Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information from Alfred Thompson
Alfred Thompson's blog about teaching computer science at the K-12 level. Alfred was a high school computer science teacher for 8 years. He has also taught grades K-8 as a computer specialist.
So you want to teach computer science?
A number of years ago after being laid off from a job developing software I went into teaching. I...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/08/2012
There Is More To Computing Than Computer Science
Last week Doug Peterson pointed me to an article called “Let’s not call it computer science if we...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 06/05/2012
How do they know they are interested?
Or more importantly how do students know that they are NOT interested in computer science? As I...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/31/2012
Kinect for Windows: SDK and Runtime version 1.5 Released
If you are using the Kinect sensor for projects, especially if you have the new Kinect for Widows...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/25/2012
Be What’s Next!
Grace Hopper used to tell her audiences that if they ever used “because we have always done it this...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/18/2012
What should the High School CS curriculum look like?
I get asked questions like this a lot “can you share how you would construct a 3 year programming...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/17/2012
Please Don’t Learn To Code
I am a late convert to the idea of computer science education for everyone. Or pretty close to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/15/2012
Student Implemented SharePoint Solutions
I hear a lot of questions about SharePoint. Things like what can I do with it? How hard is it to...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/15/2012
Learning Should Be Fun
Years ago I was sitting the the front of church and via a fluke of acoustics I heard a little girl...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/11/2012
Game Design with XNA, Kinect and Windows Phone
Please take a look at the new Game Design with XNA and Microsoft Technologies: Advanced XNA, Kinect,...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/10/2012
A reminder–CS & IT Conference 2012
Have you signed up for the best value in computer science education professional development? In...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/09/2012
Interesting Links 7 May 2012
I didn’t have much to say last week so I decided not to say much on the blog. I also took a couple...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/07/2012
New Podcast Series - The Campus Coder
Glen Gordon and Ed Donahue have a new podcast series, The Campus Coder. The first podcast is with...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 05/01/2012
Interesting Links 30 April 2012
Home again! A lot of traveling the last two weeks but I’ll be home for a while now. I had a great...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/30/2012
Fun is to Entertainment as Education is to Training
How often have you heard a teacher say something to the effect that their job is not to entertain?...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/28/2012
US Imagine Cup Winners 2012
The 2012 Imagine Cup is now history for most teams. A few are still involved as they are on their...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/24/2012
Interesting Links 23 April 2012
I’ve been in Redmond WA at Microsoft’s headquarters since last Friday for the US Finals of the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/23/2012
Computer Science Across the Curriculum
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Seung Yu, the principal of the new Academy for Software...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/20/2012
Better Learning Through Movement
And fun as well. Recently a co-worker sent me a link to some videos that were done by the Houston...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/18/2012
Plagiarism v. Learning
The SIGCSE mailing list has been having a very active discussion of plagiarism in computer science...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/17/2012
Interesting Links 16 April 2012
Later this week I head out to Redmond Washington to take part in the US finals of the Imagine Cup....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/16/2012
Keeping it real
Lee Kolbert wrote a blog post (Dear Will Richardson ) that I see as a real call to action for those...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/15/2012
Recognizing Teachers Who Recruit Women and Girls into STEM
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology has opened nominations for the A. Richard Newton...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/12/2012
What Do Magic and Computer Science Have in Common?
Industrial Light and Magic has got to be one of the coolest company names I have ever heard. It...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/11/2012
dream.build.play reminder
The dream.build.play challenge is still wide open for people looking to take their Windows Phone or...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/10/2012
Interesting Links Post 9 April 2012
I need a favor. A small favor. I need people to click this link and go vote for the Imagine Cup...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/09/2012
Learn The Cloud. Make A Difference. @home with Windows Azure
How does learning about cloud computing while contributing to scientific research sound to you? Join...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/07/2012
Women In Computer Science–What Happened?
Years ago, when I was a student at Taylor University (in what is now the Taylor Computer Science and...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/05/2012
2012 US Imagine Cup People’s Choice Voting
The voting is now open for the US Imagine Cup People’s Choice award. You can visit the web...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 04/04/2012
Why Universities Should Host High School Programming Contests
I finished up last week with a trip to Western New England University where they were running a high...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/27/2012
Who Is In Charge
I have to confess that I have not been doing a great job of keeping up with my blog reading...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/25/2012