You may have noticed over the past few issues of BitBlast! that we’ve been emphasizing many professional learnings under a new program. The “Seasons of CS” is a statewide effort supported by the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) of 2021. The goal of the Seasons of CS is to bring high-quality professional learning at little to no cost for teachers, administrators, and paraeducators across the state. The effort coalesces around the regions defined in the California Statewide System of Support model. San Diego’s region (Region 7) is a partnership between San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino county offices. While there are still many statewide virtual opportunities available, another strength of the model enables regional efforts to bring in-person experiences to our audience. Be sure to read of our Deep Learning section below. As we finish this (seriously) wet winter, let’s look forward to “Spring into CS”!
If you’d like more up-to-the-minute computer science (CS) news and events, follow @MarkLantsberger, where I share all things computer science in San Diego County for TK-12 educators. You can also find more information on the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Computer Science webpage. More direct inquiries can be made to Mark Lantsberger or Maria Hynes. If you have comments or suggestions for future issues, please fill out this Google form.
Know someone who might enjoy what you’re reading? Please share this link so others can sign up for future issues of Bit Blast!.
SDCOE Computer Science Coordinator
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Spring Into CS is Coming to North County for Counselors |
Plans are brewing for the first annual Spring Into CS professional learning season! A special in-person session is happening for our wonderful counselors in San Diego as well as all of Region 7 (San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and Imperial Counties). In partnership with the National Center for Women in Technology and UCSD CREATE, the Counselors for Computing session is happening Wednesday, May 3 from 8 a.m. to noon at SDCOE’s North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos. Register for the event at: C4C in San Marcos or view
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Summer of CS Registration is Open |
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Registration for Summer of CS ‘23 is now open. The “official” week-long professional learning event for Region 7 runs from June 12 through 16, but other time periods are being offered as well. Check the Seasons of CS website to see the options available for free learning sessions designed for teachers, counselors, administrators, and paraprofessionals. Many of these come with a daily stipend attached. Use the table filters towards the bottom of the site to find statewide virtual offerings as well as in-person events in one of our Region 7 counties. Sign up today, as registration closes on May 10.
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SDCOE has launched a Computer Science Professional Network for Elementary TOSAs. You should join! |
SDCOE has launched a new professional network specifically designed for elementary TOSAs to further engage with CS. STEM, STEAM, Math, and Science TOSAs are certainly invited, but a warm welcome awaits for VAPA, ELA, and general TOSAs as well as any others who support elementary educators in implementing CS and/or instructional coaching. The network goal is to expand understanding and implementation capacity around the California Computer Science Standards, learn from each other about successful (and challenging) practices, and explore/play with interesting technologies and ideas. Most importantly, have a space to share with people who are experiencing similar things as you. The next meeting is March 27 from 4 to 5 p.m. If you are a district administrator or a classroom teacher, please consider forwarding this invitation to anyone in your organization who may be interested.
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CSTA+ Learning Opportunity |
CS Integration into Other Disciplines is a discussion on CS education and how the concepts within can be integrated into other subject matter. The hour-long session is being held virtually on Thursday, March 16, from 4 to 5 p.m. This session will address why CS integration is important, considerations to make with integrating CS into other subjects, and how it could look in practice. The session is free to CSTA+ members and you can find more information as well as registration here.
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SCRIPT has Arrived in San Diego County |
Is your district considering beginning or expanding the computer science instruction being offered? That’s a big question for administrators. What do we want for our students in offering CS? What structures do we already have in place? What specialized needs does this type of instruction require? Do we have the capacity to DO this? SDCOE can help you find your answers to these questions.
The Strategic CSforALL Resource and Implementation Planning Tool, a.k.a. the SCRIPT, is a framework to guide teams of district administrators, school leaders, and educators through a series of collaborative visioning, self-assessment, and goal-setting exercises to create or expand upon a computer science education implementation plan for their students.
SDCOE can facilitate a multi-day visioning workshop using the SCRIPT when you’re ready, and it includes support for a full year. Email Mark Lantsberger to start thinking about how to assemble your team.
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This section spotlights CS educators, administrators, and organizations making a difference for their students. If you have a CS hero in your system, tell us about it in this Google form for possible inclusion in a future edition of Bit Blast!.
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Girls Who Code Offers Free Summer Programs
Help students level up by becoming a coder this summer with Girls Who Code! Choose your own adventure through two free virtual programs and get the skills, network, and lifelong college and career support you need to change the world. All high school girls and non-binary students are welcome to apply, including past participants.
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In the two-week summer immersion program for current 9th-11th graders, you’ll join live virtual classrooms hosted by industry-leading companies like MetLife, Bank of America, and Accenture. By the end of the program, you’ll learn the fundamentals of game design, UX, the iterative design process, and more, as you build out a suite of short games using p5.js, a JavaScript library for creative coding. You can even apply for laptop and hotspot access and grants of $300 for financial support.
- In the six-week self-paced program for current 9th-12th graders, you’ll learn to code through independent study and real-world projects. By the end of the program, you’ll earn beginner-level certificates of completion in HTML, CSS, or JavaScript for web development or intermediate-level certificates of completion in Python for cybersecurity or data science.
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Find Learning Opportunities or Lend Your Expertise with the San Diego STEM Ecosystem |
The San Diego STEM Ecosystem hosts a directory with a wide variety of learning opportunities from frequent programs, activities, workshops and events, to online opportunities and scholarships for all ages and interests. Their partners contribute to opportunities daily. Check the website frequently for updates! There are many ways to get involved for learners, educators, informal educators, and industry professionals from the STEM fields.
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Expanding Student Outreach with the AspireIT Toolkit |
Are you aspiring to build a program for K-12 students to help broaden participation in computing? Are you an educator looking to connect with others to share resources and best practices? Are you focused on advocating for broadening the participation of girls, women, and other underrepresented populations in computing and technology but don’t know where to start? The National Council of Women in Technology (NCWIT) AspireIT Toolkit helps anyone interested in designing engaging and inclusive computer science experiences for K-12 students, with a focus on broadening the participation of girls, women, and other underrepresented populations. The Toolkit is rooted in three core values — peer mentorship, inclusivity, and hands-on engagement — to foster effectiveness and lead to the greatest impact for participants and their communities. Find everything needed to engage students in your programming, raise awareness about the importance of computing education, and connect with others who share similar passions. Check this webpage for more information about the toolkit.
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Amazon Future Engineer’s Callisto Program is a Hit |
An out of this world experience for all students, the Callisto Program is designed for grades 4 and up. The exploration centers on NASA’s Artemis I flight test and is aligned with CSTA’s K-12 Computer Science Standards as well as the Next Generation Science Standards. There are independent and class-oriented versions, plus a teacher's guide. Lots of inquiry space for older students.
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This section contains information about CS community groups and their gatherings. If you’d like to share an upcoming event or happening with Bit Blast!, please fill out this Google form.
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Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Annual Conference |
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CSTA's Annual Conference is a chance for computer science teachers to come together to find strength in their local community through networking events, engage with PD they actually want to attend, and to identify ways to impact students and teachers outside your classroom.
The three-day virtual conference has over 150 sessions of education to broaden your knowledge of computer science education, inspirational keynotes and sessions to reinvigorate your passion for teaching, and countless moments of fun and connection along the way. If you are looking for new and exciting ways to engage with your students in your classroom, you don't want to miss out on this great experience. More information and registration at this webpage.
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Why are Math Teachers Talking About Data Science? |
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There’s been a lot of talk around the state about data science by math educators and it may leave computer science (CS) folks scratching their heads as to why they're not in the conversation. In case you didn’t know, a whole chapter of the Draft Mathematics Framework (chapter 5) was devoted to the idea of data science (DS). To be sure, public comment on the Framework has been. . . rather robust. The committee received over 900 comments on the document and the vast majority of those dealt with acceleration and especially DS. Here is an interesting article to give some perspectives from the math community. You really should read this before continuing. . . BitBlast! would like to chime in with a little CS perspective here as well. In our opinion, DS is a dynamically evolving practice and the changes are happening very rapidly. It might be looked at as a confluence of skill sets and knowledge from the fields of data analysis, statistics, and computer science (to name just a few) to help people solve problems involving incredibly large datasets. Most universities in California are struggling to define what even a bachelor's degree program should look like — and it isn’t living in the math department; it’s mostly post-graduate work at this time.
One issue, as CS people, with the Framework is how the chapter intentionally deemphasizes CS and its skill set in the pursuit of DS. Discomfort with this is understandable and especially with advertising a course as DS to students when it’s really not the full picture. Most of the secondary level courses we’ve perused might be better called “Computational Statistics” or “An Introduction to Statistics using Real World Data” or something like that. Without introducing real, complex CS topics it’s just not data science. The most critical piece of DS is not the “content” field prerequisites, but rather teaching people how to ask great questions about a dataset. To get to these questions, one must already have some fundamental understanding of various fields — it’s NOT an introductory study; it’s more cumulative — . . . postgraduate work. This is one instance, in our opinion, where the use of a buzzword can be detrimental to students and their understanding of what they know. Proceed with caution please.
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A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry To Spark Breakthrough Ideas — Warren Berger |
And speaking of questions. . . Here is a follow up book to the offering from our last issue. Mr. Berger continues to probe the nature of good questions. This is an extra treat for educators; especially in chapters two and three of the book. What’s really nice is that this writing really does stand on its own and doesn’t require reading the first one. If you’re curious about being... curious, and wondering how to help our students be the same, put this one on your spring reading list! |
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As winter is coming to a close, we recognize it’s time to start making summer learning plans. BitBlast! encourages you to look into the many opportunities available to you in the Summer of CS and beyond. It’s so powerful when we model what a “lifelong learner” looks like for our students. Yes! More of that please.
BitBlast! returns in May in preparation for the Summer of CS. See you then.
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If you have any questions or comments about the Bit Blast! newsletter, please contact Mark Lantsberger.
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Get up-to-the-minute information about what's happening at SDCOE and in our districts across the county. |
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