Code.org is a non-profit which aims to engage students in CS through coding lessons, outreach to schools, and events. Their Hour of Code event takes place once a year and uses online tutorials to teach coding globally. The interesting part is while Hour of Code takes place once a year, they’ve set it up so educators can organize one at anytime of the year. Like a lot of organizations code.org targets the underrepresented and in-need populations in CS including women, minorities and lower-income students. This is something I think we need keep in mind. Reaching out to the less likely to participate in CS could mean pushing events or organizations which are more welcoming to all people.
Similar to code.org, ExploringCS is a CS curriculum targeting HS students. The curriculum is designed to align with college prep. coursework and Career and Technical Education pathways. In addition to their CS curriculum there is professional development modules for teachers. This is something to consider, if we can smoothly integrate benefits for teachers to use CSExplore we could create a greater connection between teachers and students.
Hack Club gives students the power to organize CS clubs themselves and gives them a framework to do so. In addition to clubs it offers a huge array of different features to make the clubs integrated in a global network. This includes workshops, hackathons, AMA’s and a public Slack channel. They get backing and influence from big names too, with Elon Musk hosting an AMA a couple months ago.
UMass’s Careers page provides internship opportunities, career searching tips and alternative resources to internships since many have been cancelled recently. It also provides up to date information on important events like tech fairs and summits and gives tips on networking, negotiating and interview prep. There’s a lot of good resources we can pull from here but more than anything I think we can take influence from how they organize and prioritize their resources in a clear way that students can understand.
Like a lot of the other resources this one focuses on teaching CS to kids. This one is somewhat unique though in that it is focused on Data Science and looks to be oriented towards younger kids. There’s also tips here on how to teach kids about data and explain the different applications it can have. It is interesting to me that the math being taught here is very similar to the math I learned when I was young but in combination with computers can have much more powerful applications and probably more stimulating to children.
In exploring the different resources available online to base CSExplore on, it seems like there is a lot of different ways we could take this project. More than just the resources, we also have the whole Radgrad infrastructure to pull from. One of my worries in building CSExplore is the limited scope of the userbase. I’m concerned that only those who absolutely want to major in Computer Science in College would use it. Today Computer Science has influence in practically every discipline and knowing basic programming can be useful for almost everyone. I hope that in making CSExplore we can give resources to those not interested in a career strictly in Computer Science to still take part. This could mean an Entreprenuerial minded student connecting with a team of programmers or a non-STEM student learning programming for its day-to-day applications.
The simplest option is to make the app a compilation of all the best CS resources we can find. This would mean connecting students with online coding courses(Code.org, ExploringCS, CodeHS) and helping them with professional development. To keep this from being simply a “wiki page of resources” we would have to implement some sort of reward system. This could be virtual, with a game-like rewards like Forest or Habitica, or have some impact on the real world, possibly by integration with high schools and colleges. I’m not sure how easy these curriculums are to implement but we could possibly run some of the modules in the app and pull info on their progress.
An alternative basis for the app or a potential additional feature would be something similar to HackClub. In HackClub students are able to put together their own CS clubs in their area. This could mean building an alternative to HackClub where local students can share their projects and connect with other students. We could provide updates to local events held by either students or organizations, and allow students to build a portfolio. For example HACC2020 could be posted and high school students could mark if they’ll attend and find potential team members. Integration with RadGrad could allow high school students to connect with college students and find a mentor.
One thing I think its important to remember is the research aspect of the project. We should be collecting data where we can and most importantly getting feedback from students! If we have say, two lesson plans recommended for students to follow, that take two different approaches to teaching we could allow students to rank them and it would be a confirmation of the validity of one teaching method.