Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach

1. Lessons Learned from 9 Years of Computing Outreach Barbara Ericson Georgia Institute of Technology

2. Georgia Tech’s Outreach • Summer camps for both boys and girls • Rising 4th – 12+ graders • Help others start computing summer camps • Weekend workshops with • Girl Scouts • Black Girls Code

3. Georgia Tech’s Outreach • Competitions • Scratch (27% female and 45% URM) • Alice (30% female, and 37% URM) • AP CS A • Lending Library • Robot kits • Cell phones • Teacher workshops • Policy work • AP CS A counts as a science

4. NCWIT Aspiration Awards • Georgia Tech runs regional awards • Georgia and Puerto Rico • Regional in all 50 states • Apply Sept 15 to Oct 31st • We hire winners to be outreach assistants • http://ww2.ncwit.org/award/award.index.php

5. Outreach Lessons Learned • Do hands-on, creative, open-ended, social activities, and things that help others • Free software gets as good of results as expensive items like robots • Show how the activities are related to jobs • Dot diva website – http://www.dotdiva.org • Don’t directly attack the stereotypes • Can reinforce instead of dispel • Instead counter directly with the experience • Use both male and female helpers • Near peer as role models • Get parental support for computing careers

6. CS Unplugged - All • Free activities that you can use to teach computing • Without a computer • In many languages • With videos and worksheets • http://www.csunplugged.org • What is CS video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voqghyZbZxo&feature=player_embedded#at=70

7. Girls vs Boys in Computing • Girls have less experience • Girls have less confidence in their ability • Girls have a more negative view of computing and less interest in a career than boys • Boring, hard, typing, not relevant • Encouragement is more predictive for girls than ability • Girls who leave have higher grades in computing than the boys who stay • Helps to have parental and especially Dad’s approval

8. LightBot 2.0 – 7 years+ • Free online flash game • Program a robot to light up a blue tile • Has levels • http://ice-web.cc.gatech.edu/dl/?q=node/628

9. Scratch 1.4 – 8 years+ • Free 2D programming environment from MIT • Make music, art, games, stories, etc • Free book http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il/g-cs/scratch/scratch_en.html • Must install 1.4 to use it http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch_1.4/

10. Scratch 2.0 – 8 years+ • New features • Clones, uses camera, cloud storage, better copy, create new block • No installation • Runs in the browser • Flash – no IPads • http://scratch.mit.edu • Teacher website • http://scratched.media.mit.edu/

11. Snap 4.0 – HS+ • Extension of Scratch that runs in a browser • Will work on Ipads • Created by Berkeley • For an introductory computing course • Beauty and Joy of Computing – for HS • http://snap.berkeley.edu • http://veritas.eecs.berkeley.edu/courses/login/index.php

12. Alice 2 – MS+ • Free from CMU • Create 3D movies and games • With drag and drop programming • Good introduction to object-based programming • Does crash, so save often

13. Alice 3 – HS+ • Adds SIMS models • Better 3D models • Object-oriented • Can export to Java with Netbeans • Inheritance • Polymorphism • Guide • http://www.alice.org/3.1/Materials/UserGuide_PDF_Complete.pdf

14. App Inventor - MS+ • Free from MIT http://appinventor.mit.edu • Free book • http://www.appinventor.org/projects • Create Android Apps • Drag and drop programming

15. Media Computation – HS+ • Free software from Georgia Tech for teaching computing • Students write programs in Python or Java to manipulate media • Pictures, sounds, movies, and text • Girls succeed at the same rate as boys • http://mediacomputation.org

16. Media Computation • Resources at http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach • Python version is used at West Point for a required course

17. What do they create?

18. EarSketch – Georgia Tech HS+ • Remix music using Python and Reaper • A CE21 grant from NSF • http://earsketch.gatech.edu • Reaper discounted license is $60

19. Greenfoot – HS+ • Free software for building 2D simulations and games in Java http://www.greenfoot.org • Can do Karel the Robot and GridWorld in Greenfoot • Teacher site: • http://greenroom.greenfoot.org/door • Can use Kinect too

20. PicoBoard – 8+ • Sensor board that you can use with Scratch 1.4 • Can do PicoCricket typeactivities with it • Musical pickle • Can create a tilt sensor, drum kit, and more • $45 or $41 if > 10 • https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10311

21. Pleo Robots – 8+ • Robot that acts like a baby dinosaur • http://www.pleoworld.com • But, you can program it as well • MySkit • Cost: $470 • Extra rechargeable battery $50

22. LEGO WeDo Kit – 7+ • Starter kit for LEGO robots • USB hub with 2 ports • Tilt sensor, distance sensor, and motor • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/characteristics/ProductLine~LEGO%20Education%20WeDo • Cost: $130 • Can use with Scratch 1.4

23. LEGO NXT – 8+ • Kit used in the FIRST LEGO League • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/lego_mindstorms_education_nxt_base_set/2095 • Cost: $280 • Software is extra • We recommend buying the resource kit too

24. LEGO NXT Resource Kit • Turns 2 education base sets into retail kits • $99.95 • Great project ideas at http://nxtprograms.com • Make a robot dance

25. LEGO EV3 – MS+ • New set shipping in Aug 2013 • $340 for base set + $100 for software • Can be used for FIRST Lego League • Software comes with 48 tutorials • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/characteristics/ProductLine~LEGO%20MINDSTORMS%20Education%20EV3

26. LEGO Tetrix – High School • Kit used in high school FIRST Tech Challenge • Cost: $600 • http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/categories/products/high-school/tetrix

27. Cell Phones / Tablets • Companies may donate phones • Especially older models • Ask kids to donate old phones too • Android tablets • http://reviews.cnet.com/best-tablets/best-5-android-tablets • Nexus 7 • about $200

28. Finch Robots – MS+ • From http://www.finchrobot.com • $99 each • Discounts for 5+ • Work with lots of environments • Can add pen to tail for drawing

29. IPRE Robots – HS+ • Scribbler robot plus fluke with camera and bluetooth • http://www.betterbots.com • Robot is $110 • Fluke is $100 • Book at http://www.roboteducation.org • Requires batteries

30. High School Courses • Exploring Computer Science • Introduction to computing for all high school students - http://www.exploringcs.org • CS Principles • New AP by 2016-2017 (10,000 teachers) • Big ideas in computing for the college bound • http://www.csprinciples.org • AP Computer Science A • Equivalent to a college level CS1 • Program in Java • http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/4483.html

31. Exploring Computer Science • Introductory computing course intended for everyone • Free curriculum • Inquiry based • Equity based • Started in Los Angeles • Spread to Chicago, Wash D.C., Utah, and Oregon • www.exploringcs.org

32. Other Resources • National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) • http://www.ncwit.org/resources/girls-it-facts • http://www.ncwit.org • Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) • http://csta.acm.org • Free to join CSTA • CS-10K Community Website • Materials for ECS and CSP • http://cs10kcommunity.org • Georgia Tech’s distance learning site • http://ice-web.cc.gatech.edu/dl/

33. Summary • Lots of free tools to use to teach computing • Get just as good of results as with expensive robot kits • Need to increase confidence with activities that anyone can do • But, have challenges for those who can go further • Need to show that computing is social, creative, and useful to others