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IP&T 372 Course Introduction

This course is part of a 3-part series to enable teachers to teach effectively with technology.  As technology needs and uses in the classroom change, teachers' knowledge of how to use technology needs to also change accordingly.  Our goal with these three courses is to prepare you to be an educator who knows how to effectively use and think with technology to meet current and emergent needs. The 3 courses that make up this series each fills a different and emergent technological need.  They are:

IP&T 371: Technology Integration tools—Learn about many different technologies and theories for utilizing these to be a better teacher.

IP&T 372: Coding and Computational Thinking—Learn how to think computationally by using computer programming to solve problems.

IP&T 373: Online and Blended Learning—Learn how to teach online and how to use technological tools to effectively manage online and in-person learning.

IP&T 372: Coding and Computational Thinking

You might be thinking, "I'm going to be an elementary or early childhood educator.  When will I ever need to learn to code a computer?"  Did you know that educational systems all over the world are now beginning to require that students learn to code, with many of these starting in elementary school?  For example in the 2014-2015 school year, England began requiring that kids learn to code beginning in kindergarten and continue with computing education every year through 8th grade?  In fact, 16 European countries, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel all require students to learn to code or to develop software in some way.  

 

But you might be saying, "So what? I'm not planning on teaching abroad!" Did you know that 19 U.S. states now require that all high school students complete at least .5-credit of computer science?  But let's bring this closer to home.  Guess what the most common job in Utah is, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (play with this interactive timeline https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/05/382664837/map-the-most-common-job-in-every-state Links to an external site.).  That's right—it's a software developer!  In fact, there have been several recent developments in Utah regarding teaching coding in K-12 just in the past year.

  1. In July, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) adopted a master plan to make CS Education available to all K-12 students by 2022.  That means all elementary teachers will need to know how to teach coding within the next 2 years! You can read the master plan here: https://www.pluralsight.com/content/dam/pluralsight2/one/pdf/Utah-CS-Education-Master-Plan.pdf Links to an external site.
  2. Links to an external site.The USBE has written, approved, and adopted Elementary computer science standards for K-5. (https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/f354a1aa-1b9c-47a4-9c41-0a6155d87653 Links to an external site.).  As elementary educators, you will need to be aware of these standards.  UEN is currently developing resources to help integrate coding into the Utah core.
  3. The 6-12th grade standards were just adopted.  Read them at https://www.schools.utah.gov/cte?mid=3363&tid=5 Links to an external site.
  4. The governor is budgeting $10.2 million for CS Ed. in 2020.
  5. A public interest fund created by Silicon Slopes CEOs, who each donated $1 million of their personal funds.  They did this because they want to be able to hire Utah students, but currently there are not enough Utah students who know how to code or think computationally to solve problems with technology.  Anyone can donate to this fund.
  6. As of December 2019, 40 of 41 Utah School districts had developed a plan to bring CS to all students by 2022 (a requirement if they want any government funds to support their efforts).

But why do so many people believe coding and computational thinking are important?  And what are they anyway?  Read the next few modules to find out more about each of these skills.