Category: Computing

New resources on the gender gap in computer science

A continuing disappointment in Computing is the large and accelerating gender disparity in its recruitment. Due in part, I think, to some muddled thinking that occasionally equates computing with the often sexist pastime of computer gaming attracting female students to Computer Science is hard and getting harder.

Three poster images next to each other that have stats from a Google commissioned research study with K-12 young women's quotes next to the stats. First poster: 9% of girls think learning computer science is important. 91% do not. Quotes on this poster next to the 9% stat, in small font: It's exciting. Building stuff is fun.I'm good at it. It's rewarding. It could be a career, I love it. Quotes under the 91% stat, in much larger font: I've never considered it. It's too hard. I'm the only girl in the class. It's geeky. It's what the boys do. I don't belong. My school doesn't teach it. Second poster: 12% girls are likely to pursue a career in computer science. 88% are not. Quotes on this poster next to the 12% stat, in small font: I met some amazing computer scientists. I feel inspired. I'm good at it. Quotes on the poster next to the 88% stat in much larger font: I feel judged. I don't know what a computer scientist does. It's a boys career. None of my friends want to either. I don't know any female engineers. Third poster: 29% of parents of girls are eager for them to pursue a computer science career. 71% are not. Quotes in small font next to the 29% stat: It's a good opportunity. She really enjoys it. Tech is the future. She is so talented. Quotes, in much larger font next to the 71% stat: It's a man's job. I won't be able to help her.Can she do it? It might be too hard.I want her to do a more traditional job.

This resource helps to address the problem.

When it comes to computer science, we still have a lot of work to do to address gaps in education. That’s evident in our latest report with Gallup, Current Perspectives and Continuing Challenges in Computer Science Education in US K-12 Schools. This report is our most recent in a multiple-year series of Diversity in K12 CS education reports with Gallup in an effort to share new research with advocates, administrators, nonprofit partners and the tech industry to continue addressing gaps in computer science education.

Source: New resources on the gender gap in computer science

Humble Book Bundle: Head First Programming by O’Reilly (pay what you want and help charity)

Get a head-start on learning to program with O’Reilly in our newest bundle, Head First Programming by O’Reilly! Dive into ebooks like Head First Java, 2nd Edition, Head First Python, 2nd Edition, and Head First C#, 3rd Edition. Plus, your purchase helps support Code For America!

Source: Humble Book Bundle: Head First Programming by O’Reilly (pay what you want and help charity)

How to Protect Students From Fake News | Edudemic

English: Graph of social media activities
English: Graph of social media activities (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: A protester holding a placard in Tahr...
English: A protester holding a placard in Tahrir Square referring to Facebook and Twitter, acknowledging the role played by social media during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

For those raised in the information age, life without the internet is no life at all. It is often a primary focus of a teen’s day (75% of teens are online several times per day) and an important means by which they communicate with the world and take in new information. While information can be found in various sources across the internet, an overwhelming majority of teens and pre-teens tend to gather their information from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

A 2015 report by the Media Insights Project found that the majority of surveyed Millennials (aged 18-34) cited Facebook as their sole or primary source of key news and other information.

Unfortunately, Facebook is not known as a credible source for news. The recent outbreak of “fake news” has hit social media sites particularly hard, as these types of platforms are set up to propagate information at record speed regardless of source or content. In addition, teens are particularly bad at discriminating between real and fake news. According to a recent study out of Stanford, 82% of surveyed middle-schoolers couldn’t distinguish between ads and real news on a website, highlighting the need to teach students media literacy and proper research skills.

Source: How to Protect Students From Fake News | Edudemic

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Free Technology for Teachers: eduClipper Is What Teachers Want Pinterest To Be

English: Diagram of technology-empowered profe...
English: Diagram of technology-empowered professional development for teachers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My friend and fellow ed tech blogger Adam Bellow has relaunched his start-up company eduClipper. Some of you may remember that Adam launched a private beta of the service last year. Well after a big investment from some venture capital firms and ten months of testing and revising features eduClipper is better than ever. In fact, I think it’s what teachers wish Pinterest could be. Last week Adam and I spent an hour talking about the new eduClipper in it’s current state and where it is going in the future. Let’s take a look at what will make eduClipper a very popular service amongst educators.

The thing that is obvious when you visit eduClipper is that it is a visual bookmarking tool. You can use the eduClipper bookmarklet to add “clips” (bookmarks) to your eduClipper boards. But eduClipper is much more than a visual bookmarking service. You can add PowerPoint, PDF, and image files to your boards. You can also add links to videos to your boards. You can play the videos without leaving your eduClipper board. And those of us who have Google Drive embedded into our professional lives will be happy to know that we can add Google Drive files to our eduClipper boards.

via Free Technology for Teachers: eduClipper Is What Teachers Want Pinterest To Be.

Microsoft Azure Sphere and teaching students about the next generation of security for MicroControllers – Microsoft Faculty Connection

WELCOME TO Microsoft®
WELCOME TO Microsoft® (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 2018 we are all living in a world where almost everything is becoming connected, whether it’s the power grid, network, phone system, our cars, or the appliances that heat our home or chill our food.  As this Internet of Things (IoT) continues to proliferate. This growing class of cloud-connected devices – 9 billion of which ship every year – run tiny MCU chips that will power everything from kitchen appliances and toys to industrial equipment on factory floors. This next wave of connected devices is in increasingly intelligent and connected. They will improve daily life in countless ways, but if they’re not secure, they will make people, communities and countries vulnerable to attack in more ways than ever before.

As s result of this the Threat and security risks expand exponentially. At this year RSA conference in San Francisco, Microsoft announced new offerings to take security more squarely to where it needs to go and where it has not effectively gone before – the edge.

The Azure Sphere Services are a new services and features that will better harden not only our intelligent cloud but also the billions of connected devices that live on its edge.

Source: Microsoft Azure Sphere and teaching students about the next generation of security for MicroControllers – Microsoft Faculty Connection

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10 Awesome Handwriting Apps for Your iPad ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Digital immigrants (Ed. – hate that description) are still trying to come to grips with all the digital innovations that are unfolding in today’s world. And even for those who have succeeded in making the digital transition, they still have an urge for the old days of pen and paper practices. That is probably why even with the prevalence of touch screen devices, some people still prefer to use a stylus when working on their tablets. While stylus does satisfy the craving for holding a pen in your hand, it still does not function as expected.

English: Apple iPad Event
English: Apple iPad Event (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So if you are one of those people who like to use their fingers to take notes on iPad, the list below will be of great help to you. I have curated several useful apps that will allow you to experiment with your handwriting right on your iPad screen.

via 10 Awesome Handwriting Apps for Your iPad ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.

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Web Service Testing: A Beginner’s Tutorial

Architectural elements involved in the XML-RPC.
Architectural elements involved in the XML-RPC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What is WebService?

Web Services is the mechanism or the medium of communication through which two applications / machines will exchange the data irrespective of their underline architecture and the technology.

Why is WebService Needed?

In general, software applications are developed to be consumed by the human beings, where a person sends a request to a software service which in-turn returns a response in human readable format.

In the modern era of technology if you want to build a software application you don’t need to build each and everything from scratch. There are lots of readymade services available which you can plug into your application and you can start providing those services in your application.

For example you want to display weather forecast information you don’t need to collect, process and render the data in your application. You can buy the services from the people who already well-established in processing and publishing such kind of data.

Web services allow us to do these kind of implementations.

Source: Web Service Testing: A Beginner’s Tutorial