Interesting Links 4 October 2010
What a week. On Friday I gave a keynote talk at the 16th Annual Technology and Learning Conference at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania. What a great time I had. The conference organizers were absolutely wonderful hosts and the talk itself seemed to be well received. I think they recorded it and if they post it on the Internet I will send out a link here and on Twitter. Of course I spent a lot of time preparing the talk which kept me busy along with the usual stuff. I like being busy though so it’s all good. And now some links to share.
Remember that Computer Science Education Week is coming this December 5-11, 2010. Are you planning something special? Why not? Every other department in your school probably has a special week. And CS is really special. See ACM Hails Second Computer Science Education Week to Raise Awareness of Computing and Its Role in Society or the https://www.csedweek.org web site for more information.
At the Technology and Learning Conference I met Kristen Swanson from the School District of Springfield Township. Springfield HS requires a computer sconce course for graduation. Does your high school? Here is a news article about their computer science graduation requirement. The course itself is described on their curriculum guide for computer science. For a district that graduates less than 200 students each year, that’s a very impressive set of offerings!
Have you seen the new Dot Diva website for girls in technology? They announced their opening at Microsoft in Cambridge (MA) last week. I missed the opening event but have enjoyed looking at the site, the information there and the web show about a couple of women programmers. Episode one. It’s from WGBH, one of the top PBS TV stations in the nation, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Check it out and ask the girls you know to visit as well.
The Microsoft Tech student Twitter account (@MSTechStudent) and Facebook page ask “Have you heard about the Imagine Cup Digital Media competition?”
The digital media competition challenges students around the world to use their imagination to create a web video using multiple types of media, like photos, music, video, & voiceover. Your video must be about the Imagine Cup theme to "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems
There is a new “Make Education Great” contest from Microsoft's Office team Learn how you can win $25,000 to help make a difference in kids’ education in your community:
Windows Phone 7 – First experiences with a real device is a blog post by Dennis Delimarsky (@DennisCode) a Microsoft Student Insider and gives a student’s eye view of Windows Phone 7 development.
Looking at learning how to use XNA to create games and liking the idea of Windows Phone 7 games? @XNACommunity announced that there are ten brand-new pieces of XNA educational content for Windows Phone 7 available now for free.