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Professor Leads Initiative for Increased Tech Lessons in K-12 Education

The statewide initiative is designed to have at least 500 Alabama teachers qualified by next year to teach students how technology works and is created.

(TNS) -- A University of Alabama professor said K-12 schools may be doing students a disservice by failing to give them more access to computer science. Jeff Gray said curricula have been too history- and social studies-focused, while the job market has shifted to the technology sector.

He was in Decatur last week leading a statewide initiative designed to have at least 500 Alabama teachers qualified by next year to teach students how technology works and is created.

The workshops are sponsored by Code.org, a non-profit organization based in Seattle whose founding donors include Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. The organization is dedicated to expanding computer science education in secondary and primary schools, and to diversify what is a “white, male-dominated industry” by bringing technology education to students “regardless of where they are,” Gray said.

The challenges come at a time when school districts statewide are struggling to implement Alabama’s new college- and career-ready standards, which are designed to make sure every student graduates college or career ready.

The first results of ACT Aspire — which was the first assessment of how students are doing — painted a dismal picture of how students in grades 3-8 are performing in Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan counties.

Those results, which showed most middle school students are not reading at grade level, shouldn’t detour districts from placing a greater emphasis on computer science “because this is where some of the top jobs are,” Gray said.

A U.S. News and World Report study in 2014 found three of the top eight jobs nationwide were related to computer science. Software developer was third on the list, with the U.S. Labor Department estimating 140,000 new positions with the average median salary above $90,000 would be created by 2022. The report said there were 97 available jobs in the Decatur area.

Computer systems analyst and information security analyst were seventh and eighth on the list, respectively. Those positions are expected to see a 24 to 36 percent increase by 2022.

Representatives from school systems in Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan counties attended Gray’s six-hour workshop at Leon Sheffield on Friday. West Decatur Elementary teachers Audrey Johnson and Shannon Posey support the call for an expanded computer science curriculum.

“It’s where many of our students are already,” Johnson said. “Our job is to learn how to do programs and incorporate coding into the classroom.”

Some schools started embracing Code.org’s idea when they participated in “One Hour of Code” in December.

The online session was an introduction to computer science, designed to show students anybody can learn the basics about how programs work.

“Our students loved it,” Hartselle Intermediate teacher Dan Bennich said. “A lot of them are already computer savvy, and this was like a game.”

Librarian Julie Rhodes said Hartselle has not expanded computer science to the level Code.org is seeking, but the district voted in August to expand hands-on science, math and engineering for one elementary school through a program called Project Lead the Way.

Hartselle Superintendent Vic Wilson said the district is taking steps to close technology gaps because computer science “is not the future. It’s the now.”

Students at Leon Sheffield also participated in the hourlong computer science course in December. Technology specialist Vicki Williams said students of today are more hands-on, which is why it’s important to embrace a stronger technology curriculum.

“It’s not enough for them to see something work,” she said. “We have to teach them how and why it works and equip them with the skills to do their own programs.”

Gray said Code.org is advocating school districts make some of the classes he teaches to college freshmen available to middle and secondary students.

“At some point, we have to equip them with this skill set, whether it’s now or when they become adults,” he said.

Some systems, such as the Los Altos School District in the Silicon Valley near San Francisco, are already onboard. In 2013, the district extended its STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program to allow students to write codes for STEM projects they create.

Gray said only New York and Pennsylvania are ahead of Alabama when it comes to the number of teachers certified to teach computer science.

“Our goal is to pass them by this time next year,” he said.

©2015 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.)