2014 Google CS4HS Institute for Districts

Google's Computer Science for High School Teacher Training Workshops
CS4HS (Computer Science for High School) is a global initiative sponsored by Google to promote Computer Science and Computational Thinking in high school and middle school curriculum. With a grant from Google's Education Group, universities develop 2-3 day workshops for local high school and middle school CS teachers. These workshops incorporate informational talks by industry leaders, and discussions on new and emerging CS curricula at the high school and middle school level.

2014 CS4HS Institute for Districts workshop is a training focused on working with districts who will send multiple teachers and commit to district administrative level support for teachers throughout the school year.  Aurora Public Schools, Adams 12 5-Star Schools, St Vrain Valley School District, and Boulder Valley School District computer Science, instructional technology, and digital/design technology teachers are invited to be primary participants. '''

Some seats may be available for teachers from other districts.

2014 CS4HS Scalable Game Design Institute for Districts: June 20 - 22 at University of Colorado Boulder Discovery Learning Center Collaboratories

 * Date: June 20 - 22
 * Time: 8:30 - 5:30, plus Evening Program on STEM Likely on June 21
 * University of Colorado Boulder Discovery Learning Center Collaboratories
 * Sponsored by Google, Inc., AgentSheets, Inc., and the University of Colorado at Boulder
 * How to Use Game Design to Teach Computational Thinking and Motivate Students in Middle School and High School
 * Primarily for APS, Adams 12, SVVSD, and BVSD Middle and High School Computer Science, Instructional Technology, and Digital/Design Technology Teachers
 * Some Seats Available for Non-CS and Tech Teachers and Teachers from Outside the Above Named Districts

Who can apply
APS, Adams 12, SVVSD, and BVSD Middle and High School Computer Science, Instructional Technology, and Digital/Design Technology Teachers have priority registration
 * Some Seats Available for Non-CS and Tech Teachers and Teachers from Outside the Above Named Districts

University of Colorado at Boulder continues to drive innovation as a leader in computer science education and programming. This year's free workshop is being held at University of Colorado at Boulder, funded by a $10,000 grant to Professor Alex Repenning.

Financial Terms

 * The workshop is free of charge, with the registration fee sponsored by Google, AgentSheets, Inc., and the University of Colorado Boulder.
 * Participants will receive a stipend of $200 for participation in the workshop and upon completing at least 1 classroom implementation of the curriculum during a 1 week to semester long use of Scalable Game Design curriculum, built into an existing class.

Participants receive:


 * Free registration for 3 days of training
 * Daily coffee, snacks, lunch during the workshop
 * An evening program on STEM application of game design
 * Workshop commemorative item
 * Free campus parking
 * Free AgentSheets software for personal and school use for the school year

Workshop Goals
Provide teachers with tools and knowledge to bring computing concepts and activities into your high school and middle school classes, with the support of district and school administrators.

We'll accomplish this goal by 1) providing hands on experience with the widely-used AgentSheets visual programming system. You will learn how to teach your students Computational Thinking by engaging them with 2D design activities and 2) working with your district and school administration to garner support for your efforts.

We will share curriculum resources developed as part of several projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Neither you nor your students will require a background in programming, art or modeling to benefit from the workshop. The workshop content is most relevant to computer education and STEM teachers but all teachers interested in enriching your curriculum with computational topics relevant to 21st century learning. One of the objectives of this workshop is to provide you with information about opportunities involving the use of computing ideas and skills in a wide range of disciplines and occupations that you can share with your students. Specific goals include:


 * Understand what computational thinking is, why it is needed in all STEM courses, and how to integrate it into your courses
 * Learn to design and create games and how to teach it to students
 * Learn why designing and creating video games are relevant to your students and your classes
 * Learn about pedagogical models exploring engagement and motivation of game design activities in schools
 * Learn how game design skills lead directly to simulation design and understanding of simulations
 * Learn options of using the curriculum in multiple classrooms in multiple grades with multiple teachers
 * Learn how to build lesson plans and assess student projects, using existing tools

Background of CS4HS Scalable Game Design
The workshop titled CS4HS Scalable Game Design Institute for Districts will train middle and high school teachers how to design and program computer games, then gain confidence to teach the same skills to their students. Working with district support to increase sustainability of curricular use resulted from the 2013 CS4HS partnership with Aurora Public Schools (APS) and St Vrain Valley School District, and this year's Institute for Districts builds on the success of the scale-up experience. With nearly 40,000 students in 59 schools, APS is not only Colorado's sixth largest school district, but also one of the most diverse. "APS has developed a P-20 (preschool to graduate school) education model based on the idea of Pathways to address the Colorado paradox: the state has one of the nation's most highly educated adult workforce, yet it ranks near the bottom in the percentage of college-bound high school graduates," said Repenning. The Pathways concept motivates and prepares students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as health sciences, business, and arts &amp; communication. APS is recognized nationally as a leader in innovative educational design.

By working with Aurora Public Schools last year, the CU team learned how to best scale up our efforts to achieve a broader student impact from a top-down paradigm. Developing a replicable way for school districts to engage students on a larger scale, district-wide, began the creation of a turn-key curricular program that other districts around the nation can adopt. This systemic adaptation of Scalable Game Design project will no doubt accelerate the rate at which schools and districts become compliant with the new Next Generation Science Standards, and ultimately lead to a more competent, skilled, and competitive workforce.

Recognizing the importance of continuing the work began in 2013, Google has provided support funds to test out the program developed last year and apply it with multiple districts simultaneously. This year's workshop activities will include hands-on creation of games, best-practices for teaching game design, and discussions on new and emerging STEM standards and compliance, and an introduction to extending computer science skills into STEM classes through simulations. In addition, teachers will learn a variety of options for teaching the curriculum to address differentiated instruction across grades and classrooms. Methods to introduce Scalable Game Design to new teachers in their schools and increase exposure of students to computer science will also be presented.

The research team hails from the computer science department and the School of Education, and develop and test K-12 curriculum tools including the use of video game programming as a learning tool. These tools address the need to develop higher level critical thinking in students and provide more computer science graduates in the workforce.

Interested teachers from districts other than APS, Adams12, SVVSD, BVSD may also apply to the workshop and will be accepted based on availability of seats.

Press Coverage
The 2010 CS4HS workshop was featured in the local Daily Camera newspaper.