Recent Efforts to Broaden Informal Computer Science Education

Abstract

This chapter discusses efforts to improve and enhance the teaching of computer science at the K-12 level. It begins with an account of the CS10K vision of having 10,000 trained teachers in 10,000 schools teaching substantive courses in computer science. The chapter then turns to how various projects and organizations have engaged the components of the CS10K goal: building a new curriculum (the Exploring Computer Science and Computer Science Principles projects), creating a community of practice so that these teachers can carry out their educational work in a professional way (the Computer Science Teachers Association and the online CS10K Community), and carrying out policy work to persuade decision-making bodies in all 50 states and thousands of local communities to support computer science as a core element of high school education (the ACM Education Policy Committee, the Computing in the Core Coalition, and the Computer Science Teachers Association). The chapter ends with an account of the recently established organization, Code.org, which is engaging in multiple activities to create formal computing education at the K-12 level