Abstract

Abstract: Many of you will know that Simon PJ, Chris Bishop, and Andrew Herbert have been working with the Computing At School group (CAS) to improve the dire state of how we teach computing to our children at school level. This talk is a chance to hear the story from the other sidce of the Atlantic, where the CSTA (Computer Science Teachers Association) is well established, with a similar agenda to CAS . Chris Stephenson is the Executive Director of the CATA , so if you have any interest in school-level education you`ll want to come to this talk. Abstract: This talk looks at the current state of computer science education in the United States with the goal of exploring issues common to many countries. Beginning with an exploration of the new skills crisis, it will include information on why CS is a crucial academic discipline, what challenges we face in how the discipline is )or in many cases is not) taught in schools, some positive changes that are underway and more that are needed, and what role CSTA is playing in these changes. We will conclude with an open discussion of the challenges we in supporting CS education and some of the strategies we can employ to deal with them.