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Using Virtual Reality for Teaching Computer Science
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Using Virtual Reality for Teaching Computer Science

Maybe you can help me? My gut tells me that virtual reality or even mixed reality can be useful for teaching computer science. How to do that is the question. I...

Pseudo Random Numbers Are Confusing
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Pseudo Random Numbers Are Confusing

Random numbers are really useful in computer science. We use them a lot for simulations (or games – pretty much the same thing) and to make programs more interesting...

Punch Cards, Comments, and Learning From the Past
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Punch Cards, Comments, and Learning From the Past

Doug Peterson, whose blog always makes me think, had a post last week about internal documentation. Specifically things like comments which a lot of the popular...

How important is the first programming language really?
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

How important is the first programming language really?

We really need people who have never faced a room full of  students in their lives to teach us how to teach computer science. Said no CS teacher ever. What brought...

Surface Book–a first look
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Surface Book–a first look

I’ve had two Surface Pros. A Surface Pro 3 and a Surface Pro 4. I love them. Make no mistake these have been idea travel computers for me. And powerful enough for...

Code Slow Finish Fast
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Code Slow Finish Fast

Looking through student code today brought this quote to mind.“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Mark Twain Students are...

Math vs Programming
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Math vs Programming

Take a look at these two equations. I found the first one on Facebook. The second is my first attempt at rewriting it for the computer. What is the answer? Well...

Computer Science Teachers Association T-shirt Campaign
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Computer Science Teachers Association T-shirt Campaign

Are you a computer science education super hero? You know you are so now you need the t-shirt. Get yours here and also support the computer science teachers association...

CSPdWeek: Free Professional Development for many K-12 Teachers
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

CSPdWeek: Free Professional Development for many K-12 Teachers

The people I talk to who went to last year;s event rave about it. If you are looking for some good professional development this is well worth looking into. CSPdWeek...

ACM and CSTA Announce Cutler-Bell Prize Student Winners
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

ACM and CSTA Announce Cutler-Bell Prize Student Winners

Make no mistake I think the Cutler-Bell Prize is an outstanding award. I love that it recognizes early computer scientists (high school students!) for outstanding...

Datasets For Use in Teaching Computer Science
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Datasets For Use in Teaching Computer Science

I found this thanks to the APCS A mailing list.  CORGIS Datasets Project The Collection of Really Great, Interesting, Situated Datasets “The CORGIS Datasets...

Hip Hip Array
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Hip Hip Array

My programming courses are a semester long. That’s it. After that someone else gets to teach them more programming and computer science. A semester is not a lot...

March Madness and Programming Projects
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

March Madness and Programming Projects

Yesterday was selection Sunday and the NCAA announced the teams entering the 2017 basketball championships. So of course I thought about programming projects. I...

Conferences for K-12 Computer Science Educators
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Conferences for K-12 Computer Science Educators

If you are a K-12 teacher looking for conferences about using technology in education there are many conferences one can go to. If you are a post secondary school...

What’s New in C# 7.0 for Beginning Programmers
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

What’s New in C# 7.0 for Beginning Programmers

Well it looks like Visual Studio 2017 is out. I've installed the of the community edition on my Surface (not enough disk for everything I'd like :-( ) but enough...

Infosys Foundation USA Asks Why Do You Make #WhyIMake
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Infosys Foundation USA Asks Why Do You Make #WhyIMake

Thanks to a Facebook link I found a video interview created by Infosys Foundation USA. on why he “makes.” This lead to one with Adam Savage of mythbuster fame on...

Bit Rot or How do I read this data?
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Bit Rot or How do I read this data?

Last night I had a very weird dream. In it I was trying to recover the programs I wrote in college. I have saved most of them. Well in a manner of speaking. Some...

You’re Teaching the Wrong Programming Language
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

You’re Teaching the Wrong Programming Language

No, really you are. If someone hasn’t told you this yet it’s probably because too few people know what programming language you are teaching. Of course someoneStarting...

Software Developers–Quantity vs Quality
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Software Developers–Quantity vs Quality

Today is a snow day here in New Hampshire. My third one this week. So I have taken care of most of the errands I use snow days to take care of and have some time...

Review the revised K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Review the revised K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) revised K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards is now available for review. This is not to be confused with the CS...
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