CSEdWeek 2010 | Day 3: Exploring Computer Science

For Day 3 of CSEd Week, we are featuring a webcast from NSF that celebrates CSEdWeek 2010 and talks about Exploring Computer Science, a resource that’s featured here on ScratchEd.

The video titled: “Inspiring the Next Bill Gates,” spotlights programs that engage a diversity of students in computer science.


In the video, NSF’s Lisa-Joy Zgorski speaks with CSEdWeek representative Cameron Wilson of the Association for Computing Machinery and spotlights two exciting NSF-funded programs that engage a diversity of students not usually exposed to computer science: GLITCH at Georgia Tech, represented by Amy Bruckman, associate professor at the College of Computing, PhD candidate Betsy DiSalvo and GLITCH Alumnus James Bowland-Gleason; and E-Textiles at MIT represented by Leah Buechley, assistant professor and director of the High-Low Tech group at the MIT Media Lab, and student Emily Lovell.

In the webcast, Cameron Wilson stresses the importance of computer science, saying that, “the future is very bright for computer science.” He mentions that although computing has become ubiquitous and while the industry is driving economic growth and innovation, there is a need for more exposure to computer science in the K-12 level. Cameron also highlights successful programs such as: “Exploring Computer Science,” an extensive curriculum guide created for high-school students in Los Angeles with grants from the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and as part of the Broadening Participation in Computing initiative from the National Science Foundation (NSF). He also mentions that students are “inherently creators,” and thus its important to focus not just on the usage of technology, but also on giving students the knowledge to create technologies for the future.