1 / 33

Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach

Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach. Barbara Ericson Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Tech’s Outreach. Summer camps for both boys and girls Rising 4 th – 12+ graders Help others start computing summer camps Weekend workshops with Girl Scouts Black Girls Code.

antione
Download Presentation

Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach Barbara Ericson Georgia Institute of Technology

  2. Georgia Tech’s Outreach • Summer camps for both boys and girls • Rising 4th – 12+ graders • Help others start computing summer camps • Weekend workshops with • Girl Scouts • Black Girls Code

  3. Georgia Tech’s Outreach • Competitions • Scratch (27% female and 45% URM) • Alice (30% female, and 37% URM) • AP CS A • Lending Library • Robot kits • Cell phones • Teacher workshops • Policy work • AP CS A counts as a science

  4. NCWIT Aspiration Awards • Georgia Tech runs regional awards • Georgia and Puerto Rico • Regional in all 50 states • Apply Sept 15 to Oct 31st • We hire winners to be outreach assistants • http://ww2.ncwit.org/award/award.index.php

  5. Outreach Lessons Learned • Do hands-on, creative, open-ended, social activities, and things that help others • Free software gets as good of results as expensive items like robots • Show how the activities are related to jobs • Dot diva website – http://www.dotdiva.org • Don’t directly attack the stereotypes • Can reinforce instead of dispel • Instead counter directly with the experience • Use both male and female helpers • Near peer as role models • Get parental support for computing careers

  6. CS Unplugged - All • Free activities that you can use to teach computing • Without a computer • In many languages • With videos and worksheets • http://www.csunplugged.org • What is CS video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voqghyZbZxo&feature=player_embedded#at=70

  7. Girls vs Boys in Computing • Girls have less experience • Girls have less confidence in their ability • Girls have a more negative view of computing and less interest in a career than boys • Boring, hard, typing, not relevant • Encouragement is more predictive for girls than ability • Girls who leave have higher grades in computing than the boys who stay • Helps to have parental and especially Dad’s approval

  8. LightBot 2.0 – 7 years+ • Free online flash game • Program a robot to light up a blue tile • Has levels • http://ice-web.cc.gatech.edu/dl/?q=node/628

  9. Scratch 1.4 – 8 years+ • Free 2D programming environment from MIT • Make music, art, games, stories, etc • Free book http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il/g-cs/scratch/scratch_en.html • Must install 1.4 to use it http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch_1.4/

  10. Scratch 2.0 – 8 years+ • New features • Clones, uses camera, cloud storage, better copy, create new block • No installation • Runs in the browser • Flash – no IPads • http://scratch.mit.edu • Teacher website • http://scratched.media.mit.edu/

  11. Snap 4.0 – HS+ • Extension of Scratch that runs in a browser • Will work on Ipads • Created by Berkeley • For an introductory computing course • Beauty and Joy of Computing – for HS • http://snap.berkeley.edu • http://veritas.eecs.berkeley.edu/courses/login/index.php

  12. Alice 2 – MS+ • Free from CMU • Create 3D movies and games • With drag and drop programming • Good introduction to object-based programming • Does crash, so save often

  13. Alice 3 – HS+ • Adds SIMS models • Better 3D models • Object-oriented • Can export to Java with Netbeans • Inheritance • Polymorphism • Guide • http://www.alice.org/3.1/Materials/UserGuide_PDF_Complete.pdf

  14. App Inventor - MS+ • Free from MIT http://appinventor.mit.edu • Free book • http://www.appinventor.org/projects • Create Android Apps • Drag and drop programming

  15. Media Computation – HS+ • Free software from Georgia Tech for teaching computing • Students write programs in Python or Java to manipulate media • Pictures, sounds, movies, and text • Girls succeed at the same rate as boys • http://mediacomputation.org

  16. Media Computation • Resources at http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach • Python version is used at West Point for a required course

  17. What do they create?

  18. EarSketch – Georgia Tech HS+ • Remix music using Python and Reaper • A CE21 grant from NSF • http://earsketch.gatech.edu • Reaper discounted license is $60

  19. Greenfoot – HS+ • Free software for building 2D simulations and games in Java http://www.greenfoot.org • Can do Karel the Robot and GridWorld in Greenfoot • Teacher site: • http://greenroom.greenfoot.org/door • Can use Kinect too

  20. PicoBoard – 8+ • Sensor board that you can use with Scratch 1.4 • Can do PicoCricket typeactivities with it • Musical pickle • Can create a tilt sensor, drum kit, and more • $45 or $41 if > 10 • https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10311

  21. Pleo Robots – 8+ • Robot that acts like a baby dinosaur • http://www.pleoworld.com • But, you can program it as well • MySkit • Cost: $470 • Extra rechargeable battery $50

  22. LEGO WeDo Kit – 7+ • Starter kit for LEGO robots • USB hub with 2 ports • Tilt sensor, distance sensor, and motor • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/characteristics/ProductLine~LEGO%20Education%20WeDo • Cost: $130 • Can use with Scratch 1.4

  23. LEGO NXT – 8+ • Kit used in the FIRST LEGO League • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/lego_mindstorms_education_nxt_base_set/2095 • Cost: $280 • Software is extra • We recommend buying the resource kit too

  24. LEGO NXT Resource Kit • Turns 2 education base sets into retail kits • $99.95 • Great project ideas at http://nxtprograms.com • Make a robot dance

  25. LEGO EV3 – MS+ • New set shipping in Aug 2013 • $340 for base set + $100 for software • Can be used for FIRST Lego League • Software comes with 48 tutorials • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/characteristics/ProductLine~LEGO%20MINDSTORMS%20Education%20EV3

  26. LEGO Tetrix – High School • Kit used in high school FIRST Tech Challenge • Cost: $600 • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/categories/products/high-school/tetrix

  27. Cell Phones / Tablets • Companies may donate phones • Especially older models • Ask kids to donate old phones too • Android tablets • http://reviews.cnet.com/best-tablets/best-5-android-tablets • Nexus 7 • about $200

  28. Finch Robots – MS+ • From http://www.finchrobot.com • $99 each • Discounts for 5+ • Work with lots of environments • Can add pen to tail for drawing

  29. IPRE Robots – HS+ • Scribbler robot plus fluke with camera and bluetooth • http://www.betterbots.com • Robot is $110 • Fluke is $100 • Book at http://www.roboteducation.org • Requires batteries

  30. High School Courses • Exploring Computer Science • Introduction to computing for all high school students - http://www.exploringcs.org • CS Principles • New AP by 2016-2017 (10,000 teachers) • Big ideas in computing for the college bound • http://www.csprinciples.org • AP Computer Science A • Equivalent to a college level CS1 • Program in Java • http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/4483.html

  31. Exploring Computer Science • Introductory computing course intended for everyone • Free curriculum • Inquiry based • Equity based • Started in Los Angeles • Spread to Chicago, Wash D.C., Utah, and Oregon • www.exploringcs.org

  32. Other Resources • National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) • http://www.ncwit.org/resources/girls-it-facts • http://www.ncwit.org • Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) • http://csta.acm.org • Free to join CSTA • CS-10K Community Website • Materials for ECS and CSP • http://cs10kcommunity.org • Georgia Tech’s distance learning site • http://ice-web.cc.gatech.edu/dl/

  33. Summary • Lots of free tools to use to teach computing • Get just as good of results as with expensive robot kits • Need to increase confidence with activities that anyone can do • But, have challenges for those who can go further • Need to show that computing is social, creative, and useful to others

More Related