Wednesday through Friday

July 24, 25 & 26, 2013

A Workshop and Conference on Computer Science
for Middle and High School Teachers
to be held on the UMass Lowell Campus

Dear teachers,

CS4HS (Computer Science for High School) is an initiative sponsored by Google to promote computer science and computational thinking in the high school and middle school curriculum.

This year, our workshop will provide a deep dive into MIT App Inventor, the blocks-based programming system for Android devices.

We'll be working directly with App Inventor each of the three days. We'll also develop approaches for including App Inventor into your computer science, technology, mathematics, or science curriculum.

So this year's event is specifically designed for middle and high school teachers who plan to introduce App Inventor to their students during the 2013–2014 school year.

As part of the conference registration, we will require a letter from your department head or principal, attesting to your institution's support of your plans to bring App Inventor to your students.

As in past years, we will also have short, fun faculty research talks, networking and conversation time, and an evening social event.

Our event is supported with a grant from Google Education. We require a registration fee of $100 to help us cover workshop costs. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided all three days; plus, we will take you out to a restaurant dinner on Thursday night.

Thanks to the Google grant, we are able to provide lodging for a small number of non-local participants. If you live more than 90 minutes (one-way) commute to Lowell, follow the instructions on the registration form for requesting lodging.

Click the button below to register:

 
umasslowell2013cs4hs.eventbrite.com

Overview: The conference will consist of a three-day workshop on computational thinking with App Inventor including a participatory curriculum design strand, plus research talks, panels, and discussion sessions.

We'll study four aspects of computational thinking together with practical coding practices: (1) sequences and events; (2) representation and modeling; (3) persistence and sharing; and (4) algorithms and complexity.

We'll also introduce an infusion model where computational thinking approaches are integrated with other subjects (math, science, technology, or the liberal arts). Each participant will create an original lesson design based on this infusion approach.

Location: The workshop will be held at UMass Lowell's Olsen Hall (198 Riverside St., Lowell MA).

Sessions will be held on the 2nd and 3rd floors as noted below.

All full-group meetings will be held in the 3rd floor conference room (OS311).

Draft schedule below – details may be adjusted.