Computer Science Teachers Needed. But Who Will Pay to Train Them? It's always someone else's job. Or someone else's money. Who will step up and say "I'll do it!." A few companies have stood up. Google, Microsoft, and Infosys Foundation have all spent a lot of money teaching teachers. Take CS PD Week which was sponsored by the Infosys Foundation USA, with support from the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Women & IT and the Computer Science Teachers Association. The event was hosted by Colorado School of Mines. A great event that just finished its second year.
But that is all only a start. Long term we need more funders to step up. It's not going to happen on philanthropy alone.
The driving force will have to be local universities. While CS is a 1 - 2 section class with only a part-time instructor those summer PD events are going to be the best we can hope for. They are accessible and affordable. The face-to-face classes have a very important secondary function of building a CS teacher community.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to need quaility pre-service / in-service programs similar to other disciplines. Of cousre, the quality of those programs in other disciplines range wildly so that's not altogether a good thing. On the whole, however, it's better than the current PD based model where teachers are learning to superficially deliver canned content.
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