Computer Science Education Week

Last month Congress by passing a resolution  designating the week of December 7 (in honor of Grace Hopper’s  birthday) as Computer Science Education Week.

It is being lauded as a week to focus on CS Education in the K-12 demographic.  As chair of ACM’s Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), I would like to exhort my colleagues in the university sector to consider ways to promote and celebrate Computer Science Education.

We in the field do have much to celebrate.  A substantive revision of the ACM/IEEE Computing Curriculum for Computer Science focuses more on relevant computing, computing security and parallel computing than in the past.  NCWIT and others are producing wonderful materials to aid in attracting more females and underrepresented groups to computing.

Universities are beginning to report a turnaround in the numbers of students enrolling in computer science courses.  We need to capitalize on this rising tide.

Let others know what is happening at your institution.  Computer Science Education week can provide a great opportunity for faculty and students in Computer Science to arrange to tell the story of computer science and its amazing potential for careers and contributions to society.  Contact your local school district and volunteer to make a presentation.  Write an article for your newspaper.  Blog about computer science.