Computer Education Week Strikes Gold!

Quiz Question: Who is "Amazing Grace"?

Wikipedia Responds: Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992), née Grace Brewster Murray, was an American computer scientist and United States Navy Rear Admiral. She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944, invented the first compiler for a computer programming language, and was one of those who popularized the idea of machine-independent programming languages which led to the development of COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages. She is credited with popularizing the term "debugging" for fixing computer glitches (in one instance, removing a moth from a computer).

Owing to her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as "Amazing Grace". The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG-70) is named for her, as is the Cray XE6 "Hopper" supercomputer.
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Today, Computer Science Education Week falls on the second week of December each year, coinciding with the birthday of Amazing Grace.

Computer Science Education Week didn't get much publicity or traction until Hadi and Ali Partovi started code.org three years ago. The Hour of Code event was developed to jump start computer education for ages 4 to 104. Three years later, Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. One-hour tutorials are available in over 40 languages, and no experience is needed. This year Hour of Code reached almost 200,000 students including many in Flagstaff!

30 Flagstaff educators took part in a Code.org professional development workshop at NACET

Janice Mak, science educator at Explorer Middle School in Paradise Valley and a Code.org educator, worked with Mindy Bell, Flagstaff STEM Coordinator, to arrange for the December 3rd workshop. where all 579 students to attend the workshop. The course filled less than 24 hours after being posted!

Killip teacher Maureen Landrith and Principal Joe Gutierrez learn to code

Joe Gutierrez, Principal of W.F. Killip Elementary, and Killip STEM Coordinator Ted Komada, participated in the workshop along with many of their educators. A big thank you to Science Foundation Arizona who provided stipends for the Killip educators. The teachers, and Technology Integration Coach Sheryl Wells, ensured that all 579 Killip students participated in the Hour of Code last week!

Katie Butterfield teaches binary codes

The teachers learned the basics of coding, including loops, conditional formatting and events. They also practiced instructional methods including effective programming for students in pairs, using active analogies, singing strategies and much more. Discussion included the how to promote the Computational Thinking Practices of creativity, collaboration, communication, persistence, and
problem solving.

Note that these are many of the same 21st Century Learning Skills sought after by business leaders and considered critical in much educational curricula today.

Instructor Janice Mak with the Code.org goody bags each educator received

Educators from Killip, Leupp, and NPA proudly display their bags and new coding knowledge - feeling well prepared to teaching coding to over 800 students and expanding Computer Science in Arizona!
Thank you all from STEM City!

Science Foundation Arizona has several technology initiatives including the Code Writers Education Initiative, and they are offering coding workshops using both Code.org and Google CS First programming. The workshops are free and SFAz provides stipends for educators to attend. You can learn more about initiatives to improve technology education in Arizona at both Science Foundation Arizona and the Code.org websites.