How to get more female computer science grads

Hi all,

An outstanding article just sent my way on how to recruit more female computer science graduates.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141213/ISSUE01/312139986/how-to-get-more-female-computer-science-grads?X-IgnoreUserAgent=1

Mr. Svetlik

The only skill you should be concerned with

Hi all,

In an era filled with seemingly never-ending changes to development technologies, the question often comes up as to what is the "best" programming language.  This blog entry takes that question head-on.  Definitely a good read.

http://bit.ly/1xUbAj7

Svetty

The Secret Life of Passwords

Hi all,

This, courtesy of Danny Goldberg, sheds some light on the "Secret Life" of passwords and how much they have become a part of doing virtually anything that involves a keyboard and/or a screen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/magazine/the-secret-life-of-passwords.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article

Thanks, Danny.

Svetty

Computer Science Conference for Women

In an effort to recruit more females into the field of Computer science Lane Tech is hosting a Computer Science Conference for Women on November 8 from 9am-11:30am at the high school. This conference is designed for high school girls to experience different avenues of computer science through workshops conducted by professional females in the CS field. Registration closes on November 5. Please encourage your female students to register at: http://tinyurl.com/omjvjgn

The Conference features workshops and speakers by Google, BizStrat Technology, Data Driven, Illinois Technology Foundation, Directions and Monkey Bars. Each young woman will hear our Keynote Speakers, a panel of women from Data Driven, and attend two 45 minute computer science workshops. 

Featured workshops

Workshop: Intro into Computer Programming C++ and Java

Workshop: Computational Thinking

Workshop: Predator and Prey Simulations in NetLogo

Workshop: Intro into EarSketch-CS Through Music Remixing

Workshop: Android App Development-MIT or Eclipse

Workshop: Website Development

Sincerely,

Lane Tech CS Dept

Convergence of Math and

Check out this app slated for 2015 release.


http://sploid.gizmodo.com/genius-app-solves-math-problems-by-pointing-your-phone-1649161239/

Hack for prizes!!!!

CSTA ANNOUNCEMENTS LISTSERV

Carnegie Mellon University’s hacking team is designing and hosting the second annual picoCTF competition, a free online nationwide computer security event for middle and high school students. From October 27 2014 to November 7 2014, picoCTF ( http://picoctf.com ) will challenge students to learn and practice authentic hacking techniques in the context of a story-driven game created by Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center. The competition consists of a series of challenges where participants must reverse engineer, break, hack, decrypt, or do whatever it takes to solve the task. Students, with experience ranging anywhere from the somewhat computer savvy to well-versed programmers, will learn how to identify security vulnerabilities and perform real-world attacks.

By organizing a competition that presents computer science from this exciting and topical perspective, we hope to encourage students to become involved in the areas of computer science and computer security. Last year, nearly 2,000 teams of students across the country competed for $20,000 in prizes for both teams and schools. This year, we have more than $30,000 in prizes, as well as new tools designed to help teachers participate in picoCTF as a classroom activity.

For more information on the competition, as well as early registration, please visit our website at https://picoctf.com . You can also check out last year's competition at https://2013.picoctf.com .

We encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have regarding the competition at educator@picoctf.com.
--
David Brumley

Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University

Technovation For Girls

Hi all,

Here is another opportunity worth checking out for all women interested in STEM.

-----

Technovation is the largest technology education program for girls, with thousands of alumnae in over 28 countries. Middle and high school students research, design, build, and launch a mobile app prototype over 3 months, with guidance from dedicated teachers and female mentors who are STEM and business professionals. No prior app development experience is necessary.

Sign up today and get your students involved. (http://www.technovationchallenge.org/2015-coach-prereg/) 75% of alumnae said they could see themselves in a technology/STEM career after they finished the program. Training materials will be available for all educators. The official 2015 program season begins in January and curriculum will be available in October.

Technovation recently went live with a gallery of 362 apps from the 2014 Technovation season. (http://bit.ly/2014AppGalery)  Every submission from this year is included--and every single one was developed to solve a problem in the team's community.

See the submissions, read their descriptions, scroll through screen shots, watch demo videos, and hear each team’s pitch. You can also read more about the gallery from TechRepublic. (http://tek.io/1qZC2C2)

Questions?

Contact Jenna Blanton at Jenna@iridescentlearning.org​ 

Poster Contest Promoting CS

Do you have any graphic design skills and an interest in CS?  If so, read below..

CSTA ANNOUNCEMENTS LISTSERV

The Equity Committee of the CSTA is sponsoring a contest to celebrate the many different kinds of faces that we see in the computing world.  For the past two years, students have created posters to celebrate diversity in computing.  This year, we're going to shake things up a little, and we are asking for a commercial-length (1-3 minutes) video that features students participating in computing in interesting ways.  The exact style and format is up to your students.  They might make a short-short film, a public service announcement, or a commercial for your class, your robotics club, or Computer Science in general.  Let your students be creative!

Winners will receive Sphero, Ollie (http://www.gosphero.com/), or Finch robots (http://www.finchrobot.com/) for their classrooms (note: value of prize package per classroom is approximately $500).  If you need inspiration, please see the winners of the last two years' poster contests on the CSTA Web Site (http://csta.acm.org/Advocacy_Outreach/sub/CSEdWeek.html). 

The contest deadline is November 20, 2014.  Rules, guidelines and release forms can be found on the CSTA Web site at http://csta.acm.org/Advocacy_Outreach/Other/FOC.html​.  If you have questions about the contest, please email Laura Blankenship at lblanken@gmail.com.

Yours truly,

The CSTA Equity Committee

Laura Blankenship

Alfred Thompson

Mina Theofilatou

ACSL Contest

Read below for information on the upcoming ACSL contest.  Let me know if you are interested.

CSTA ANNOUNCEMENTS LISTSERV

Register as a new member for the contests of the American Computer Science League (ACSL) and get a free contest question CD.  The CD contains 20 original programming problems with solutions and 27 questions and solutions from our category list.

Whereas most other CS contests are geared for just your very best students, ACSL has three divisions that are geared to inexperienced first year students in grades 6 - 12 through those who have completed the AP course.  ACSL even has a division that does not require programming.

ACSL also provides students with a Short Problems part on various computer science topics and a Programming Problem part that students can complete in any language of their choice. 

Contest materials make it possible for you to teach your students about Boolean Algebra, Digital Electronics, Graph Theory, Lisp Programming, Computer Number Systems, Recursive Functions, Bit String Operations, Prefix and Postfix Notation, Data Structures, and even Assembly Language.  All topics introduce core concepts in the field of computer science.

ACSL, in its 37th year of offering computer science contests for all of your students and administered at your school, is on the Approved Activities List of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.  Remember, the All-Star Contest in May, 2015 will be held in Orlando, FL!

See a complete set of contest questions for all of the ACSL divisions by clicking the Sample Questions link at:  www.acsl.org. Write to info@acslorg with any questions.  We answer quickly!

Forgotten Female Programmers Who Were Instrumental in our Current Tech Landscape

This was just shared with me as a cool article highlighting some of the many talented female programmers who have played an instrumental role in developing our current tech landscape.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/10/06/345799830/the-forgotten-female-programmers-who-created-modern-tech

Svetty

STEM trip to Germany

Hi all,

This from my sister-in-law on a cool opportunity.  Application deadline is October 15th.

Check out this super cool opportunity for high school STEM students to go to Germany:

http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/GKs/CHIC/2014/09/09__STEM.html

Thought it might be of interest to you…

Mr. Svetlik

Hack-a-thon!!

Check out this Hack-a-thon.  We've had some student representation at this, and I was told that this was an AWESOME event.

https://codeday.org/chicago

Svetty

Master the Mainframe Contest

Dear Educator,

You are receiving this email because one or more of your students registered for last year's IBM Master the Mainframe Contest.  Thank you for encouraging your students to participate!  In case you weren't already aware, here's a brief announcement for this year's contest, which begins at 12 noon EST on Monday, October 6th:  
 
************
Registration opens on September 23rd for the 2014 IBM Master the Mainframe Contest, with over $35,000 in prizes up for grabs!  The major focus of the contest is to introduce students to an area of the computer field that they may not have had much experience with, and which is currently in a long-term hiring phase.  If you think your students might be interested in checking it out (IBM designed the contest to be NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY), please forward this announcement to them.  

Contest homepage: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/education/academic/masterthemainframe/index.html

Students can find the US & Canada Contest Page on September 23rd, and access the simple registration form, and they'll find a lively community on our official contest Facebook page.

The contest begins on Monday, October 6 at noon EST, and allows students to log into a mainframe system from their home computers or computer labs to complete increasingly difficult technical challenges for bigger and bigger prizes (T-shirts, IBM swag prize packs, Google Nexus tablets, and trips).  If you have any questions about the contest, you can reach the IBM Academic Initiative System z program at zskills@us.ibm.com.  The contest runs through December 31st at midnight EST.  

Students who complete Part 2 of the contest will be invited to send their resumes which we then send to enterprise systems employers.  Interested recruiters can link up with students through these resumes.  Students can also use their mainframe skills to help them apply for the jobs on our System z Job Board at systemzjobs.com.

Good luck to all students who participate!  

Here's a great flyer that you can print out and hand to your students!

(See attached file: 20014 MTMF Contest.pdf)

Troy D Crutcher
IBM Academic Initiative, System z

Cybersecurity

Here's a great article on how the role of cybersecurity has become increasingly significant in the public domain:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/business/ex-employees-say-home-depot-left-data-vulnerable.html?smid=re-share&_r=0

Mr. Svetlik

NCWIT Aspirations Award Information

For all female students:

Hello,

It’s time again to start thinking about NCWIT’s Aspirations in Computing Award! The application period opened Sept 15^th and goes through Nov 2^nd.

During this time period:

·         High school girls can apply

·         Teachers can submit recommendations for their female students

·         Teachers can nominate themselves or others for the Educator Award

Information and the link to all applications can be found here - http://www.aspirations.org

There is also a poster attached that can be printed and displayed.

Our goal this year is to reach as many new schools as possible to spread the word about this incredible opportunity. NCWIT research has found that girls are more likely to apply when encouraged to do so by an adult. Please actively promote this award program in your school and community and give girls that extra boost of confidence they need to apply.

If there is any additional information or support I can provide, please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Thank you,

Jill McQueeney

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Women in Tech & Operations

Work Email: jill.mcqueeney@baml.com

Personal Email: jillmcqueeney@gmail.com

Office: 312.234.3242

Cell: 312.315.3940

ACSL Contest Info

See below for the ACSL Contest.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to particpate.

- Mr. Svetlik

ACSL has offered a unique programming competition for 36 years. Here are some excellent reasons to participate this year:

- ACSL contests are conducted at your local school or institution throughout the year.

- All of your students can compete and be successful, not just a very few.

- All necessary preparation materials are supplies as soon as you register.

- The contest allows for various experience levels - Junior, Intermediate, and Senior.

- The Classroom Division provides a non-programming version of the contest.

- Programs can be written in any language(s) that the students know how to use.

- ACSL can extend the actual curriculum in computer science or be used as an extracurricular activity.

- New, creative contest questions and programming problems are used every year.

- Previous years' contest questions are able to be purchased for extra practice.

- Important Computer Science topics such as Boolean Algebra, Graph Theory, Computer Number Systems, and Data Structures are introduced.

- Prizes are awarded on a regional basis to top scoring students and teams during the year.

- Fast e-mail response is provided for all questions and concerns.

- Sample student-written programs in several languages are provided after each contest.

- The level of programming increases in difficulty as the year progresses starting with only IF-THEN statements for the first contest.

- ACSL has sponsored regional contests continuously since 1978 and is now international.

- There is an annual All-Star Contest that is hosted at a different location every year and this year it is in Orlando, FL!

- ACSL is on the Approved Activities List of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

- ACSL is an institutional member of CSTA.

- All of the ACSL team members have been high school Computer Science teachers.

If you are interested in participating in the ACSL contests, please visit our web site www.acsl.org, read the 'How the ACSL Works' link and view the 'Sample Questions' link. All questions about ACSL can be sent to Jerry Tebrow @ jerry@acsl.org.

Coding in Action for Making a Difference

Here's a front-page article that came out in the September 14 2014 edition of the Daily Herald on a student who used coding to make a difference for working to eliminate bullying:

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140914/news/140919103/

Pretty cool.

Svetty

CS on 9-11

In reflecting on how computer science has impacted our lives in so many ways, it's worth knowing that CS played a significant role in honoring the victims of the 9-11 tragedy.

Follow the link below for more info:

http://betabeat.com/2011/05/how-a-computer-algorithm-cracked-the-code-on-the-911-memorial/

Mr. Svetlik

For Anyone Interested in Learning Circuit Design

Virtual Circuit Builder..

http://www.123dapp.com/circuits

This is a fun offshoot of CS that will strengthen your understanding of internal circuitry.  Check it out.

Svetty

Record Year for APCS Enrollment

Fresh from the College Board:

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140717190306-1287-a-record-year-for-computer-science

Svetty

New Research on STEM Grads vs non-STEM grads

Hot off the press:

http://www.pddnet.com/news/2014/07/survey-finds-math-science-grads-earn-top-dollar

Let the data do the talking....

Svetty

50 Resources Every CS Student Should Know

Worth a look for anyone with an interest in learning CS.  Familiarity with modern tools is considered an essential in today's job market:

http://www.computersciencezone.org/50-essential-online-tools-for-every-computer-science-student/

Svetty

Check this out! Talk about cool.

This device from the Tangible Media Group at MIT is worth a look...

Svetty

What IT Professionals Want vs. How CS Is Taught

An excellent blogpost contrasting what IT Professionals are hoping for out of school CS programs vs. one teacher's perspective on what ought to be taught:

http://codeboom.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/wholikesphp/

Svetty

On Mathematical Knowledge

Thanks to Dia C. for passing this along.  Worth a look at what constitutes good mathematical knowledge (and, by extension, good logical processing when writing code)

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/02/318252678/how-not-to-be-wrong-in-math-class-add-a-dose-of-skepticism?sc=ipad&f=1008

Svetty

Java Visualizer and WebSheets

Hi all,

These were shared with me not too long ago.  Two great tools worth investigating for people learning to code in Java.

http://cscircles.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/java_visualize/

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~cos126/websheets/index.php#Distance

Svetty

UK to make CS part of the core curriculum

See article below for more info:

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/codecademy/

Svetty

Predominant Programming Languages

Check out the following for a visualization on the most predominant programming languages in use as defined by data collected through GitHub and tags on StackOverflow.

http://langpop.corger.nl

Svetty

Where the Good Jobs Are

This from Matt Lyons... good read:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/01/22/the-college-degrees-that-get-the-most-job-offers/

Mr. Svetlik

Another Good Review Web Site for the AP Test

Just discovered this one... provides a good reference for several topics, including GridWorld.

http://apcomputersciencetutoring.com/exam-review/

Svetty

An article on when the right time should be to get students involved in computer science...

Thanks to Ms. Saxman in English for sending this my way.

http://m.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/techs-gender-and-race-gap-starts-in-high-school/282966/

Mr. Svetlik

On the use of computers vs the value of computer science

See below for an article on how so much emphasis in schooling is being placed on using computers... and not necessarily in knowing how they work and how they are programmed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/high-school-students-are-all-about-computers-but-get-little-instruction-in-computer-science/2014/04/23/13979eda-c185-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html

Steve

"Hacking" Competition

See below for an upcoming competition:

CSTA ANNOUNCEMENTS LISTSERV

HSCTF, an online competition which will educate high school students across the country about computer security, runs from May 18-25, 2014. Competitors in High School Capture the Flag (or HSCTF) will learn computer science skills, and use ingenuity to discover a series of increasingly hard to find “flags” encrypted, hidden, or otherwise stored somewhere difficult to access.

While HSCTF is primarily about educating students in computer security, it will also include other computer science topics such as programming, algorithm design, and programming language design. The approach is unique in that it extends the CTF model to other areas of computer science.

HSCTF is inspired by Carnegie Mellon's enormously successful picoCTF:

https://picoctf.com/

To learn more, see sample problems, and sign up to receive more information about registration, visit:

http://hsctf.com/

For questions, contact Jacob Edelman, HSCTF Lead Founder/Organizer at:

jacob@HSCTF.com.

Getting a Handle on the Grading Process

Check out this web site for a ballparking tool for predicting your grade on the APCS test based on performance on the MC and the FR.

http://appass.com/calculators/computerscience

Svetty

For 2nd-year (and soon-to-be 2nd-year students)

This comes from Professor Beckman... an article on why learning Clojure maybe, just maybe, might be worth your while.

http://puppetlabs.com/blog/new-era-application-services-puppet-labs

Svetty

New Contest

Here is a chance for your students to use their coding skills to win big!

Summer family movie EARTH TO ECHO is hosting "Code: Echo": a Challenge for students K-12 to create a game inspired by the film. Students can download assets and get creative.

PRIZES:
In each category there will be:
1 grand prize winner ($5,000.00 + hometown screening)
1 runner-up prize winner ($2,500.00)

WHO CAN ENTER
Students of all ages, a team with up to 4 friends, or an entire classroom.

Entries are due May 2nd. Start coding at www.codeechomovie.com.

Asli Taylor
Relativity Media
email: codeecho@relativitymedia.com

Some REALLY cool robots worth checking out...

Imagine learning how to program at five years old... :)

http://youtu.be/uLDQDaPHy9E

Svetty

"Best" colleges and majors

For those interested in learning a little more about the "best" colleges out there:

http://lanetechcs.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/which-college-and-which-major-will-make-you-richest/

Mr. Svetlik

Opportunity for girls interested in iOS app dev

NCWIT is excited to announce a collaboration with Apple to increase the participation of young women in the 2014 World Wide Developers Conference.  Please share this opportunity with your networks of students. 

 There is a very short window to apply, so it is a bit time sensitive.

Here are some quick highlights for student scholarships:

- Now open to students 13+, application details developer.apple.com/wwdc/students

- No paid program membership required. (By contrast, regular ticket purchase is only available to current paid program members) Developers who are not already registered will be directed to register for free as an Apple Developer during submission of their scholarship application.

- Students must create an app and submit it to be considered for the scholarship. 

- Submissions will be accepted starting Friday April 11 at 10am until Monday April 14 at 5pm

- Full details and guidelines for app submission and well as terms and conditions can be found at the student pages in the links below. 

https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/students/Student-Scholarship-Guidelines-and-Terms.pdf

Quarter Three Employability Statements

1st Period:     http://goo.gl/dcx8F8

2nd Period:    http://goo.gl/nGjr58

Please make sure this is done before spring break!

Big Data

Dale Reed's article on "Big Data".  Relevant to the discussion of why to search or sort.

https://sites.google.com/site/uiccs100/big-data

Svetty

Good Searching/Sorting Algorithms Videos and Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPRA0W1kECg <-- audibilization of many algorithms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4RRi_ntQc8 <-- good for a laugh

http://math.hws.edu/eck/jsdemo/sortlab.html <-- contains easy-to-follow visuals for each

http://www.sorting-algorithms.com/ <-- shows how each algorithm works for a variety of cases

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrN6J8No080 <-- shows binary search in visual

Yoda Conditions

Remember that I had always mentioned that thing about the equals sign in Java needing to be in a certain direction?  Well, someone actually came up with a name for that whole concept.

This, from a student of mine:

"I came across this wikipedia page on Yoda Conditions and thought you might want to show the class it."

Worth checking out.

- Mr. Svetlik

And a follow-up to the Self-Driving Cars

Good follow up to the autonomous car.  This, from Mr. Tiveron.

http://www.bostondynamics.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/BostonDynamics

Self-Driving Cars

Found this article very fascinating on the implications of software design and AI on driving technology.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Nov60fUk9kRk5MUldOOWlfWjg/edit?usp=sharing

- Mr. Svetlik

An Interesting (Retro) Read on Coding

Thanks to Mrs. Luepke for passing this interesting read along.

http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/19990901-00-a.html

- Mr. Svetlik

A history of "Big Data"

A look back (way back) through the history of data visualization...

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-weve-been-visualising-big-data-over-the-centuries

- Mr Svetlik

NPR Article on CS at an Early Age

Hi all,

This article was passed my way on getting more interest in CS at an earlier age.  Just imagine if everyone started learning how to code when they were also learning how to read and write...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/02/17/271151462/a-push-to-boost-computer-science-learning-even-at-an-early-age

Mr. Svetlik

Shuffling Algorithms

This comes from Michael Malis, who wanted to share a link he came across regarding shuffling algorithms.  Might come in handy as you work through Shoe.

- Mr. Svetlik