Subscribers and newcomers to the OCSTA blog have probably noticed that things have been a little quiet around here lately.  It has been almost two months since our last blog post. That is about to change, starting with today’s blog post about next month’s upcoming Computer Science (CS) education events.

One of the biggest CS education events of the year, Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) will take place next week, December 5 – 12.  CSedWeek was first launched on December 6 – 12, 2009 by the Computing in the Core coalition in response to declining enrollments in computer science studies.  It now takes place each year during the week of December 9 in celebration of the birthday of computing pioneer, Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. In 2013 the Code.org non-profit was allowed to reorganize CSEdWeek around a new idea and theme, the Hour of Code (HOC), a global effort to to demystify “code” and introduce students to computer science by participating in local and online 1-hour coding activities.  As of 3:30pm PST today, there are 356 HOC events planned for Oregon out of  33126 in the US and 114,353 worldwide with more being added by the minute!  As a reader of the OCSTA blog, you are likely interested in CS education, so take a moment to check out the CSEdWeek and HOC websites to see if there is an event nearby or online that you could help promote and participate in. If not, feel free to read up on how to register you own event.  These websites also have a plethora of CS educational resource for teaching and learning about computer science.  For my part, I intend to several more articles from now through the end of CSEdWeek, so stay tuned for more.

In addition to all the HOC events around Oregon, the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association will be hosting a Oregon CSForAll Kickoff Event. We are inviting all who are passionate about CS education in Oregon to come connect with CS educators and converse with business leaders and legislative representatives as we join in the nationwide CSForAll initiative.  The event will take place on December 8, 6:30p – 8:00p at the Oregon Education Association central office (6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223).  Adult beverages and appetizers will be served!  Register here if you are planning to attend.

Well, that’s all I have to say about CS education for now, but stay tuned; in an upcoming blog post I will have something to say about how Career and Technical Education (CTE) is working to boost Oregon schools graduation rates and providing students a career pathway post-high school.