Communications of the ACM
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How the “Frontier” Became the Slogan of Uncontrolled AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been billed as the next frontier of humanity: the newly available expanse whose exploration …
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Last Mile Education Fund–Making a Big Difference
We often underestimate the difference that small things can make. When I was in high school all I could afford was a cheap plastic slide rule (no calculators back...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Word Games and Cryptography
My latest discovery, thanks to Doug Peterson, is Crazy Phrase. Crazy Phrase is something of a variation of Wordle except that in Crazy Phrase the player is a phrase...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
APCS A–Java or Python?
There is a lot of discussion about moving the Advanced Placement CS A exam to Python from Java. The Collegeboard is reluctant to do so. They see APCSA as the equivalent...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
What Should APCS A Really Be About?
Perhaps my favorite panel of SIGCSE 2022 was debating the question of should the APCS A course switch its language from Java to Python? During the discussion it...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Final Thoughts on SIGCSE 2022
I had a great time at SIGCSE 2022. As an introvert I probably suffered less from not being with people than many but after two years I really needed to be withLast...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
SIGCSE 2022 Day 3
Saturday at SIGCSE was a short day but there was still plenty to learn. Shaundra Daily. Her talk, based on her own history, was about how their are barriers making...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
SIGCSE 2022 Day 2
The morning keynote was by Barbara Ericson. She talked about a lot of her early work including some of her online books CSAwesome and her work with the free online...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
SIGCSE 2022 Day 1
SIGCSE 2022 is my first in-person conference in over 2.5 years. It’s my first SIGCSE in a lot longer than that. It looks to be a great conference . There are 1518...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Fun With Rounding Errors
I love xkcd cartoons. I came across this one thing morning that shows the benefits(?) or rounding up. My immediate idea was “what a great programming project!” ...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Troubles with Error Messages
Error messages, in theory, are there to help programmers. Of course there are problems with then in practice. With students, the biggest problem is that they don...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
What Do Computer Science Teachers Need For Professional Development
Mike Zamansky had a great post called Trends In Professional Development in CS - it's not all good. We’re still at a very interesting place in the development of...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Writing The Wordle Clone
Kelly Powers posted a Wordle project document on the AP CS A Teachers Facebook page. It’s solid as one would expect from Kelly who is just awesome. It inspiredList...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Computer Science for the sake of ?
My grandson in kindergarten has a class in reading. It makes sense as he is just learning how to read. Over time, school spends less time teaching how to read and...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Planning Before Coding
After all these years one would think I would know better. But it turns out that when coding for fun I don’t always do the planning that I should. It always comes...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
How Do You Define a Computer Scientist
The last few days have seem some social media discussion about requirements for a computer scientist. Is Calculus a requirement? Is Assembly/machine language a...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Wordle Solving For Fun and Coding
After my post the other day (Is Wordle A Project To Assign Students to Program?) I got thinking about solver help for Wordle. I happen to have a huge word list...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Is Wordle A Project To Assign Students to Program?
Seems like a lot of people are playing Wordle on social media these days. Have you tried it? It’s a word/letter version of old Mastermind game The idea is thathere...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Looking Back on Computer Science Education in 2021
I’ve never felt less prepared to write a look back on CS education than I do today. I’ve been retired from most of the year and the world has been changed a bit...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Computer Science Education Week 2021
Well, its CS Ed Week again. Still no cards in the Hallmark store for it. I’ll get back to that in a moment. CS Ed Week has long been a time to introduce more students...
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson