Educate students about the impacts of computing in the K-12 system. Prepare yourself to help students understand computing and its impacts on their digital world.
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No prior knowledge required
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2% is the estimated number of high school students in all of California who took a computer science course in 2015. And yet, computers and data are everywhere. Just think about a typical 24 hours in your life… how many different computing devices do you use? We all live in multiple, rapidly changing digital worlds with apps, devices, and data analytics that offer a constant abundance of innovation and technological integration into our lives.
As an integral part of our lives, we work to advance computer science for everyone – so that every student, every future member of society, can understand computing and technology. To achieve this, we need teachers. Teachers are willing to teach computational concepts and implement best practices, so that children will enjoy and see that it is possible to succeed in computer science. This is where your role (and that of this internship) comes in!
In this internship, you will learn both about the impacts of computing on our world and how to teach these impacts to K-12 students. We offer both the technical knowledge and pedagogical approaches to teaching these concepts. Throughout the course, you will engage with freely available materials that you can use in your lessons, and you will also learn from teachers who are already teaching these concepts in their classrooms.
In short – in this internship we will teach you the computing concepts that are important to know and then help you research and evaluate lesson plans and resources to prepare you for your lessons.
Using a problem-based approach to understanding basic computational concepts, we will travel through five different digital “worlds” where we will engage with technology, and explore the problems that exist in each world, along with the various technological solutions.
See FAQs for detailed information about each course.
As a final project, you will complete a part of the new Advanced Computing course – the “Investigation Assignment” – in which you will conduct research on a recent technological innovation and analyze its effects on the world. You will apply the checklist for evaluating high school student work, provide feedback to another learner, and receive feedback from others.
In this course, you will focus on the basics of teaching the effects of technology. You will begin by exploring how you interact with technology and its benefits during a typical day, such as the desire for instant food and entertainment. This will be done through a series of paired teaching units, in which you will explore the “Impact of Computing” in your day and the “Technologies and Principles of Computing” that enable that impact, at a level appropriate for K12. This course is part of a larger specialization in which you will learn the Impact of Computing Principles you need to know, organized into five different digital “worlds,” and learn pedagogical techniques and evaluate lesson plans and resources to use in your classroom. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to teach pre-college students to be smart and effective participants in their digital worlds.
For the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
In this course, you will focus on how constant data collection and big data analytics have impacted us, exploring the interplay between using and protecting your data, as well as thinking about what it can do for you in the future. This will be done through a series of paired teaching units, in which you will explore the “Impact of Computing” in your day and the “Technologies and Principles of Computing” that enable that impact, at a level appropriate for K12 ages. This course is part of a broader specialization in which you will learn about the impacts of computing principles you need to know, organized into five different digital “worlds,” and learn pedagogical techniques and evaluate lesson plans and resources to use in your classroom. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to teach pre-college students to be smart and effective participants in their digital worlds.
For the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
In this course, you will focus on how “smart” devices have changed the way we interact with others in personal ways, impacting the way we stay connected in our increasingly interconnected society. This will be done through a series of paired teaching units, in which you will explore “the impact of computing” in your typical day and the “technologies and principles of computing” that enable that impact, at a level appropriate for K12. This course is part of a larger specialization in which you will learn about the impact of computing principles you need to know, organized into five different digital “worlds,” and learn pedagogical techniques and evaluate lesson plans and resources to use in your classroom. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to teach pre-college students to be smart and effective participants in their digital worlds.
For the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
In this course, you will focus on how the Internet has enabled new careers and changed expectations in traditional workplaces, creating a new vision for the workplace of the future. This will be done through a series of paired teaching units, in which you will explore the “Impact of Computing” in your typical day and the “Technologies and Principles of Computing” that enable that impact, at a level appropriate for K12. This course is part of a larger specialization in which you will learn the Impact of Computing Principles you need to know, organized into five different digital “worlds,” and learn pedagogical techniques and evaluate lesson plans and resources to use in your classroom. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to teach pre-college students to be smart and effective participants in their digital worlds.
For the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
In this course, you will focus on how technology-enabled communication is changing geopolitics and how technology is connecting our world and transforming lives. This will be done through a series of paired teaching units, in which you will explore the “Impact of Computing” in your typical day and the “Technologies and Principles of Computing” that enable that impact, at a level appropriate for K12. This course is part of a larger specialization in which you will learn the Impact of Computing Principles you need to know, organized into five distinct digital “worlds,” and learn pedagogical techniques and evaluate lesson plans and resources to use in your classroom. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to teach pre-college students to be smart and effective participants in their digital worlds.
For the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
In this project-based course, you will review the course and exam description for Advanced Computer Science Principles in preparation for the “Investigate” assignment, in which students are required to investigate a recent computing innovation and analyze its impact on the world. You will also review the assignment description from a student’s perspective and complete the assignment yourself. You will then assess high school student work samples following the APCSP guidelines and provide feedback to another student on their submitted assignment and receive feedback from other students. This course is part of a larger specialization, in which the first courses focus on the impacts of computing principles and the technologies and computing principles that enable them, preparing you to teach pre-college students to be intelligent and effective participants in their digital world. While this course and project can be completed without taking the remaining courses, most of the new knowledge is imparted there. Additionally, during the courses you will consider your learning experience from both a student and a teacher perspective, which will help you become a more reflective teacher and develop an understanding of how instructions and activities can be designed to support learning.
Please note, if your goal is to receive credit toward a degree from the University of California, San Diego, you must make that decision before completing this course. See the FAQ “Will I receive university credit upon completion of this course?” for details on how to receive this credit.
Regarding the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, during the specialization we will primarily cover the learning objectives under the “Impacts of Computing” principle, and will also include some under the “Networks and the Internet” principle and the “Data and Analytics” principle. The practices we cover include “Encouraging an Inclusive Computing Culture,” “Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems,” and “Communicating About Computing.”
