The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the
Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) have released a
new report called “Running on
Empty: The Failure to Teach
K– 12 Computer Science in the Digital Age.” The report
reveals that roughly two-thirds of U.S. secondary schools
have few or no computer science education standards and
that most states treat high school computer science courses
as an elective and not as part of students’ core education.
ACM and CSTA are members of Computing in the Core,
a new nonprofit advocacy coalition focused on improving
K– 12 computer science education in U.S. schools.
MORE INFO: www.acm.org/runningonempty
The Michael Feinstein
Foundation for the Pres-
ervation of the Great
American Songbook
has launched Inside
Michael’s Collection,
a free website for music
aficionados, historians, teachers, and cultural researchers.
The site features hundreds of rare restored audio and video
clips dating to the 1910s; countless images of singers, mu-
sicians, artists, and productions; and lesson plans.
MORE INFO: http://michaelfeinsteinsamericansongbook.org/teachers.html
TregoED has launched
MORE INFO:
www.tregoed.org
New Tek, maker of 3D
and animation products,
has launched TriCaster
Curriculum. Designed
to introduce the basic
concepts of creating a live
production, the TriCaster
Curriculum divides the learning process into two parts:
journalism basics and production basics. Each section con-
tains in-depth lesson plans that enable students to achieve
network-style results. The curriculum covers ethical consid-
erations in broadcasting, types of news stories and how to
cover them, production basics, working with talent, effective
audio, and components of a typical newscast. It allows stu-
dents to produce, live-stream, broadcast, project, and record
HD and SD network-style productions.
MORE INFO: www.newtek.com/tricaster/education.php
Coming Next Issue
Not Your Typical School Librarians
Libraries are the biggest economic
bargain in schools today, writes Lisa
Perez, an area library coordinator for
the Chicago Public Schools. Thousands
of school librarians have stepped up in
recent years to acquire the skills they
need to prepare students and teachers
for the digital age. Perez profiles four
librarians who are making a difference.
Digital Media Ignites Creativity
Adobe Youth Voices teaches students
from underserved communities how to
use digital media to comment on their
world, share ideas, and take action
on social issues that are important to
them. Michelle Mann, executive director of the Adobe Foundation, explains
how the program is helping educators
develop forward-thinking lesson plans.
What Is Computational Thinking?
A National Science Foundation
project aims to make the concepts
of computational thinking accessible
to educators by defining what they
are and providing age-appropriate
examples across disciplines that can
be used in the classroom. Find out why
computational thinking is an essential
problem-solving skill that is vital for
kids growing up in the digital age.
