Friday, April 27, 2012

UNI to Offer Free Scratch Computer Science Training

University of Northern Iowa hopes will be offering two summer Scratch workshops. Scratch is a graphical programming environment designed at MIT to be appropriate for students in grades 4-12. The goal of these workshops is to prepare Grade 7-12 teachers to use computational tools and thinking in their classrooms, both in computer science courses and in content-area courses such as math, science and the humanities. See below about workshop details and registration information. Tuition, supplies and lunch will be provided to all who complete the workshops thanks to a generous grant from Google.

Introduction to Scratch in Education - 1 cr. hr
Date: July 11-13, 2012
(plus one follow-up Saturday in November 2012)
Preparation for teachers in Grades 7-12 to have their students use Scratch in the classroom (all disciplines). This workshop will address the basics of Scratch (mostly by example), ways to introduce Scratch to students and a discussion on general classroom integration. No computer science or programming background required. Teachers will be expected to have their students use Scratch and to report on that use during a follow-up meeting in November 2012.

Teaching Programming Using Scratch - 1 cr. hr.
Dates: July 16-18, 2012
(plus one follow-up Saturday in November 2012)
Preparation for teachers in Grades 7-12 to teach a unit on computer programming using Scratch or a similar graphical languages. This workshop will review the basics of programming as well as discuss the challenges and methods of teaching introductory programming. Participants are expected to have prior experience with Scratch or some other programming experience. Teachers will be expected to plan and begin teaching a unit on computer programming to an appropriate group of students and to report on that use during a follow-up meeting in November 2012.

To apply for either of these workshops, submit an application via http://www.cs.uni.edu/connections/cs4hs/ prior to May 11, 2012.

Questions can be directed to Ben Schafer, Assoc. Professor in Computer Science, at schafer@cs.uni.edu or (319) 273-2187.

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