.…Read More

How robots and our school’s buddy program bring computer science to life

Coding and robots are both natural tools for encouraging collaboration in the classroom. At Sewickley Academy, we have taken that collaboration to the next level by having Grade 5 students step into mentoring roles for our kindergarteners who are just being introduced to computer science. Here’s how we did it.

From Reading to Robotics

Recently, our PreK through Grade 12 independent school has been working to include more computer science opportunities across all grade levels. These classes are a distinguishing factor of a Sewickley Academy education.…Read More