Computer Science Education Week (December 5-11, 2010)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) encourages all of our supporters to find a way to get engaged in the upcoming Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek). CSEdWeek 2010 is a call to action to raise awareness about computer science education and computing careers. CSEdWeek is endorsed by the U.S. Congress and designated as December 5-11, 2010 in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Hopper (December 9, 1906).

CSEdWeek aims to:

• Eliminate misconceptions about computer science and computing careers.
• Communicate the endless opportunities for which computer science education prepares students in K-12, higher education and careers.
• Provide information and activities for students, educators, parents, and corporations to advocate for computer science education at all levels.

Why Computer Science?
Computer science is ubiquitous; it touches everyone’s daily lives and plays a critical role in today’s society by driving innovation and economic growth. The field is shaping the future by solving some of the world’s grandest challenges and creating today’s most exciting innovations. Computing related jobs remain strong despite the nation’s extraordinary economic challenges.

Why Computer Science Education?
Computer science education is essential to:

• Expose students to critical thinking and problem solving.
• Instill understanding of computational thinking for success in the digital age.
• Train students for computing careers that are exciting, plentiful and financially rewarding.
• Prepare students to tackle the world’s most challenging problems.

Yet as the role and significance of computing has grown, the teaching of computer science in our K-12 education system has dramatically declined. There is insufficient innovative computing curricula for students at all levels; few students have the opportunity to study computer science in an engaging and rigorous way; there is a lack of ethnic and gender diversity among those who do take computer science courses; and teachers have few opportunities for professional development and certification in computer science education.

Join In! Everyone can participate:

• Take the CSEdWeek pledge! Register your support and share your plans to celebrate at www.computinginthecore.org.
• ‘Like’ CSEdWeek on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CSEdWeek and join the conversation.
• Blog, tweet, and post to spread the word and raise awareness.
• Use the #CSEdWeek hashtag.
• Celebrate CSEdWeek in your BDPA chapter, school, club, or workplace.
• Visit http://www.CSEdWeek.org for other suggested activities and resources.

Sponsors and Partners
CSEdWeek is a collaborative effort of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), National Science Foundation (NSF), Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT), WGBH, Computing Research Association (CRA), Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (ABI), Microsoft, Google, SAS, Intel, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

CSEdWeek is an activity of Computing in the Core, a non-partisan advocacy coalition of associations, corporations, scientific societies, and other non-profits that strive to elevate computer science education to a core academic subject in K-12 education.

Next step is yours.  Will you be engaged with CSEdWeek this year?