ESL Blog #6 - #CSForAllPA

For the 2019-2020 school year, I am planning on teaching the AP Computer Science Principles and AP Computer Science-A courses.  The courses are not only a recommendation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Department of Education, but also another step in the direction of equity for students in our diverse population.  With computer science coming into its second year at William Penn SHS, I am committed to making sure all students are represented from all backgrounds.  That being said, I also have to be very strategic in how I am making these curriculum's available to students in our district.

CS Programs for EL Students

At the University of Texas in El Paso, Tech-E classes, seminars, and summer programs have been created to increase migrant student exploration in computer science.  The article I found in my Google Alerts talked about the start of this program in 2015, where it was just a small summer week-long camp, and that it has grown to full-semester courses offered yearly to undergraduates at UTEP.  The program is very strategic in offering experiences to students who are in transient worker families and exposes them to computer science and engineering.  This program is something that I think could be modeled at the high school level, and be used to get students interested in CS at the elementary and middle school levels.

CS Tools that could be used to inspire the next generation.
Raspberry Pi, Micro Bits & Video Games!

A pair of professors at Northwestern are also trying to make computer science more inclusive.  Sara Hood and Ian Horswill are looking to expand computer science offered to EL students, women and African Americans.  They are working to make sure all student have a safe space to practice computer science and realize that failure is just a stepping stone when creating computer programming.  The two are also making sure that students in the CS111 introductory course are coding for a purpose, to make something personal and worthwhile.  Giving students personal connections to a course make it more meaningful, and something that I can do with my CS students and the projects they are going to be creating.

The Push for CS in PA

Some very alarming statistics came out of Pennsylvania in the 2017-2018 data for students.  Out of 4,010 students that took the AP CS exams, only 309 were from minorities including EL Students.  Many students do not take the opportunity to try CS and luckily Governor Tom Wolf has already spent $40 Million on computer science grants for students and apprenticeships.  All of these initiatives are starting to be pushed in PA for the 2019-2020 school year, and I feel so glad to be a part of the Computer Science For All drive.  I am more proud that I began the program at our school a year before the state push.  Now I need to challenge more of our EL students to try Computer Science.

PA CS Statistics from the #CSForAllPA Summit

Blog #5 ESL 509 - New EdTech

After a great 4th of July Week and some much-needed downtime from grad work, I am back at it!

This week my Google Alerts brought me an interesting article from Proactive Investors, Lingo Media Corp is building a new English Language Learning tool.  They are a print-based publisher from China, looking to expand how they teach EL students.  The article cites in the world today there are 1.6 Billion people learning English as a Second a Language right now.  The media literacy giant is trying to break into a new market with its program that will be unique.  Harmantas, has some inside details about Lingo Media Corp’s program, stating “A major differentiating feature of the product is Lingo’s speech recognition technology that allows users to analyze pronunciation and simulate real-life conversation scenarios. Users can record and compare themselves with native speakers to match their pronunciation.”

With technologies based on assessing and giving realtime feedback on an L2 student's English speaking skills, students will increase their English acquisition.  Technology is on a rise and new ways of educating our students are making everyday tasks more authentic and meaningful for EL students.  Courseware introduced by established companies looking to break through to a new way of learning should be highly looked at by educators.  Some technologies can help enhance a classroom and even create an easier job for the teacher who is looking to add some mechanics where work can be easily replicated by a machine. 

I really enjoy looking for new technologies for use in any classroom.  EdTech is a passion of mine and I think a wide variety of technologies can be used to assist in all student learning.  Personalizing the learning allows student choice, gives the student a voice and empowers their learning.