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"Learn how to use long exposure photography to take pictures that capture an image over time. Then use Sphero to draw with light."

"This fall, my computer science class will follow the new AP Computer Science curriculum framework while also including culturally responsive instruction that makes use of students' interests, community settings, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the students enjoy freestyle rap and dance, so they will learn how to simulate or enhance their performances using code. Other students study drawing and painting, so they will learn how to use code to create their artwork. This approach is a gateway to computer science, using coding to foster creative expression, and supporting cultural responsiveness that addresses underrepresented students' lack of exposure to computer science."

"In order for students to be efficient in computational fluency, they must develop mental math skills and recall math facts automatically. Recall is a developmental process that improves computational fluency by developing efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility with numbers. The focus of instruction should be on thinking and on building number relationships. Facts become automatic for students through repeated exposure and practice. When facts are automatic, students are no longer using inefficient means, such as counting."

"The SAMR Model for integrating technology into teaching, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, has gained a good deal of exposure in recent years. "SAMR" is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. The SAMR model provides a technique for moving through degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and move away from simply using "tech for tech's sake". We recently discussed the SAMR model during an Academic Technology Work Group meeting at The College of Westchester. We examined the video, SAMR in 120 Seconds. One thing that really struck me is how much the example helped, so I made it a point to gather and/or create some more examples."

"The SAMR Model for integrating technology into teaching, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, has gained a good deal of exposure in recent years. "SAMR" is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. The SAMR model provides a technique for moving through degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and move away from simply using "tech for tech's sake"."

This looks like just the type of program a middle school librarian could love. CS, or Computer Science First is a free Google program designed to increase student exposure to computer science education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs in a club approach run by teachers and/or community volunteers. CS First works towards its goal of developing student courage, confidence and curiosity about computer science by providing a wealth of free training materials targeted at students grades 4 through 12. The resources may be tailored for nearly any schedule. Students learn how to build creative projects using Scratch, learn about the critical role computer science and coding play in today's world, and explore technology-based career options. There's something here every kid could love as well.

"Teachers and students can make their projects shine and amplify learning by illustrating ideas with photographs, drawings, symbols, and "big bang" images. The Pictoral Superiority Effect (PSE) is described in Brain Rules by John Medina. Humans remember pictures a whole lot better than they remember words. Tested 72 hours after exposure to information, people remember about 10 percent of what was presented orally. If you add a photo, that figure jumps of to 65 percent. "

"Art has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"When educator Lynn Koresh hears from kids that they want a career doing something with computers, she asks, "To do what with computers?" Adults often encourage kids to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, and computing classes are usually a first stop. But Koresh knows it's the real-world applications of computational thinking and coding language skills that bring such knowledge to life. She reasoned that most middle school students are already playing video games and might respond well to a unit on how to design, create, test and promote video games. Along the way, she's also teaching them about digital citizenship and entrepreneurship. "I wanted to give kids exposure to what it means to have a career using computers," said Koresh, technology coordinator at Edgewood Campus School in Madison, Wisconsin."

Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and simple video games. In Alice, 3-D objects (e.g., people, animals, and vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a program to animate the objects

"Code.org sums up the situation nicely: Computer science drives innovation in the U.S. economy and society. Despite growing demand for jobs in the field, it remains marginalized throughout the U.S. K-12 education system. There are many reasons for this. As you well know, teachers are already stretched pretty thin, and often it seems like there's just no bandwidth to add something new to a very full schedule. Additionally, some schools have few or no computers and/or tablets for classroom use. But the earlier we introduce children to coding, the more comfortable they will be when presented with more in-depth learning opportunities in middle and high school. Also, early exposure to coding helps teach children how important it is to understand computers as the valuable tools they are rather than merely fun playthings."

" "Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC, in a prepared statement. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change." The other, Minecraft for Educators, "is a course for teachers who are wishing to gamify their learning experiences and deliver a unique pedagogy that will engage, enthuse and keep learners coming back for more," according to information released by the company. Both MOOCs are available through the Canvas Network. Minecraft for Educators will start January 26, 2015 and run through March 9. The company has also released a Minecraft app to allow students to submit assignments to the Canvas learning management system from within the game. Using the app, students can tag what they've made in the game for their teachers to visit, upload books they've written in game directly to the speed grader or use the game's circuitry tool to complete assignments that will be automatically graded. A video demonstration of the app is available at YouTube. Other MOOCs for teachers in the suite include: Digital Literacies 1; Digital Literacies 2; Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers; Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls; and Tinker, Make and Learn. Among the other MOOC offerings in the new suite is a course designed specifically for parents, Parenting in the Digital Age, which aims to help them address issues such as cyberbullying, digital citizenship, exposure to inappropriate content, media literacy and screentime. Taught by Andrew Swickheimer, director of technology at Noblesville Schools, the self-paced course opens September 22. "Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice pres

"Saturday morning someone asked me why some of my tweets start with a period. I was participating in the New Teacher to Twitter (#nt2t) chat. A twitter chat is an hour long conversation on a particular topic. This means that I am replying quite a bit. When you reply to a tweet it starts the tweet with the @symbol. Twitter assumes that when you are replying that you are talking to that person and not all of your followers. A tweet that starts with the @ symbol does not go to the Twitter stream of your followers. It can still be publicly seen through the hashtag or on your profile, so it is not private, but it does not get as much exposure as a regular tweet does."

"rt has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"While more teachers are using digital games in the classroom, how they decide which games to use and why is less standardized, according to a teacher survey of 694 K-8 teachers by the Games and Learning Publishing Council called Level Up Learning: A National Survey on Teaching with Digital Games. The report finds that teachers learn about games through informal means, such as peers within the school or school district, and could benefit from more explicit training programs. By not having a more formal process, the report finds that "teachers may not be getting exposure to the broader range of pedagogical strategies, resources, and types of games that can enhance and facilitate digital game integration.""

"Welcome to the Computer Science Education Week! By now you may have heard of this little thing called Hour of Code, a global initiative from Code.org and CS Ed Week to get everyone-adults and kids alike!-to try just one hour of programming. Why? No, not so everyone can become programmers, but because exposure to programming can teach logic, problem solving, critical thinking, and demystify technology. Oh, and it's also fun!"

"Computational thinking has been trending, but what is it, really? Simply put, computational thinking is a method of reasoning that teaches students how to solve real-world, complex problems with strategies that computers use. Computational thinking and the design thinking process are frameworks for problem-solving to help address the need for 21st-century skills across our nation's K-12 school system. While computation governs the world around us, computational thinking as a teaching and learning framework is a new concept for many. These skills are becoming progressively important due to the constant evolution of technology and its place in our economy. An increasingly automated workforce means students who have had exposure to tech-thinking will be more likely to succeed. To help get students future-ready, I've identified seven effective thinking strategies to equip young innovators with valuable problem-solving abilities. Using these tips, students will not only be learning important skills, but will be preparing for what lies ahead post-graduation."

"At the secondary level, core computer science (CS) concepts and practices are taught in courses typically within the information technology (IT) career cluster under the umbrella of career and technical education (CTE). However, CS concepts and practices are also increasingly being incorporated into academics and also electives (and are influenced by art and design). No matter the discipline, creating computational artifacts is one of the core CS practices students should consistently experience to become better problem-solvers. Computational artifacts may include images, videos, presentations, audio files and computer programs. Precise and consistent practice in computer programming (CP) will help students construct cross-curricular knowledge in tandem with both academic and CS concepts and practices. As CP is the process of writing a program from start to finish, students receive exposure in the amalgamation of practices 3-6 found in the K-12 Computer Science Framework. So, how can we successfully engage students in CP? Here's how we can do so in four major steps."

"Like most students at the time, I did not have access to computer science classes when I attended Wilde Lake High School in Columbia during the 1980s. I only stumbled upon the field when my high school math teacher recommended that I take a FORTRAN programming course at Howard Community College. I quickly learned that programming was like nothing I had experienced in school before. Whenever I finally solved a problem, there was a deeply satisfying "aha!" moment. As a result, I studied computer science at Harvard and received my Ph.D. in the field from the University of California, Berkeley. Nearly four decades after I took that first FORTRAN class, I'm a professor of computer science and associate dean at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I was fortunate to have found my passion, even though computer science was not taught at my school. The unfortunate fact is that most K-12 schools still do not teach computer science, and most of today's high school and college students - particularly women - have still had little or no exposure to computational thinking, coding or computer science. There are certainly many students who would make great computer scientists, or who could leverage computing skills to achieve success in any number of other fields, who never take a single related class. Even in Maryland, one of the most technologically advanced states in the nation, only 14 percent of students take a computer science class in high school, and nearly half of the public high schools do not offer any AP computer science classes."