Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Todd Lash <lashtodd AT champaignschools.org>]

Love the shift from the one size fits all approach as well.  I am intrigued by the software they are using...

"Classroom Salon can help by enabling students to share their thoughts and questions about course readings and materials; the app’s analytical tools can identify common issues or subgroups of students who need special help"

If it does it well, that could be a hugely useful tool on many levels, if you are utilizing blended learning.

Todd

Todd Lash

Magnet Teaching Specialist/Instructional Coach

Kenwood Elementary School

1605 W. Kirby Ave

Champaign, IL 61821

217.351.3815

Twitter:  @Todd_Lash​

"If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow."  -John Dewey

#daretoshare

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From: ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu <ctrl-shift-bounces AT lists.mste.illinois.edu> on behalf of Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 11:21 AM
To: ctrl-shift AT lists.mste.illinois.edu
Subject: [Ctrl-Shift] Google and Carnegie Mellon exploring 'blended learning' to scale out CS classes

 

Came across a fascinating and short article about new efforts at Carnegie Mellon with ambitious goals (ie, increase student engagement, provide for scaling of student participation volume and include more minorities/low-ses).

http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/june/computer-science-blended-learning.html

I can easily see this concept being attractive, especially since I teach an introduction-level CS class at Parkland and am always on the lookout for how to meet the various needs of students. What I especially like about the approach that Google and CMU are taking is that they are trying to steer away from the "one-size-fits-all" mindset that has plagued us for so many decades.

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Charles Schultz