Computer Science Education Week Starts Dec. 7th

Monday Dec. 7th kicks off the start of Computer Science Education Week, 2020! Join the computer science community in celebrating computer science in education. Whether you’re new to the world of computer science or have been involved since its inception, you’ll find many interesting events and activities that are ongoing throughout the week.

Computer Science Education Week began in 2009 to encourage and increase participation and offerings of computer science in education. CS Education Week’s 2020 focus is social justice. To learn more about computer science in education, and social justice in computer science education, check out the Computer Science Education Week website and explore the #CSEdWeek2020 and the #CSforSocialJustice hashtags on social media.

Events & Activities

The CS Education Week kick off happens Monday, Dec. 7^th at 1p.m. ET. After that, there are various events hosted throughout the week. For more information about the schedule of events and to register, check out the #CSEdWeek events page.
Amazon is celebrating CS Education Week by hosting a Cyber Robotics Challenge! To learn more or get involved, check out the CoderZ website.
Are you a parent or teacher interested in exploring activities that you could complete with your kids? Check out these lesson resources for ready-to-go computer science activities for all ages.
Celebrate Computer Science Education Week with NASA! NASA has partnered with Hour of Code to offer a variety of virtual events in honor of #CSEdWeek2020. To learn more and sign up, check out NASA’s events page.

Social Media

Follow @mdoenews on Twitter and Maine Department of Education on Facebook for #CSEdWeek posts throughout the week.
Use the #CSEdWeek and #CSforSocialJustice hashtags to share and engage with the computer science community.
Check out the #CSEdWeek2020Photos challenge on social media to see what teachers are doing in their classrooms during #CSEdWeek2020.
Interested in learning more about CS in Education? Check out #CSforAll #CSforGood #CS4Maine #ComputerScience

For more information contact Emma-Marie Banks, Secondary Digital Learning & Computer Science Specialist for the Maine Department of Education at emma-marie.banks@maine.gov.

Computer Science in Maine: Updates and News

Resilient even amidst a pandemic, the computer science education community is continuing to grow and expand computer science opportunities throughout Maine. Many partners including the Maine Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), Maine Department of Education, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), Educate Maine, and others are working together to make sure that computer science education is available to Maine students throughout the state. Check out these upcoming computer science learning opportunities for students and educators below!

Virtual Family Code Nights

Date/Time: Various Dates, November 2nd through December 9th

In the past three years, more than 100 Maine schools and community organizations have hosted Family Code Nights. These events have brought together nearly 3,000 children and parents to learn how to code side-by-side. Now, the makers of Family Code Night have started a program called CS is Elementary.

It’s simple and free for Maine elementary schools to get involved. Visit Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance’s Family Code Night Host site to learn more – https://mmsa.org/familycodenight/

CS Connected

Date/Time: Wednesdays, 12pm

A weekly virtual series for college students, produced by Project>Login & UMaine’s School of Computing and Information Sciences. Check out CS Connected on Eventbrite to register for upcoming sessions.

CS Educator Happy Hour

Date/Time: Thursdays, 5pm

Are you teaching computer science or interested in doing so in the future? Join a virtual Zoom gathering of the Maine Computer Science educator community to engage in themed informal interactions. Email angela@educatemaine.org for the link to join!

CodeHS

Date/Time: November 12th, 4:30pm

Join a one-hour workshop for middle school teachers on JavaScript using Intro to Programming with Karel the Dog.

Click here to sign up for this event, hosted by Maine CSTA President, Sean Wasson.

Would you like to see your computer science events and news listed in a computer science release? Are you doing something new and exciting with computer science that you want to share with the rest of the community? Reach out to Emma-Marie Banks, Computer Science Specialist at the Maine Department of Education. emma-marie.banks@maine.gov

Family Code Night Comes to Maine

Next week, children and their parents will come together to learn how to code. It’s Computer Science Education Week (December 4-8), and 75 sites across Maine will host Family Code Nights. Specially designed for elementary-aged students, these events use Hour of Code puzzles that introduce programming principles through fun games.

While many schools do Hour of Code, Scratch, and other web-based computer science activities, Family Code Night is unique. It was started in the San Francisco Bay area by a parent of an elementary student. He saw the importance of involving parents in the activities because they can advocate for their children to continue learning to code after the event is done. Maine has many opportunities for youth to explore coding, including summer camps, app challenges and family events. You can find them on the STEM Resource Bank at steminme.org.

Volunteers at Family Code Nights include teachers, librarians, parents and other community members. Many sites are enlisting the help of teens who have experience with coding. Family Code Night provides an event kit that includes everything needed to plan and host the event, so leaders do not need to be experts at coding to run a successful evening!

Family Code Night is a national movement supported in Maine by The Reach Center, a program of Maine Mathematics & Science Alliance. Visit mmsa.org/familycodenight to see a list of sites hosting events, which includes schools, libraries or community organizations representing each county.

For more information contact Maine Department of Education Science and Technology Content Specialist, Shari Templeton at Shari.Templeton@maine.gov or (207) 624-6880.

Governor LePage, Acting Commissioner Rier recognize Computer Science Education Week

The awareness initiative will involve thousands of Maine students, trying their hand at computer programming and competing in robotics competitions

AUGUSTA – Maine Governor Paul R. LePage and Acting Education Commissioner Jim Rier are recognizing the important role computer science has in the state’s classrooms and growing economy.

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Hour of Code campaign comes to Maine

Sixteen Maine schools have already pledged to participate, and Project>Login will host an Hour-of-Code Dojo at the Augusta Civic Center on Dec. 14

More than 5,000 Maine students from 16 schools will join a national campaign to demystify computer science during the Hour of Code campaign in December – and additional schools may register through Nov. 15. The event is scheduled to coincide with Computer Science Week from Dec. 9-15, during which Project>Login will also host Maine’s first statewide Hour of Code Dojo.

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