Training K-12 teachers to deliver cloud computing content: a case study

Abstract

Activities to increase K-12 students’ interest in STEM fields and computing in particular are growing rapidly and universities are using these to create a pipeline into their schools. Coding-type activities are common and have shown some impact; however, there is more to computing than coding, and there are many more career opportunities in areas like cloud computing. Therefore, research into K-12 cloud computing activities to increase interest in STEM is important. A major obstacle was that many high school computing teachers are not well versed in cloud computing (Pritchett et al., 2013). As a result, any research into the impact of K-12 cloud computing activities would first involve training the trainer or teachers. This paper discusses efforts to train-the-trainers by teaming with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Academy and using their courses for content knowledge and certification in addition to researcher-created material, virtual classes, and one-on-one mentoring for content knowledge and instruction implementation. Some of the topics discussed here include the training, its challenges and benefits, teacher implementation of lessons, and potential impact for K-12 students and the workforce of the future.