Lighthouse CC Online Course

Lighthouse CC is a National Science Foundation-funded diversity focused, online professional development course for community college computing faculty. It is designed to help instructors recruit and retain more and diverse students in their computing courses. For those who complete the research portion of the course (complete the full course, the course evaluation survey and participate in the post-course online focus group) we are offering a $500 honorarium.

Instructors: Lighthouse Faculty

MIT App Inventor

MIT’s free online coding application, provides students in Middle and High School with an interface for developing small Android apps that can be tested on their devices. This user-friendly drag and drop interface starts with basic concepts but allows for growth into Java programming. Don’t have access to an Android? No problem. The app inventor provides a free Android simulator for Mac or PC. This content can be applied to an Hour-of-Code session.

Instructors: Gary Schafer and Philip Polsine

An instructor-led, classroom-based course designed specifically for high school teachers in response to the new NJ law requiring high schools to provide a Computer Science education. Dive into programming, computational thinking, and problem solving using Python. In addition, learn strategies for problem solving, constructs for program execution, data types, databases, and networks.

Presenter: NJIT Professors

This one-day professional development course is intended to introduce Middle through High School teachers to physical computing with the BBC micro:bit, a popular micro-controller for Computer Science and STEM education. The micro:bit is an inexpensive and excellent hardware platform for teaching the fundamentals of programming, digital and analog electronics and physical computing. The course will include both circuit construction and programming activities, with circuits constructed on a solder-less breadboard. To make programming more accessible to those with limited experience, most programs will be written as a group activity guided by the instructor.
In addition to teaching the technical aspects of using the micro:bit for physical computing, the course will include guidance on creating and distributing circuit diagrams, avoiding common errors in circuit construction, and setting up an effective system for storing and sharing program files.

Presenter: Jeff Beck

A mentored, project-based, immersive, online program designed specifically for STEM teachers in response to new NJ law. Learn new techniques and exercises to teach students software and security with confidence, begin coding from scratch with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Source Control. In addition, develop your command of advances tools in jQuery, AJAZ, Flexbox, and Bootstrap, and demonstrate proficiency by creating a website.

Presenter: NJIT Professors

POGIL is an evidence-based pedagogy that encourages students to construct their own knowledge and develop lifelong learning skills. In a POGIL classroom, students work in self managed teams through a learning cycle of exploration, concept invention, and application. The instructor facilitates the process, creates opportunities for teams to report out, and offers additional guidance as needed. This workshop will explore the fundamentals of POGIL, discuss how the activities are structured, provide guidance on implementing activities, and include opportunities to practice classroom facilitation techniques. Click here for more information, upcoming regional workshops, curriculum materials, and other instructional resources.

Presenter: Cliff Kussmaul

*PLEASE NOTE: Registrants must be able to bring their own personal laptops to participate in this workshop. No computers will be available at the site**
Alice is used by teachers at all levels from middle schools to universities, in school classrooms and in after school and out of school programming, and in subjects ranging from visual arts and language arts to the fundamentals of programming and introduction to java courses. Using this 3D, block-based programming environment, students will create animations, build interactive narratives, and program simple games. The student will learn fundamental principles of programming including objects and classes, control structures, event handling, and passing data. Logical and computational thinking flow naturally into the creative explorations and exercises. Finally, a custom designed applet showcases the students’ work and provides a touchstone for concepts learned and understood.

Presenter: Karen Sullivan

*PLEASE NOTE: Registrants must be able to bring their own personal laptops to participate in this workshop. No computers will be available at the site**
LEGO Mindstorms EV3 is a powerful and engaging tool for teaching engineering, technology, science, and math. Through hands-on constructions and small projects, participants will learn the basic concepts of LEGO hardware & software. We will focus on building a robot that can perform multiple tasks including the challenge of navigating through a maze. Classroom management will be discussed as well as organizing small student groups, storing of materials and effective ways to encourage creativity for both genders. This session is designed for educators with little or no experience with LEGO Mindstorms EV3.

Presenter: Graciela Elia

Intro to Micro:bit with Intro to JavaScript programming concepts

Learn how to write code that controls hardware! Plug the micro:bit into the USB port of your computer, save your code to the micro:bit and immediately see the results of your coding. Learn the basic structures of coding and quickly see the results. The Micro Bit was designed to encourage students to get actively involved in writing software for computers and build new things; encouraging students to become producers rather than consumers of media.

Instructors: Gary Schafer and Philip Polsine

Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world and is now used to teach programming at six of the top ten computer science undergraduate programs in the United States. Python has a reputation for being a well-supported computer language that is ideal for education and is also a favorite among scientists. This workshop acts as an introduction to computer programming with the Python programming language. The basics of imperative programming will be covered as well as ideas from selected areas of computer science, data science and education. We will review the basics of the language and discuss how it is used and taught.

Presenter: Lars Sorensen

**Registration for the 8/20/18 workshop will open Thursday, July 5th 2018

This workshop proposes to immerse you in a series of activities so that you can learn the value of Unity through direct experience. When you complete this workshop, you will know how to create a fully functioning game in Unity that can be shared with others. Participants will be able to:

• Set up a game in Unity
• Create basic objects in Unity
• Manipulate the Unity Camera within the game
• Set up the Unity work area
• Code in C# and use the Unity scripting editor
• Build a final Unity Game to be played on a desktop computer

Presenter: Suzanna McGee

If you are interested in:

All tuition, airfare, room and board for teachers will be paid.
Tapestry alumni are encouraged to apply.

**Find out more information and submit your application**
www.infypathfinders.org

AP Computer Science Principles professional development workshop

Be the first to design and create 3D prototypes in the NJIT Makerspace – an open 10,000 square-foot work and training space. Gain hands-on experience using 3D industry tools and equipment, add 3D Printing to your STEM curriculum and learn practical applications for your classroom, and obtain a resource-rich program of activities to implement in your school.

Presenter: NJIT Professors

Scratch- Ready to Code

Join us for this workshop where we will explore the ins and outs of Harvard/MITs easy-to-use, open source program called Scratch. You’ll learn to create in a simple drag and drop environment, and explore limitless resources to help you get closer to using Scratch in any learning environment. This workshop introduces you to Scratch and its advantages in your classroom, evaluates the features and functions of the Scratch interface, and introduces coding using the Scratch software application.

Instructors: Gary Schafer and Philip Polsine

Code.org 2018-19 Middle and High School Professional Learning at TCNJ

The Code.org Professional Learning Program has both in-person and online supports designed to prepare teachers before and during their first year teaching CS Principles or CS Discoveries.

Summer Workshop

• Participants kick off the Professional Learning Program with a 5-day workshop
• Explore the curriculum and learning tools, discuss classroom management and teaching strategies, and build a community of teachers.
• With a focus on a customized experience, participants will develop skills while working in small groups to deepen their understanding of the materials.

Ongoing Support, throughout following academic year:

• Participants attend local, 1-day quarterly workshops hosted by Code.org Regional Partners

For more information or to sign up click the register button.

*PLEASE NOTE: Registrants must be able to bring their own personal laptops to participate in this workshop. No computers will be available at the site**
Interested in teaching Java, but concerned about a limited background in programming? This workshop will cover the basics of teaching an introductory java course covering content and pedagogy for teachers with little or no background in programming. Teaching materials and pacing for a year or semester long course will be provided. This workshop will run for 3 days, starting at 9:30 and ending at 3:30 each day.
Day 1: Working with the Eclipse IDE, Karel J Robot (basics of writing programs)
Day 2: Working with the console, variables, data types and the String class, flow of control and logic
Day 3: Working with error handling and file access, arrays and graphics (building games)

Presenter: John Hajdu

*PLEASE NOTE: Registrants must be able to bring their own personal laptops to participate in this workshop. No computers will be available at the site**
The focus of this class will be exploring how physical computing can ignite creativity and design. After watching the video, Cain’s Arcade, teachers will be challenged to go beyond the keyboard and mouse to create unique inputs with the MakeyMakey printed circuit board for their own Scratch arcade game. Simple supplies like cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, play-doh and other household items will be provided along with the MakeyMakey boards. Teachers will use the design and problem solving process to define an arcade game they would like to build, research Scratch code that might be useful, come up with some sketches, prototype inputs with the MakeyMakey and then develop their solution using the supplies. The last 30 minutes, teachers will “play” with each other’s games and celebrate our success. Note: While we are investigating various arcade type games, teachers will be introduced to Scratch as a simple yet powerful programming language that can successfully be used to teach the basics of computer science like events, loops, conditional statements, variables and more. Teacher’s Scratch coding skills will be developed and challenged during this class.
Hardware requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a USB port to attach the MakeyMakey
Software requirements: No software needs to be downloaded prior to the class. We will be using Scratch 2.0, web based version, accessible via an internet connected computer. A Scratch account would be helpful for saving projects developed during the class for future reference. A free Scratch account can be created here.
Background necessary: A basic understanding of Scratch would be helpful but not required.

Presenter: Roseanna Misuraca

Debugging Scratch

Have you hit the wall coding in Scratch? This workshop will demonstrate how to troubleshoot your Scratch code projects and introduce you to advanced coding concepts such as: Variables, Arrays, Functions, Sequence, Events, Conditionals, Loops, Boolean Logic, Parallelism, Operators, Remixing, Modularizing, and Algorithms. Unleash these concepts to take your Scratch projects to the next level.

Instructors: Gary Schafer and Philip Polsine

This workshop will be co-sponsored by the Building CS Capacity in NJ Project (TCNJ) and The STEM Institute of Education (FDU).
The workshop involves building fully functional apps for Android smartphones and tablets using MIT App Inventor, which is an intuitive, visual programming environment that allows everyone to be able to build apps. The block based tools help in creating complex apps in significantly less time than traditional programming environments. This enables people to move from technology consumption to technology creation. App Inventor could make programming enjoyable and accessible to novices, enabling students to develop computing skills and computational thinking. Also, this empowers kids and adults to create apps that make a difference in their communities, which many have already done and continue to do so. Some features when using App Inventor:

• Your app appears on the Android phone or tablet, step-by-step as you add pieces to it, so you can test your work as you build
• If you don’t have an Android phone or tablet, you can build your apps using the Android emulator, software that runs on your computer and behaves just like a phone
• When you’re done, you can package your app and produce a stand-alone application to install.

Presenter: Rama Madhavarao and Dr. Neelu Sinha

To see your CS PD event listed on this page, please email all relevant information to buildingcsnj@tcnj.edu

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