The School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering announced a commitment to the CSforAll program, which aims to make high-quality computer science an integral part of the educational experience for all K-12 students and teachers, and to support student pathways to college and career success.
The multifaceted SICE commitment, which was announced at the CSforAll Summit in Detroit Oct. 8-11, will support statewide K-12 computer science education, including collaboration with other institutions of higher education to equip K-12 stakeholders to promote computational thinking at the regional and state levels. The effort will connect undergraduate and graduate students to service learning opportunities in K-12 outreach, and SICE will host the Indiana National Center for Women & Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Awards, which will honor 50 high school-level women for their computing related achievements and interests. Additionally, SICE will engage 100 local students during Computer Science Education Week 2018 to be held Dec. 3-9, and the commitment provides support for computer science programs for 75 rural and minority students.
“We are so lucky to be part of this CSforAll initiative,” said Amr Sabry, chair of computer science at SICE. “Computer science and computational thinking is becoming essential for students to become more informed, and we’re committed to helping them realize their potential and the potential impact computer science can make on their lives.”
SICE also will host the first statewide computer science teacher conference, it will host Indiana’s first statewide cybersecurity contest, and it will launch a free repository of teacher materials called Teacher U where teachers around the state will be able to utilize best practices media clips, resources, and accelerate the infusion of computer science across the state.
CSforAll is a collaborative community of more than 550 organizations, and the CSforAll Summit serves as the national hub of the Computer Science for All movement. The CSforAll Summit celebrated more than 200 new commitments from various organizations, academia, and corporations to reach the goal of rigorous, inclusive, sustainable computer science education for students both inside and outside the classroom. CSforALL is the national hub and central resource for people interested in computer science education to find content providers, school districts, funders, and researchers focused on the goal of providing high-quality CS education to every child in the United States.
“We’re thrilled to contribute to the CSforAll movement,” said Raj Acharya, dean of SICE. “Creating and supporting opportunities for students to be exposed to computer science education is critical to the success of our future, and it has long been a goal of our school to expand the reach of computer science and push the boundaries of what is possible while inspiring students everywhere.”