Friday 2:35 p.m.–3:05 p.m.

The Python Pipeline: Why you should reach out to local teachers and how to do it

Selena Deckelmann

Audience level:
Novice
Category:
Education

Description

There's a gaping hole in Python advocacy: K-12 educators. These are the front-lines of CS education, especially in countries where attending primary and secondary school is compulsory, and resources to teach CS are stretched very thin. Learn what we have to offer CS teachers and how you can help in your local area.

Abstract

There's a gaping hole in Python advocacy: K-12 educators. Teachers are the front-lines of computer science and programming education, especially in countries where attending primary and secondary school is compulsory. Worldwide, resources to teach computer science are stretched very thin. Learn what we have to offer CS teachers and how you can help in your local area. I'll cover what it takes to find and offer a useful service to a teacher (not very much!), and the kinds of issues teachers face in the classroom. Also, you'll learn about the technologies teachers are most interested in and how you can help provide resources that a teacher can use in their classroom. Also learn about how software companies typically court school districts and educators. We're ceding too much ground to deep-pocketed proprietary software and hardware companies whose goals are largely to sell software and hardware through long-term government contracts and workforce training. Our communities should engage directly with teachers to explain what it is that we do, and how it is important and different than proprietary development. Our goal as advocates should be universal computer and programming literacy. This is basic understanding of what a computer is, what algorithms are, what code is and how computers use them. Any child can learn these things, but these concepts are still rarely taught. Free and open source software enables literacy in a fundamental way. Anyone who believes in freedom on the web, personal liberty and democracy should be concerned about proprietary software companies dominance in the production of CS curriculum and their influence on teachers. Teachers want to use free and open source software. Let's make it easier for them to do it.