Alabama district eyes digital conversion by eliminating textbooks

District’s digital conversion is an attempt to help prepare students for the world in which they’ll work, school board members say

Decatur City Schools in Alabama is considering a digital conversion that would significantly change how the district delivers education and communicates with parents.
The plan would eliminate textbooks, provide each student a personalized approach to learning, give them 24-hour access to the classroom and eliminate the assignment gap by assigning tasks appropriate for each student’s learning level.
DCS would not be the first school district in the nation to take a total digital approach to learning, but school leaders said they want to be a model for the state in the way Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina became one for the nation.
“We can do this, and if we don’t, we’re cheating our students by not preparing them to be competitive in a global society,” Walter Jackson Elementary Principal Rhonda Reece said.
Reece serves on an 11-member committee that started meeting in August at the request of Superintendent Ed Nichols. The group, which includes administrators, parents and Central Office employees, rolled out its proposal last week.
If successful, DCS, by 2018, will eliminate teachers leading lessons from textbooks for a model that will include student-directed learning, which relies heavily on digital material.
The plan is ambitious, but it is one committee members and parents Mary Ila Ward and Lorrianne Curtis Sparkman said is achievable before 2018.
“This is where our students are, and the good thing about this proposal is it allows them to customize their learning plan,” Ward said.
The first key step, DCS director of technology Kathy Rains said, is school board buy-in, something the committee didn’t overwhelmingly get last week


Board President Karen Duke questioned Rains about how the district would serve parents without internet access, and board member Joe Propst quizzed her about making sure every home has a computer.
The committee put several proposals on the table, including talking with providers about discounted Internet access packages for DCS students and offering free Wi-Fi citywide and opening schools to parents.
“This will be a community focus,” Rains said.
As for providing computers, Chief Financial Officer Melanie Maples said the district will continue to implement its technology plan, which includes providing a computer for every student by 2018.
Rains said the school system will hire an outside company to do a “gap analysis” to determine what infrastructure needs to be in place to execute the digital conversion plan.
She said several school officials also plan to visit the Mooresville Graded School District in January. That district started its digital conversion in 2007, and has become an international model.
In 2013, President Barack Obama introduced his ConnectED program at Mooresville. The president wants to connect 99 percent of schools to high-speed broadband Internet by 2018.
Mooresville used the savings from eliminating more than 30 teachers to fund its digital conversion.
Huntsville City Schools rolled out its digital conversion plan in 2012, and put laptops in the hands of more than 22,000 students. There were some problems, such as the lack of bandwidth to download certain textbooks.
But despite an outcry from some parents to return to standard textbooks, Huntsville school officials stayed with their plan, and the district’s standardized test scores have surpassed those of DCS.
“Do you think Huntsville’s scores rose because of digital conversion?” Dukes asked.
“Yes,” Rains answered.
Nichols said teachers will remain in the classroom to reinforce learning.
Board member Donnie Lane said he is behind the concept “because if we don’t, kids coming to work will not be qualified for jobs. This is where they are learning.”
Rains said Mooresville — a district of about 6,000 students and ranked 96th among 115 North Carolina school districts in terms of spending per student — took about three years to work out its kinks.
According to the system’s website, the new teaching method requires more dialogue and discussion among students, and students are required to participate.
Rains said DCS already is doing some of the things Mooresville does, such as providing students access to computers.
“We’re not ready for this tomorrow, but I think this is the future,” she said.
Sparkman, who is president of the citywide Parent Teacher Association, said there are some benchmarks that will indicate when DCS has gone through digital conversion.
The obvious is there will be no textbooks, but she said the paperwork used to communicate with parents, and to evaluate principals and teachers, will be a thing of the past.
Sparkman said every school will have instructional coaches in place, and students will have digital portfolios.
“We want this to be a state and national model,” she said.
Rains believes in the program, but she wants the district to have community meetings so DCS can get parental buy-in.
“We have to explain to them why our students need this,” she said. “This is just the beginning. We have a lot of work to do.”

Read More

Every Student Succeeds Act shifts more power to states

Much-anticipated bill attempts to satisfy all stakeholder groups as it moves away from NCLB mandates

While a “new and improved” version of the hotly-debated No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) would still require reading and math testing in grades 3-8 and once in high school, states would have much more leeway when it comes to defining teaching and learning objectives and outlining accountability measures.
The Every Student Succeeds Act gives states the power to determine their own academic goals and measure progress toward those goals–a departure from NCLB, which aimed for 100 percent math and reading proficiency by 2014.
States or districts will be in charge of determining how to improve persistently underperforming schools. Previously, NCLB gave the federal government a strong voice in what happened to those schools. Now, under Every Student Succeeds, schools requiring much intervention would be among the lowest-performing 5 percent in the state.
Every Student Succeeds also prohibits the U.S. Department of Education from providing incentives for participation in the Common Core State Standards.
Reaction to the bill came quickly, with critics worrying that states will have too much leeway and too little accountability. Supporters’ statements echoed the sentiment that a change has been a long time coming.

Education technology stakeholders and advocacy groups applauded the legislation’s mention of technology and digital learning.
“ESEA has been in need of revision for many years, as the education landscape has evolved dramatically since it was last updated 15 years ago,” said Mark MacCarthy, SIIA senior vice president of public policy, in a statement.
“This legislation represents a renewed, long-awaited commitment to digital equity. It will strengthen the technology competencies of educators, including their data privacy know-how, and give more students the tools needed for success in college and career preparation,” CoSN CEo Keith Krueger said.
“Far too many educators lack the 21st century training to enhance teaching and learning through technology. Innovations and educational practices have simply outpaced federal law and investment, leaving poor communities behind the digital curve.”
“SIIA is particularly supportive of the renewed effort by policymakers to fund vital education technology. The ITECH program included in the ESSA will support schools as they seek to bring classrooms into the 21st century through enhanced access to technology and strong pedagogical skills for educators.”
The National Governors Association issued a full endorsement of the bill–a move it has not taken in almost 20 years.
“This is a significant step in the right direction in our work to ensure state control of education policy. This bill reinforces that accountability and responsibility for K-12 education rests with the states,” said NGA Chair Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert in a statement.
In a joint statement, American Association of School Librarians (AASL) President Leslie Preddy and American Library Association (ALA) President Sari Feldman expressed their appreciation that the legislation recognizes the role school libraries play in students’ success.
“School libraries are learning hubs where students become motivated readers and actively engage with technologies and the latest information resources, preparing them to succeed in our global, competitive economy and the ever-evolving workplace. School librarians are instructional leaders and essential partners with all teachers, collaborating to meet diverse needs, strengthen student learning, and facilitate deeper understanding of print and digital materials,” they said.
“Students have suffered long enough under the broken system of test and punish created by the No Child Left Behind Act,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said.
“In particular, the bill includes student and school supports in state accountability plans to create an opportunity ‘dashboard’; reduces the amount of standardized testing in schools and decouples high-stakes decision making and statewide standardized tests; and ensures that educators’ voices are part of decision making at the federal, state and local levels.”
A final version of the bill was released on Nov. 30. Congress is expected to vote on the bill in the coming weeks, and President Obama is likely to sign it by the end of the year.

Read More

New grant will provide active learning spaces to schools

Steelcase Education grant leverages classroom space to implement new teaching practices

Steelcase Education on Dec. 1 launched the second annual Active Learning Center (ALC) Grant, a program to provide active learning spaces to schools across North America. Applications are being accepted online through February 12, 2016.
The ALC grant program leverages classroom space to implement new teaching practices, centering on student focus and collaboration. Up to 15 grant recipients will have the opportunity to install one of four learning environments featuring Steelcase Education’s state-of-the-art furniture and technology.
“Research has shown that active learning environments positively impact student engagement,” said Sean Corcorran, General Manager of Steelcase Education. “Our 2015 grant recipients have already seen improvements in student focus, and we are eager to partner with more educators who are committed to providing inspiring environments in order to enhance student learning.”
New this year, technical and trade schools are eligible to apply for the ALC grant, in addition to grades six through twelve, colleges and universities. Schools are also permitted to submit applications for library and media center spaces this year. Steelcase Education will award up to 15 schools with a new classroom, valued at $62,000.
Applicants to the program are asked to describe the desired pedagogy they plan to employ and how the new active learning classroom will positively impact teaching and learning. Grantees will be selected based on their commitment to active learning strategies and how they plan to measure student success and share their learnings with the broader education community.
As part of the ALC program, grantees receive training from Steelcase leaders on best practices for the new technology and furniture. Grantees will also participate in a community of practice with fellow grant recipients to share insights and best practices.
Last year’s program garnered over 500 applicants and twelve recipients from North America. All classrooms have been installed and are being used by teachers and students. Grantees included P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida, Ohio State University, the University of Arizona and Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, MI. Research from the inaugural group of ALC grant recipients is underway and will be released in 2016. More information on the 2015 Active Learning Classroom Grant can be found here.
“We are honored to be part of the inaugural class of ALC grant recipients,” said Dr. Lynda Hayes, director and university school professor at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida. “Our new classroom allows us to support students in a variety of learning and teaching styles that encourage flexibility and movement and positively impact the dynamic between teachers and students.”
Winners of this year’s grant will be announced in March 2016.
Material from a press release was used in this report.

Read More

Students break single-venue learning world record

Students designing in 3D on Makers Empire in one of the classrooms at Baptist Rainbow Primary School.

After many months of planning, more than 900 students from more than 50 schools gathered at Baptist Rainbow Primary School in a new Guinness World Record for the greatest number of people attending and participating in a software lesson at a single venue.
The Guinness World Record event was organized by The Association of IT Leaders in Education (AiTLE) in conjunction with Baptist Rainbow Primary School, DTSL and Makers Empire.
Students arrived on Saturday morning and went to their allocated classrooms for the event. Each student was recorded and given a wrist band with official nominated stewards and witnesses present. The school’s internet broadband was upgraded especially for the event, with each classroom fitted with video and audio communication and wifi infrastructure by Cypher Martin.
Students from kindergarten to secondary school and technical colleges were then taught simultaneously the importance of “water” to mankind with presentations from Erwin Huang, Kenneth Lo (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) sharing the University’s student projects with communities in Cambodia. To nurture students’ creativity, students were then led through a 3D design lesson using Makers Empire 3D design software by Lap Leung, Makers Empire co-founder, and Chris Leung, DTSL Marketing Director.
To celebrate the schools and students participation in the Guinness World Record breaking event lucky draw prizes of a Tiertime 3D printer, Tinkerine 3D Printer and Makers Empire 3D Printing Learning Program for schools along with DTSL professional installation and training services were awarded. Each participating student and volunteer received a commemorative 3D printed souvenir medal sponsored by DTSL.
AiTLE Chair Albert Wong said “There are many people in the world who are not able to receive drinking water ever day but with advances in technology, solutions utilizing 3D design and 3D printing are simpler than ever before to help solve problems related to efficient and effective use of water resources. AiTLE would like to thank all the participating schools, partners, sponsors, all of the witnesses, stewards, volunteers, parents and students for all their hard work and efforts in making this event possible.”
“The community of Hong Kong is uniquely placed to share its experience and learnings with its large dense population and limited water resources. Over many years they have carefully managed effective water usage. Students at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University have also undertaken projects that have assisted less fortunate communities in Cambodia sharing their knowledge and skills to help improve their quality of life.”
Baptist Rainbow Primary School Principal Chu said “We want our kids to look at the world and say, ‘These are problems that need to be solved. We can use our creativity to solve those problems to make the world a better place’.”
DTSL Business Director Jack Wu said, “This record breaking event demonstrated that schools and students have no limit to their creativity and innovation. In using the latest 3D printing tools schools and students in Hong Kong can be confident that they are either staying ahead or keeping in step with their peers abroad.”
Roland Peddie, co-founder CTO Makers Empire said, “It was fantastic to see so many different schools and students designing in 3D on Makers Empire 3D design software whether they choose to use their iPads, Android, Windows or Mac devices. The Guinness World Record breaking event reinforced the support we have in place for the diverse school learning environments and infrastructure requirements we see in schools and districts.”
Lap Leung, co-founder Makers Empire said, “What an event! Students will be able to remember this Guinness World Record breaking event for the rest of their lives. More importantly, through 3D design and 3D printing, they develop design thinking principles along with critical analysis and problem solving capabilities. To have students from kindergarten participating and designing in 3D is simply amazing!”
Material from a press release was used in this report.

Read More

Learning Upgrade launches interactive whiteboard courses

New Teacher Upgrade math and ELA lessons combine a front-of-class solution with individual instruction using songs, videos, and games

Learning Upgrade has launched new whiteboard courses to provide a whole-class solution that makes lessons convenient, rigorous, and collaborative for teachers.
Teacher Upgrade courses offer a new way for teachers to engage with an entire class of students through interactive, whole-class activities accompanied by differentiated individual lessons. Each Teacher Upgrade lesson incorporates exciting songs, videos, and games that engage even the most reluctant students.
Teachers play the lessons using a computer and a data projector or interactive whiteboard, such as a Smart Board or Promethean board. Students solve problems by pressing buttons or moving objects on the screen with a pen or finger.
With more than 500 standards-aligned lessons that support student mastery, educators can easily launch Teacher Upgrade from the “students” or “courses” tab on their teacher dashboard. With quick access to high quality lessons that cover every standard, teachers are able to avoid searching for content and focus more time on effective teaching.
Teacher Upgrade includes every lesson from Math Upgrade K–8, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra; as well as English Upgrade 1–5, Reading Upgrade, and Comprehension Upgrade courses.
“Teachers have asked for a simple way to access all of our musical lessons for whole-class instruction. We are excited to offer Teacher Upgrade to meet their needs,” said Vinod Lobo, co-founder and CEO of Learning Upgrade. “Providing teachers with rigorous lessons that engage all levels of learning abilities and styles is paramount. The new Teacher Upgrade lessons are a great way to help a wide variety of students—including special needs students and English learners—reach mastery at their grade level.”
For more information about Learning Upgrade, or to register for complimentary access to all of their resources, visit them online at www.learningupgrade.com.
Material from a press release was used in this report.

Read More

Should schools count coding as math?

California officials make push for universities to accept high school coding as a math class

Backed by an all-star cast of Silicon Valley executives and nonprofit leaders, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the University of California Academic Senate on Dec. 2 to count high school computer science classes as math classes instead of electives — a move supporters say could help to diversify the tech industry.
Newsom’s hope is that the shift will encourage California high schools — which frequently tailor their curriculum to reflect what the UC system requires — to beef up their computer science offerings.
Turning computer science into a core requirement could eventually pull more women and people of color into those classes at a younger age, and help diversify the talent pool in an industry dominated by whites, Asians and men.
Last year, fewer than 9,000 California high school students took the AP Computer Science exam, according to Newsom’s office. A little more than one quarter were women, fewer than 1,000 were Latino, and only 148 were African American.
“Every student learns about photosynthesis and fractions even if they don’t grow up to become botanists or mathematicians,” the former San Francisco mayor wrote in a letter to the Academic Senate’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools Committee. “A basic understanding of computing and computer science is foundational to many fields and will prepare students both for college and for the careers of tomorrow.”
Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, Y Combinator President Sam Altman, LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla were among two dozen tech leaders who signed the letter. Also backing it were San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard Carranza and Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Antwan Wilson.
Michael Nobleza, the national director for Oakland’s Yes We Code, a tech skills training program for low-opportunity young people, said this proposal would “help broaden the pipeline” by introducing more students to computer sciences.
“Only those who are drawn to computer sciences — who are usually white and Asian students, because they see themselves succeeding in it — are taking them,” Nobleza said Dec. 2 after reviewing Newsom’s letter. “Overall this could bring in more students of color.”
UC already does “consider some computer sciences classes as meeting the math requirement,” university spokeswoman Dianne Klein said Wednesday after reviewing Newsom’s letter. “Others, that do not have sufficient math, are considered electives.”
She pointed to the system’s admission requirements, which say that “a computer science course with primary focus on coding methods alone would not fulfill the mathematics requirement, whereas one with substantial mathematical content (e.g., mathematical induction, proof techniques or other topics from discrete mathematics) could satisfy the requirement.”
©2015 the San Francisco Chronicle. Visit the San Francisco Chronicle at www.sfgate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Read More

Virtual platform targets global education

The new online education and creativity platform delivers live, online courses in the areas of language, arts, music, and STEM

A new virtual classroom education platform from Coolcher offers online classes taught by teachers from around the world.
The classes can be scheduled to fit with any school’s calendar. For a one-time fee, schools and after-school centers get access to all courses for an unlimited number of classes for one year, giving students the opportunity to enjoy unique courses, and interact live with not just the teacher, but also with their peers from around the country.
“We created Coolcher as parents who were looking for courses that help our daughter learn more about her heritage, but were unsuccessful in finding anything,” said Jatin Grover, the founder of Coolcher. “With this new platform, we hope to bring the whole world to kids around the U.S.—a whole world of new and unique subjects, and a whole world of new cultures.”
The platform also connects homeschoolers with other students and homeschoolers who are taking the classes at the same time. The virtual classroom environment gives homeschoolers a connection with more students, bringing with it enhanced collective knowledge and creativity.
“More and more, every high-paying job requires not just skills but creativity, and to boost creativity the development of the right brain should begin at an early age,” said Grover. “Our unique courses in creative areas and multi-linguistics speed up the development of students’ right brain as well as giving them tools for college preparedness by teaching world cultures.”
Coolcher courses are community-led, and the company is always looking for teachers who bring a creative approach to their lessons. Teachers who would like to be added to the Coolcher portfolio to work with kids around the country and the world can share information about themselves and their courses at coolcher.com.
Material from a press release was used in this report.

Read More

Math instruction meets a personalized approach

One school is using a personalized and blended math curriculum to help students meet learning goals

MobyMax, a provider of personalized and blended learning curriculum for K-8 students, is helping educators at Georgia’s Screven County Elementary School personalize math instruction to meet the learning needs of every child.
Like most educators, fourth-grade math and science teacher Derek von Waldner teaches students who have a wide range of abilities: Some begin school well below grade level, while others are ready for more advanced work.
“I use MobyMax for differentiation,” the second-year Screven County teacher said. “That’s where MobyMax is really awesome—students who have different needs can learn at different levels, even though they’re in the same class together. One kid could be working on fifth grade math, and another could be working on second grade math.”
von Waldner’s students all have Chromebooks for use during class. For part of the school day, they work through the MobyMax software individually while he circulates throughout the room and offers help.
“I have some students who are way above a fourth grade level, and they’re able to work at their own pace with relevant content while I can go around to the other students and help remediate,” he said.
He also uses the data from MobyMax’s progress monitoring reports to group students by ability during small-group instruction.
Using MobyMax to deliver highly targeted instruction has benefited all of von Waldner’s students—from his lowest to his highest achievers. In just the first nine weeks of school, on average, he said his fourth-grade math students achieved a six-month grade-level increase, performing three times higher than normal in math.
For the lowest students, “it’s pulling them up to grade level,” he said. “For me to sit there with a student and get him up to grade level in nine weeks would take all of my time, whereas MobyMax is filling those gaps quickly.”
To learn more about Screven County’s use of MobyMax, download a case study at http://spotlight.mobymax.com.
Material from a press release was used in this report.

Read More

9 great free activities for Hour of Code

Annual Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week, encourages educators and students to participate in one hour of coding

Computer science skills have enjoyed more time in the spotlight as educators, policymakers and celebrities tout the importance of coding and programming skills. This year’s Hour of Code reinforces computer science’s growing importance.
The Hour of Code asks students, teachers, and anyone who is interested to devote at least one hour to coding during Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 7-11).
Participants can choose from guided tutorials or can join in scheduled Hour of Code activities that education or community groups have organized.
According to Code.org, the group behind the Hour of Code, there will be 1 million more computer science jobs than students by 2020, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics projections. But activities like the Hour of Code can help more students sustain an interest in computer science.
Following are 9 resources to help students and educators participate in the Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week.
1. Cartoon Network (CN) launched a series of free coding tutorials for kids featuring characters, scenes and sounds from its show We Bare Bears. The We Bare Bears tutorials and sample projects are the result of a new collaboration between CN and Scratch, a coding platform and online community that encourages children to create and share interactive stories, games and animations. CN collaborated with the Scratch team at the MIT Media Lab to encourage kids to learn more about science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Through the We Bare Bears tutorials, children learn to snap together Scratch’s graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, talk and interact with one another. The tutorials encourage users to think critically and solve problems in order to bring the characters to life.
2. Nepris, a cloud-based social platform, will host eight live, interactive and virtual STEM sessions targeted to the Hour of Code. Teachers can sign up for their class of students to participate in sessions offered at various times during the week. Learn more here. Topics include careers in coding, an introduction to programming with Python, and Coding with Kids! by SmartStart.
3. Students, faculty and staff at the University of Central Florida are invited to attend UCF’s Hour of Code event, which this year will feature exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of “Star Wars” movies and the computer coding that’s involved with creating the sci-fi films. Additional festivities will include Wonder Workshop’s CEO Vikas Gupta, completing a coding module on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, and robotic challenges.
4. Apple will host a free hour-long introduction to computer programming for children ages 6 and older at Apple stores on Dec. 10.
5. Students can build a Star Wars-inspired galaxy on Code.org’s site through a partnership between Code.org and Disney.
6. Microsoft, Mojang AB, and Code.org teamed up to offer a free Minecraft coding tutorial for the Hour of Code. The tutorial introduces players ages 6 and older to basic coding contained within the popular game. The tutorial was created especially for students and educators.
7. The University of Colorado Boulder is offering a number of in-person and online Hour of Code activities, including a focus on robots and 3D game creation. Browse and register here.
8. PBS KIDS released its first coding app, called PBS KIDS ScratchJr. Kids can create their own interactive stories and games featuring characters from Wild Kratts, Nature Cat, WordGirl and Peg + Cat. The app is designed for kids ages 5-8.
9. Tynker offers coding activities for elementary and middle school students. Students can create programmatic drawings, code a car to navigate an obstacle course, solve coding puzzles, and more.

Read More

Florida Senate considers coding as a foreign language

Proposal would require high schools to count coding courses toward foreign language requirements

A controversial plan to require high schools to offer computer coding courses and let students count them toward foreign language requirements was heralded Thursday as “novel,” “innovative” and “forward-thinking.”
But some members of the Florida Senate, as well as some local school district administrators, question how costly the proposal could be and how districts would pay for it when they are already strapped for digital resources.
Despite uncertainty around the myriad expenses that might come with implementing the proposal, Senate Bill 468 by Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, passed the Senate Pre-K-12 Education Committee on Thursday by an 8-2 vote.
“We’re supposed to be transformative with education,” said Ring, a former Yahoo executive. “We’re trying … to recognize the reality of the world and give our kids a leg up.”
Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, said the plan screams “unfunded mandate” because of the course software, computers and specialized teachers and training that would be necessary to meet the bill’s requirements.
“I’m concerned that we’re going to take an approach that is forward-thinking and then fail in implementation,” Detert said.
Ring said the financial details would be handled in the education budget committee, which is the bill’s next stop. That panel is led by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who also supported Ring’s bill Thursday and offered two amendments on Ring’s behalf.
South Florida Democrats Dwight Bullard of Cutler Bay and Jeff Clemens of Lake Worth voted against the proposal. Bullard cited the “severe unintended consequences” the legislation poses — similar to when lawmakers endorsed computer-based testing but schools lacked enough computers and ran into issues.
“It sings of the same problems we faced back then,” Bullard said. He also raised concerns that the plan could further disadvantage minority students and those who live in poorer areas, which already can’t afford decent computer classrooms, like his district in south Miami-Dade.

Ring spent most of the hearing on the defensive, trying to correct what he said was a general misunderstanding about what the bill would do. He repeatedly emphasized computer coding would be another “option” for students, “not a requirement.”
“We’re not replacing foreign language; we’re saying computer language should be in the language disciplines,” Ring said. “We’re trying … to recognize the reality of the world and give our kids a leg up.”
But while the classes would be optional for students, there’s disagreement over whether schools would have the choice whether to even offer them. The bill states: “High schools must provide students opportunities to take computer coding courses of sufficient rigor.”
“The intent is it’s an option,” Ring told reporters after the meeting. “If we have to further clarify it, we will.”
House K-12 Subcommittee Chairwoman Janet Adkins, a Republican representative from Fernandina Beach, filed a companion bill late Thursday that mirrors Ring’s amended plan. If it’s enacted, school districts would have until January 2017 to develop their curriculum.
The proposal might be easier to implement in some districts than others.
Though Miami-Dade has among the most computers per student in South Florida — the district has one computer for every three students compared with one for every five students in Broward — mandating computer coding as an alternative to foreign language would still require a significant investment, Miami-Dade County schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
That investment would come on top of $200 million spent on technology after voters passed a massive bond issue in 2012.
“We are better prepared than most on the basis of our recent investment,” Carvalho said.
He added that there should be room for both traditional foreign languages and computer coding skills in high school education.
“We cannot approach the importance of computer science and foreign language as an either-or proposition,” Carvalho said. “I absolutely disagree with the proposition that computer coding is an equal substitute — an equal and necessary substitute — for foreign language.”
Carvalho pointed to research that cites long-term advantages, both in school and the workplace, that come with learning another language.
“Based on both educational, intellectual development, and emotional development — as well as long-term economic development in an increasingly bilingual and biliterate community — computer coding is not a trade-off,” Carvalho said.
Republicans on the Senate committee joined Ring in emphasizing the legislation would better prepare students for a modern workforce, by teaching them to be conversant in the “global language” of computer coding.
“If we simply set the goal post as a degree, then we fail in our responsibilities. The ultimate goal post is a job, is a career,” Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg said.
Clemens said he disagrees with that philosophy, which was one of the reasons he voted against the bill.
“It goes back to why we provide an education in the first place,” he said. “It isn’t so kids can get a job; it’s so they can become a well-rounded member of society. … If we’re focusing on getting our kids a certain type of job, it’s a disservice.”
One amendment approved Thursday requires Florida’s state colleges and public universities to honor computer coding courses toward foreign language requirements. For students applying to schools out-of-state, Ring suggested students could choose to take two years of a traditional foreign language and two years of coding.
Another amendment clarified previous language that initially said students pursuing a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship would have to earn at least two credits in computer coding in order to be eligible to apply. The revised wording makes clear computer coding is an optional alternative to the foreign language requirement of the scholarship.
Miami Herald staff writer Christina Veiga contributed to this report.

Read More

These students can code a video game–can yours?

Technologists say learning know how to code can teach students computer-savvy they’ll likely need in the workplace

A fire crackles in a small clearing inside a dark, dense forest. Large yellow eyes flash and a wolf stares back as mysterious footsteps approach from behind.
It’s not the opening to a horror film, but a virtual-reality game called “Hearing Through Darkness” in which players shoot lasers at attacking wolves. The game is being developed by four teenagers. Ethan Busse, Elliot Busse, Michael Lai and Nathan Boss, all students at Highline Big Picture School, are interns in a program at Foundry10 in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood.
Foundry10 provides interns with resources and mentors to create pretty much anything they want, be it video games, underwater robots or even hip-hop dance performances. The organization studies how and what kids are learning, in part to help determine how students can learn technology concepts.
Dec. 7 marked the beginning of Computer Science Education Week, a global push supported by tech businesses, teachers and educational organizations to encourage kids to learn to code. The week is part of a growing call across the tech industry to apply more coding education in schools to equip kids for the technological world.
The week is organized by Code.org, a Seattle coding-education company that sponsors tutorials around the world. More than 100,000 teachers are expected to participate in this year’s , a short tutorial that teaches kids the basics of computer programming.
Technologists predict computers will be even more prevalent in the future than they are today. Machines will be involved in many, if not all, aspects of life.

That’s why several entrepreneurs, largely funded by tech companies, are building games and programs to create new ways for kids to learn about technology.
“How does every child feel that they are the master of the world around them and not at the behest of the machines?” asked Vikas Gupta, co-founder of coding-robot startup . “In order for us to give kids that agency, that sense of power over the world around them, we need to get them to code.”
Other organizations, including Code.org and board-game maker Robot Turtles, are joining Wonder Workshop in a growing industry that seeks to teach kids how to interact with technology, even when they aren’t in the classroom.
For years, educators and tech- industry leaders have pushed to integrate technology into basic education. But some have raised the concern that kids may not be catching on sufficiently to complex technological concepts.
“I believe sometimes people underestimate what kids are capable of,” said Lisa Castaneda, co-founder of Foundry10.
Mentors and experts recruited by the organization to work with kids often tell Castaneda that the students raise concepts or look at things in ways they hadn’t thought of themselves. Foundry10 works with a psychologist to meet with kids at the beginning, middle and end of their internships to assess what they’ve learned in a way entirely unlike a standardized test. Castaneda points to the results.
The kids, who don’t pay to participate, often finish video games or robotic projects, and learn more about creative problem solving.
Research from Foundry10 shows that game design in particular is beneficial to learning how to program.
“Computer-science concepts that are fundamentally difficult can become much more accessible when explored via game design,” researchers wrote in a Foundry10 paper last year.
Gupta, of San Mateo, Calif.-based Wonder Workshop, chose to focus on tangible technologies to teach kids.
“Kids can grasp programming concepts at a young age,” he said. “What’s often lacking are the tools for them to learn those concepts.”
Wonder Workshop has two small robots, Dot and Dash, that can be programmed to use a “drag and drop” method on an app, a technique used often with kids to get them comfortable with basic programming commands. The robots can walk, talk and respond to voice commands.
The company found that children respond well to physical components, and being able to program a robot in front of them makes it appealing to learn to program commands, Gupta said.
During a recent tech event at the Zillow Group’s Seattle headquarters, younger children constructed towers with blocks and built spaceships with motors and markers. Middle-school and high-school kids programmed with a kid-friendly programming language created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab.
Noga Khen, a Shorewood High School sophomore, taught a computer to calculate the number of fingers when given a certain number of people.
“Ever since today, I’ve decided this is what I want to do,” she said.
Necessary digital natives
Code.org and Wonder Workshop aim to provide technology training in schools, but they also work to make sure kids have tools outside of school. Some entrepreneurs start with even younger kids.
Seattle entrepreneur Dan Shapiro, now running Glowforge, a 3-D laser printing company, created the Robot Turtles board game in 2013 to teach his two young children the basics of coding.
“If you give kids access to something early on, whether it be reading, math or computers, they just take it for granted,” Shapiro said.
That doesn’t mean 3-year-olds are writing JavaScript. Rather, they move pieces on a board by giving commands to a “computer,” aka their parent. The game also introduces the children to error messages. Making a mistake triggers a “bug card,” meaning they have to start the turn over.
Coding games for kids are really about teaching the basics of logic and problem solving, said Scott Jacobsen of Madrona Venture Group, which has invested in Wonder Workshop. Technologies for kids teach how to match the analytic and creative parts of the brain, he said.
To do that, they must first be appealing to kids. That partly explains the emphasis on game design, an area kids are familiar with and which carries a bit of a cool vibe. Code.org’s online tutorial even partnered with Disney and Microsoft to add Minecraft, “Frozen” and “Star Wars” characters to lessons, just one more way to make technology accessible.
Founders of companies working on tech for kids, however, insist that the games and programs are not exclusively for kids who want to be computer scientists. Everyone, they say, will need to know how to speak to computers.
In developing the Scratch programming software, MIT researchers sought to teach basics of coding in a creative way.
“For us, coding is not a set of technical skills but a new type of literacy and personal expression, valuable for everyone, much like learning to write,” Scratch co-founders Mitchel Resnick and David Siegel wrote in a last week. “We see coding as a new way for people to organize, express, and share their ideas.”
Many entrepreneurs agree. “It’s not that kids need to learn a particular programming language,” said Hadi Partovi, co-founder of Code.org. “It’s learning how apps work, how basic technology operates. I can’t imagine being a functioning member of society in 30 or 40 years without knowing that.”
Back at Foundry10 in Wallingford, Ethan Busse and his team have been putting some of the thinking behind teaching coding and programming into practice by building their video game.
The team was particularly interested in how audio can be incorporated into virtual reality.
“You can listen to sounds around you to look for clues or enemies nearby,” Ethan said.
In the horror game, players try to stay alive by listening to sounds in the forest and determining the best time to attack the wolf. The four teens are playing the role of animator, programmer and 3-D modelers to complete the project; they’re hoping to be done within the school year through the twice-weekly Foundry10 internship.
“You learn how to teach yourself things, which is really helpful,” Ethan said. “Now I know how to figure things out by myself, which is huge if I want to do this for a living. Which I do.”

Read More