OTAN News
Celebrate Computer Science Education Week 2021
December 6 to 12 is Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), 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. (Hopper invented the first compiler and coined the term "bug" to mean an error in a program after removing an actual moth from a computer in 1947!)
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. This year, the CSEdWeek theme is #CSEverywhere, highlighting the impact that computer science is making everywhere and the relationship that computer science has to different subjects, industries, career paths, and our everyday lives. You can learn more about CSEdWeek, including a variety of great resources for teachers and students, at the website https://www.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. To start, read these articles that help explain some of the basic training for beginners:
- Computer Science from GCFLearnFree
- Computational Thinking for All and Computer Science blog posts from ISTE
- 14 Great Ways to Teach Yourself to Code from Lifehacker
- 101 of the Best Places to Learn to Code For Free from Learn to Code With Me
- How to Teach Yourself to Code from The Startup
We are also excited to see adult education providing coding classes for students, such as these from the Palo Alto Adult School, East Side Adult Education, Poway Adult School, and Patterson Adult School.
Now is the time to try coding with your adult ed students!