Saturday morning bright and early 70+ people gathered at Mentor Graphics Commons to discuss Computer Science (CS) Education in Oregon. The packed half-day agenda was put together by the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association (OCSTA), and gives OCSTA food for thought for similar events in the future. Speakers and their bios are listed here.

Key points:

• CS education is a great idea; we need more of it both in-school and afterschool. Robotics, gaming, and internships in the afterschool space were called out in particular. Afterschool activities can and do contribute to long-term student engagement, but students want it during the school day, too.
• Collaboration between industry and educational organizations to make connecting to the world of work real and relevant were recognized as important. Jill Hubbard gave a brief presentation on Oregon Connections as one way to ease into such collaboration.
• CS is a tool for teaching clarity of thinking; one of many — Ivan Sutherland compared it to English composition. (I like it even more, for the more objective interim feedback available while programming a computer.) Instructions detailed down to unambiguity have a way of forcing better clarity of thought.
• CS also helps drive an important part of the economy, and it remains difficult to fill CS positions. These are high wage high demand occupations. However, CS skills contribute to future employability for more occupations than software engineers and developers. Some of that data is summarized here.
• We must include everyone, not just for the social and economic justice issues, but for the necessary diversity of thought to drive innovation. We must recognize the components of equity: diversity, access, and inclusion. To paraphrase Ruthe Farmer:
  • Diversity: counting who is in the room.
  • Access: Who knows the room exists? Who has the map to the room? Who has transportation and a key?
  • Inclusion: Who feels welcome in the room?
• There are resources out there: CS is not just part of STEM, it’s an important part, and any funds designated for STEM education can be used for CS education.
  • programs/curricula/professional development are out there — Google, NSF, code.org, PLTW, …
  • state investment has increased (watch for a future blog post on Status and Direction of CTE)
  • federal funds and advocacy opportunities were given in Ruthe’s slides.
  • The White House wants your accomplishments, proposals, and commitments
    • 7/5 send CS for All accomplishments to Ruthe via Jo (what can you count? Increased classes, teams, clubs, enrollments, courses, teachers over the last 5 years? Better yet, 2 years?)
    • 7/15 Dept of ED i3 grant applications due (the number of applications helps document demand; greater demand drives bigger future allocations)
    • 8/19 new CS for All Commitments due – you can see examples here and the commitment form here. 
  • Industry and the community can support this effort
    • advocacy at the local, state. and federal level
    • Volunteers — day of event, classrooms, job shadows, intern mentors, …
    • hosting convenings like this Symposium
    • funds

Analysis of participants’ responses to key questions is still being analyzed, and will get posted on this blog.

Many people said they had made valuable connections, enjoyed the speakers, and found it worth their while. My own networking assignments include detailing CS education resources for 5-8th graders in a Spanish immersion school; for a math teacher in a Native American school; and how to use 3D printers to reinforce math concepts.

Thanks again to Mentor Graphics and Eric Campbell for hosting; to speakers Mark Lewis, Jim Wasko, Ivan Sutherland, Terrel Smith, Jonathan Alexander, Jill Hubbard, Beth Unverzagt, Julia Soto, Darrin Marks, Arian Kulp, and the ever-inspiring Ruthe Farmer. I’ve got blog posts coming from some of them, and maybe even video clips.

The Symposium was held on June 25, 2016.

Respectfully submitted,
Jo Oshiro
jo@oregoncsta.org

Updates Monday, July 27: corrected Ruthe’s quote, corrected speaker list, fixed link to Making the Case handout.