Did you know that Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is just around the corner?
Since we know that an increase in computer science education creates opportunities to increase the diversity of people who pursue computing, NCWIT is a major fan of CSEdWeek. As a fan of NCWIT, we hope you will become a fan of CSEdWeek, too. To help stoke your fandom, we’re going to tell you a few things about CSEdWeek and computing education that you may not have known:
 
- Did you know that CSEdWeek was born in 2010 when the 111th Congress passed House Resolution 1560, “Supporting the increased understanding of, and interest in, computer science and computing careers among the public and in schools, and to ensure an ample and diverse future technology workforce“?
- Did you know that CSEdWeek takes place December 9-15, 2012, to coincide with the birthday of visionary computer scientist, Admiral Grace Hopper, who was born on December 9, 1906?
- Did you know that only 9 states allow computer science to count as a math or science graduation requirement, and did you know that the number of high schools offering AP computer science has fallen 35% since 2005?
- Did you know that the lack of computing education in schools especially impacts girls, because girls get fewer informal opportunities to experience computing outside of school?
- Did you know that computing education is a BIG DEAL, because the Department of Labor projects that there will be 1.4 million computing-related job openings by 2020 but the U.S. is producing only enough computing graduates to fill 61% of these jobs?
- Did you know that pledging your support for CSEdWeek costs nothing, takes two minutes, and is easy as pie?
- Did you know that you can join CSEdWeek celebrations around the country (like cake to honor Grace Hopper’s birthday, a Scratch Day in NYC, a Robotics Explosion, and an ITPalooza), or plan your own?
- Did you know that there’s a CSEdWeek Global Twitter Conversation on December 11 at 6 PM ET?
- Did you know that there’s no excuse for doing nothing — when an all-ages activity like CS Unplugged is fun and free — and that there are loads more ideas at the CSEdWeek website?
 Pledge and plan today. Get started at www.csedweek.org. Follow CSEdWeek on Twitter. Visit CSEdWeek on Facebook.
|
