When a chart-topping musician like Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am calls programmers the “real rock stars,” you know computer science has gone mainstream. Indeed, last year record numbers of girls, African American, and Hispanic students took the recently revised Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles.

Inspire your students to explore this creative field by joining more than 71,900 schools, libraries, and other organizations around the world to celebrate Computer Science Education Week from December 3 to 9.  Host an Hour of Code, community Tech Jam, or classroom activity – in 45 languages. (Get how-to details here.)

The “largest learning event in history” – which marks the birthday of computer pioneer Grace Hopper – includes Star Wars-based tutorials for beginners as young as four, a way-finding with code lesson from Disney’s Moana, inspiring videos about learning computer science, a new Minecraft  Hour of Code adventure for student in grades 2 and up, create a virtual pet activity from Grok Learning, and even “unplugged” Hour of Code activities for people without a computer or Internet connection (available in Spanish). Or sign up for Apple’s free Hour of Code lessons at stores worldwide.

Check out these educator resources to get free curricula and ideas for your classroom. There are also resources for policy advocacy, including a state-by-state list of proposed, successful, and failed legislative efforts to promote computer science education.

The National Science Foundation-sponsored Computer Science for All Teachers offers free resources, teaching tips, help desk, blog, and event calendar with webinars, hackathon challenges, and contests.

No computer science teacher at your school? Edhesive offers a free AP Computer Science massive, open online course (MOOC). It’s one of more than a dozen providers of curriculum, classroom tutorials, and platforms for teaching computer science to kids that you can integrate in your lessons.

Seek more information? The September 2013 eGFI Teachers newsletter focused on computer engineering activities. Cybersecurity was the theme of the October 2015 newsletter. And check out the eGFI Teachers’ list of computer science education resources.

Meanwhile, states are moving to adopt new computer science education standards based on the K-12 Computer Science Framework. According to the Atlantic magazine (October 19, 2016), Arkansas, Indiana, and Florida have made major computer-science pushes at the K-12 level, as have cities like New York and Chicago. California is moving to create its own standards, as are Virginia, South Carolina, and Washington state.

Download the full standards or get tips for integrating computer science into literacy, math, and science instruction from the Computer Science Teachers Association, which developed the standards. Also check out “Cracking the Code,” an Education Commission of the States policy brief on lessons from states with successful computer science education programs.

Filed under: Class Activities, K-12 Education News, K-12 Outreach Programs, Lesson Plans, Special Features

Tags: Computer Science Education Week 2018, hour of code, Internet Resources, STEM education, Web Resources