CS&IT Symposium 2002
Kate Conley
ISTE
Ninety-six high school teachers and others interested in improving the teaching of computer science gathered for the third annual invitational Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium. The one-day event was held Sunday, June 16, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas, in conjunction with the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC, June 17–19, 2002). (Editor's note: Find out more about NECC at www.neccsite.org.)
This symposium exists because of a partnership of two active organizations—ACM (www.acm.org) and ISTE (www.iste.org)—both of which support computer science education and high-quality professional development. It found a home as a preconference event at NECC because ISTE's Special Interest Group for Computer Science (SIGCS) was determined to provide relevant learning experiences for high school computer science teachers. It thrived because ACM saw its potential and provided the funding for the first year. Then Microsoft stepped in to do the same as its corporate sponsor for the next two years. The symposium is dedicated to supporting the development of a highly skilled, technologically savvy workforce by focusing on teacher learning and support.
In the interest of that effort, Symposium Chair Chris Stephenson (University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) opened the day with an invitation to participants to share their ideas, concerns, and stories and to listen throughout the day for at least one thing they would take back to their classrooms. Later, several participants commented that they loved the hands-on, interactive aspects of several sessions and that they learned things they could apply immediately in their own classrooms. One computer applications teacher from Texas said, "I wish I could have cloned myself. There were so many good things to choose from."
To meet the varied needs of the teacher audience, symposium organizers provided a comprehensive cross section of presentations and allowed participants to choose those most appropriate to their needs and interests. Participants attended several inspiring general sessions, including ones on media literacy and preparing students for careers in IT. Smaller session topics included teaching I/O in Java, curriculum design, robotics, ethics, Web page architecture, and IT fluency in K–12. To learn more, see the session descriptions below or find selected presentation materials.
From the opening continental breakfast, where participants were already networking, to the thought-provoking sessions and closing reception, the day was filled with lively discussion. Betsy Frederick and Celia Einhorn (New Mexico Technet, Albuquerque) presented an engaging session called "Ethics in the Age of Napster and MP3" in which the audience role-played stakeholders—such as musicians, attorneys, record industry executives, and music lovers—in the copyright debate. Attendees who hadn't been assigned specific roles were so engaged, they began spontaneously inventing their own roles (e.g., school board member, the mother of a student who'd downloaded MP3 files at school) so they could participate in the exchange of ideas and contribute to the fun.
In "Teaching I/O in Java," Tim Corica (The Peddie School, Hightstown, New Jersey) had his audience members bent intently over their desks, pencils scratching and brows furrowing, while they worked to successfully complete a challenging Hangman assignment.
Symposium organizers have worked to make the event more hands-on and interactive each year. This year, Compaq aided in that effort by loaning a wonderful labful of state-of-the-art laptops that allowed presenters to provide two hands-on sessions focusing on computer engineering and robotics. In fact, participants in Sheila Rhodes's (Educational Network of Ontario, Canada) "Hands-on Robotics" session were so intrigued by the laptops and LEGO robotics parts that she had to ask them to wait until instructed to touch the equipment.
Chris Stephenson's comment early in the day, "You don't have to be crazy to do this work, but it helps" highlights the difficulties inherent in teaching computer science. She reminded participants to have patience and broad vision while understanding their limits. One of those limits is the difficulty high school computing teachers have finding discipline-specific, classroom-relevant professional development opportunities. The purpose of the symposium is to bring these educators together to provide them with relevant and interactive sessions to help them improve the teaching of computer science. As the following evaluation responses demonstrate, the participants found the experience well worth their while.
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Aspect
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Good–Excellent
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Program Content
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95%
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Speaker Knowledge
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100%
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Breakout Sessions
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86%
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Audience Participation
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92%
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Value of Topic
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92%
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Facilities
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93%
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Organizers are already working to make the fourth annual Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium in Seattle at NECC 2003 an event that enriches participants professionally and personally. To find out how you or your colleagues can participate, contact Chris Stephenson at chris@hsa.on.ca.
Featured Sessions
Reminder: Find selected presentation handouts and notes.
Vision and Dynamics: Coping with Constant Change
Chris Stephenson, University of Waterloo, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Doug Peterson, Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Also titled "Our Take on the Reality of Being a Computer Teacher," this session was a celebration of high school computing teachers. The presenters dealt with some of the many issues that define life in today's high school computing classroom and provided some suggestions for survival. Some of the problems identified are:
- There's more and more to learn and less time to learn it in.
- There are fewer and fewer resources to teach all there is to learn.
- The CS teacher often ends up providing tech support for the whole school.
Preparing Students for Jobs of the Future
Janie Schwark, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington
A serious shortage of people with knowledge of programming and other technology skills still exists (578,711 jobs are expected to go unfilled for 2002). Schwark discussed how educators can provide students with a foundation for success in the future, current employment trends, and desirable skills. Skills employers are looking for include "soft skills" such as good written and verbal presentation skills, analytical and business skills, and interpersonal skills, as well as competence with C++, Oracle, SQL, Java, and Windows NT (in that order).
Use Technology to Save the World: Media Literacy Can Help Students Want to Save Money, Be Healthy, Appreciate Complexity, and Study Science and Math
Bob McCannon, New Mexico Media Literacy Project, Albuquerque
In his entertaining and inspirational communication style, Bob McCannon offered a vision of how we can challenge the negative messages pervasive in our culture about the values, roles, and contributions of those in minority groups, including those in technology professions. Using a multimedia presentation, McCannon also discussed his successful experiences with campaigns for related social issues and the importance of creating a technically able and literate workforce. For more on media literacy, visit www.nmmlp.org/.
Breakout Sessions
Fluency in IT and Computer Science: What Does It Mean for the K–12 Curriculum?
Allen Tucker, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
Computer science and information technology are taught in diverse ways in primary and secondary schools across the United States. The development of a unified curriculum model that can be implemented in K–12 schools is necessary. Tucker suggested a collection of core concepts and goals to motivate the development of such a curriculum. He also identified implementation details and the practical needs that accompany such an implementation, as well as describing the current status of curriculum requirements and standards in the United States, Israel, and Canada.
Teaching I/O in Java
Tim Corica, The Peddie School, Hightstown, New Jersey
As AP Computer Science and many introductory programming courses make the switch to Java, teachers are finding they can no longer deal with I/O as they have in the past. In particular, they must choose between console I/O (typically using an add-on) and graphical output (requiring significant understanding on the part of the student). Corica helped put Java I/O issues in perspective and described an effective approach. Corica feels that ultimately, dealing with these I/O issues properly will give students a better understanding of and experience with program design.
Curriculum Design Is Simple But Not Easy
Philip East, University of Northern Iowa
In simple terms, designing curriculum involves determining what you want students to be able to do and selecting or designing activities that allow the students to learn and practice those skills. Unfortunately, neither determining those basic tasks/skills nor designing learning activities is easy. East addressed the process of course development for computer science courses (both literacy/fluency and programming). His Course Planning Principles include:
- Focus on what you have students do.
- Provide skill development exercises.
- Scaffold learning activities.
- Have all major assignments serve multiple goals.
- Discuss and evaluate programs/projects in class (plan for feedback to students).
Getting to the Bottom of Computer Hardware: Creating Chips, Gates, and Interfaces
Graham F. Smyth, Lambton-Kent District Board of Education (retired), Ontario, Canada
Through hands-on activities, participants built inexpensive peripherals, wrote software, and developed graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Starting with a single LED (Light Emitting Diode) activity, participants displayed binary numbers and their ASCII-coded name in lights. These interfacing activities and demonstrations were discussed in the context of computer engineering courses.
Form Follows Function: Web Page Architecture for Educational Telecomputing Projects
Judi Harris, School of Education, The College of William & Mary, Virginia
Currently, Web page design focuses on form and content. We consider, for example, layout options, overall structure, transfer time, browser differences, readability, and aesthetics. Yet for Web pages that support curriculum-based educational telecomputing projects, page functions are also important. Ten functions were demonstrated and discussed.
Hands-On Robotics
Sheila Rhodes, Educational Network of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This session introduced LEGO Mindstorms for Schools, software, based on icons, that incorporates a step-by-step progression from beginner to advanced level. During this hands-on session, participants got a chance to build real-life robotic models and control their behavior by simple programming and communication through an infrared device.
Ethics in the Age of Napster and MP3
Betsy Frederick and Celia Einhorn, New Mexico Technet, Albuquerque
This session focused on the ethical issues underlying MP3 files. After discussing what the MP3 file format is and how it works, the audience divided into small groups to play several of the roles involved in the use of MP3, including a music lover, Metallica drummer, copyright attorney, and recording company executive. Following the lively role-playing, participants shared the chief arguments presented by each point of view to provide a framework for classroom discussion of copyright laws.
Emerging Technologies in the Classroom: Wireless LANs, Security, and IP Telephony
Tony Coleman, Systems Engineering Manager, Cisco Systems
This session centered on Cisco's Networking Academy Program (CNAP) and demonstrated Cisco's Wireless LAN, network security, and IP telephony solutions for education. CNAP is a partnership between Cisco Systems, education, business, government, and community organizations. The curriculum centers on teaching students to design, build, and maintain computer networks to better prepare them for the workplace. There are 9,770 programs active in 145 countries serving more than 263,000 students.
Contributor
Kate Conley
ISTE
1787 Agate St.
Eugene, OR 97403-1923 USA
kconley@iste.org
Copyright © 2002, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.
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