Information Technology Education

Where else can you celebrate CS week, ring in the holiday season, and incorporate bubble sort into a dance performance?  Watch this video to find out... Code and dance? No problem!

One big thing I've been working on this year is to try to get more middle school girls interested in STEM.  The representation of women in STEM fields and, in the field of computer science in particular, have been well publicized. Even locally here in the state of Arizona at our large public state university, Arizona State University, less than 20% percent of the engineering majors are female. Organizations such as NCWIT and Girls who Code are working to increase the 12% representation of women in the field of computer programming.  Here in my district, I have had my middle school girls working with high school and college girls via telepresence to create apps using App Inventor and to learn some basics of html and Python.  It has been an empowering experience for them and they have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of creating using code.  Perhaps just as important as the app inventing and coding my students have learned, if not more important, is the invaluable e...

Look anywhere in the news lately, and you'll see that Mars is making a comeback.  There's the MRO and the recent Comet Siding Spring that made a close flyby of the red planet.  The India Space Research Organization has also recently launched their very own Mars orbiter.  So when I found out about the Mars Student Imaging Program out of Arizona State University, I thought to myself that this would be a great opportunity for my students to pursue their passion for exploring and researching space.   Completely student-driven inquiry tied in with authentic research and feedback from a planetary geologist - what could be better than this?  Plus, all culminating in two days at ASU on the campus working with the geologist and collecting their very own image from the THEMIS camera.  But, before the two-day culmination on campus, we had a big learning curve.  We had to first learn about Martian geology and learn about the features on this planet.  We also...

Earlier this school year, I found out about the Verizon Innovative App Challenge , a competition open to middle- and high-school students where they innovate an app concept.  I really liked the word 'innovate' because the challenge made the point that the app concept that the students come up with need not necessarily be something entirely new, but something based on existing ideas...with added twists.  My students first had to identify a problem in their local community in one of the Verizon Foundation focus areas:  healthcare, sustainability or education.  They then had to research this problem and come up with an innovative app idea that could help to address this problem.  Not only so, they had to research other similar existing apps and clearly articulate how their app was distinct.  In writing the responses for the competition, they reflected on not only their research, but also on the form and function of their app.  They got to dream big! ...

"Don't be bored…make something."  These words were spoken by Joey Hudy, the youngest intern in the history of Intel who at the age of 16 was hired by their CEO, at the Higher Education Maker Summit at ASU-Tech Shop in Chandler, AZ.  It was inspiring to hear from all maker-engineers, maker-musicians, maker-designers, maker-authors, and who I will call maker-evangelists at this national event. What was neat was that this conference coincided with the last session of the first part of a STEAM Machines club I started at my school made possible through a generous grant from ASU that included $3000.00 worth of 'maker' supplies for middle schoolers to dream, create, and iterate Rube Goldberg machines. The whole experience from start to finish was full of 21st century skills in action with teams of students collaborating and communicating to create their machines, solving problems through critical thinking and application of physics concepts all along the way. Most reward...

A few weeks ago I introduced genius hour into my class.  Here's a quick introduction: My rationale for bringing this into my classroom is really founded on my beliefs that students come to me with ideas and questions.   They come with ideas for solutions to problems that they face in their lives and I wanted to give them the opportunity to explore these.  They started with describing a problem that they want to solve or a question they want to investigate.  Following this, they brainstormed possible solutions by sketching, writing, and doodling.  It was amazing to see their ideas take form and to hear about topics that matter to them.  One wants to come up with a jacket that makes you feel warm as soon as you put it on.  Several want to investigate ways to tackle Ebola.  Another set off exploring ways to package waffles and syrup on the go.  Yet another researched thorium as a new source of energy. The next step was for them to investigate wh...

Now that my students have had some great experiences with Scratch through debugging, creating debug-its and games, I thought it was time for them to have some authentic experiences connected to what computer programmers may do in the 'real-world.'  I immediately thought of how in any design field, be it architecture or software, the designer must create with the client's needs in mind.  These are the constraints, so to speak.  In other words, a house in the Philippines will have different features than a house in Seattle, Washington even though similar tools may be used to build and design both homes.  The same thing with programming.  The finished product will be very different, depending on the what the client or use wants and needs.  I had my students design something for a kindergarten teacher in my district.  She requested that they create an animation of a popular children's book in time for Halloween (note: real-world = timeframes and real deadl...