Understanding computer science concepts has become a fundamental skill for everyone, regardless of their career or field of study. From birth, children are surrounded by a dizzying array of highly sophisticated technology, including smartphones with ubiquitous Internet access, lightweight tablet computers delivering games and educational content, on-demand entertainment, and even driverless electric cars.
Recognizing how important digital literacy is to a child’s future success and security, K–12 teachers across the state are being encouraged to register for “Summer of CS” workshops that kick off with an overview event on June 5, 2023. A variety of topics will be covered and approximately 1,000 educators are expected to participate statewide.
Workshops are being conducted in person and virtually with most running for either 3 or 5 days. Teachers and paraprofessional educators can receive a $175 per day (6 hours) incentive for active participation. Because of capacity constraints, registration is limited to one workshop per person. The registration deadline has been extended to May 24, 2023.
State Funds Continue Computer Science Training
Teachers can effectively merge important computer science lessons with their general education concepts—even for young children. Lessons might include things like using picture cards to sequence events (putting on shoes, brushing teeth, then leaving for school), using conditional statements to determine an end result (if the recess bell rings when it’s raining, put on your jacket), or using repeating song lyrics to teach repeating loops.
In order to help educators learn how to incorporate these types of lessons at all grade levels, California included $15 million in the 2022–23 budget to continue ongoing computer science training for educators (like the “Summer of CS” workshops) through February 2025. The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) has been selected by the California Department of Education (CDE) to oversee the training, leveraging a network of more than 40 regional education organizations. The goal is to provide teachers with computer science training options that will fit their specific needs across a wide variety of subjects and grade levels, focusing on topics that are relevant to the grade spans identified in the State Computer Science Standards (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12).
To learn more about statewide professional learning opportunities for computer science, please visit the Seasons of Computer Science website. SCOE also lists Professional Learning Opportunities online.