Outreach-in-a-Box: Discovering IT
NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology) has created a resource for helping to help people in the Information Technology field to introduce middle-school students to the field of computing. It is now available online.
Are you ready to meet and inspire the next generation of computing innovators? Many professionals in IT provide service to their community through youth education. We've made it easy for you to help introduce middle-school students to the world of computing. Outreach-in-a-Box includes everything you need to prepare for and deliver an engaging class presentation at a local middle school -- including a presentation, hands-on robotics activity, and program guide for how to use the materials. All of the materials are available for download.
You may also want to check out the Gotta Have IT resource from NCWIT.
Gotta Have IT is an all-in-one computing resource kit designed with educators' needs in mind. A select set of high-quality posters, computing and careers information, digital media and more, the resource kit builds awareness and inspires interest in computing. Gotta Have IT is for all students, but is especially inclusive of girls.
The people at NCWIT are working hard to help promote attracting more girls/women into the technology field. Like many others they understand that we need to do a better job of educating students to the possibilities while they are still in middle school. College and even high school are just too late. Students are making decisions while still in middle school that impact all of their future education. Programs like the Discovering IT and Gotta Have IT resources are great steps in the right direction.