Happy Holidays, Everyone!
I wanted to offer my thoughts and I hope it qualifies as an insight? (Sometimes the biggest roadblock of any situation is the lack of awareness, therefore I'm offering a list of resources):
The US has adopted teaching CS in general education at least in MA & CT. We're just mot at critical mass, but we have pockets of excellence to leverage. Some resources:
- https://connecticut.csteachers.org/Events/teachtech-2020 this is a free event & offers resources to teachers
- CS for All: they host districts Click events
- PD is necessary and linking to multiple intelligences is necessary to create a compelling argument for teachers.
- From an empathetic viewpoint their standards are rich and high stakes testing is the school's/districts priority. Maybe CS questions should be embedded in certain subject areas for high stakes testing???
- ADMIN & States: They need to know that discrete tasks will be eliminated from the human workforce and replaced by machines by 2026. Perhaps they haven't read this research?
- Federal funding needs to be increased for CS, they only seem to recognize STEM/STEAM.
- Some schools in MA have adopted CS in elementary, but dropped digital citizenship.
- To me, DC is so important if we are going to give our students their own laptop or Chromebooks.
- I had to ask my state where AI is located in the MA DC & CS middle school standards. It can be applied, and they said that they update standards every 3-5 years. They will make AI more prominent.
- According to code.org, all or many states are creating pathways to CS careers. We need high schools to make CS a requirement for graduation and HS to offer full curriculums not just 1-2 courses. Exploring AI and its possibilities can be an elective.
- MS could offer a career day where they invite CS & AI professionals (like a tradeshow) so students can take an interest in a career choice they might not know about.
- Students needs to know that if they are good in vocabulary, or words, or art that CS jobs should be considered as a career choice.
- Microsoft is doing a great job advertising about AI and careers that are "non-technical" like history, art, architecture, animal & ocean ecology, & medicine.
- University of Phoenix advertises how jobs can disappear because of robots and they advocate to going into IT, and offer an example of managing the servers.
- Get tax payers & School Committees to demand a CS curriculum in their district.
- My family hosted foregin exchange students from Asia (not Korea) and what we learned from our students is that their HS education does not offer electives to students. They get the 4 basic subjects (history, math, science, language) and therefore perhaps can take the time to integrate CS & AI concepts. Also, living/working there for a few years, it seems that people view education as a national duty and take courses and find jobs for their country vs. personal satisfaction or interests.
- Something to ponder: did you realize that if our low income students who live in Gateway Cities (there are 26 in MA) could obtain the education for a CS/AI career they would move to middle class and that would make the US stronger since our middle class would be larger. I think some of our HS & community colleges are starting this work linking students to industry work study jobs.
- The Department of Labor lists CS & STEM jobs with their educational requirements & salaries. I use it as a teaching tool to peak the interests of my MS students. I also point out that a 2 year degree can give a person a nice job, then they can decide to move to a 4 year degree when they're ready. I notice that my students feel hopeful when I point this out.
Thank you for this platform of sharing!
Sheila
Have a fabulous day!
Sheila Slawiak
Digital Literacy & Computer Science Teacher
Instructional Technology, M.ED
Wilbraham Middle School
466 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
T: 413.596.9061 ext: 5136
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!”
Audrey Hepburn
