Welcome to the SIGCT (Computing Teachers) Wiki.

Find our SIGCT Mission/Vision/Policies and Procedures, list of our current Executive Board and Flyer in the left column.

SIGCT Newsletter - February, 2010

 .doc version  pdf version
(links to older newsletters further down)

LAST CALL for SIGCT Officer Nominations - Deadline is February 8, 2010

The Special Interest Group for Computing Teachers of ISTE is seeking qualified candidates for several leadership positions. The SIGCT nominations process allows members to inform colleagues about their experiences and ability to improve education through technology and it provides members the opportunity to take a leadership role in advancing the cause on behalf of TEACHING ABOUT COMPUTING.

Nominees must hold current membership in SIGCT. Deadline for nominations is February 8, 2010. Once received, nominations will be reviewed by the SIGCT election officer to verify eligibility. Nominees will be notified via email if they will appear on the final ballot. Elections will run from March 11 - April 12, 2010. Below is a list of open positions and terms of office:

President-elect (2010-2011)
Business Officer (2010-2012)
Middle School Representative (2010-2012)
Post-Secondary Representative (2010-2012)

Roles and responsibilities for these positions are available in the SIGCT Mission and Policies and Procedures document in the left column. John Thompson < THOMPSJT@BuffaloState.edu > will chair our nominations committee this year. Nomination forms and election information are posted at the URLs below:

SIG Elections page: http://www.iste.org/sigelections2010
Nominations form: http://tinyurl.com/sigctelections

Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague for one of these important leadership positions!

Journal for Computing Teachers -- Fall 2009 Issue

The fall 2009 issue of Journal for Computing Teachers is available at:
< http://iste.org/jct > (direct link is < http://tinyurl.com/yfq9qjz >.

JCT is a K-12 oriented online periodical where the emphasis is teaching about computing. JCT is published under the auspices of the Special Interest Group for Computing Teachers (SIGCT) in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). The primary mission of SIGCT is to enhance precollege computing instruction.

You are encouraged to submit papers for possible publication in JCT. For your planning purposes, the submission deadline for the spring 2010 issue is February 15, 2010. Information can be found at <http://iste.org/jct>. Please contact John with your submission ideas and/or if you are interested in serving on the Editorial Review Board for JCT.

Hope you enjoy the fall 2009 issue of JCT!

John Thompson, Editor of JCT - < THOMPSJT@BuffaloState.edu>
Steve Rainwater, President of SIGCT - < Steve_Rainwater@uttyler.edu >

Computer Science Education Week December 6-12, 2009

The U.S. House of Representatives recently designated December 6-12, 2009 as Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) in recognition of the transformative role of computing and the importance of providing K-12 students with the opportunity to take rigorous computer science courses in K-12.

Please be sure to check out the CSEdWeek Web site at: http://www.CSEdWeek.org

This website is a hub for computer science education resources and social networking. Also, please be sure to do something to celebrate Computer Science Education Week at your schools.

1) Announce CS Ed Week during your daily school annoucements.
2) Take on one of the many activities suggested on the CS Ed Week website.
3) Help spread the word about Computer Science Education Week on your department and school websites and in your own social networks, blogs, etc.

This is an historic moment to celebrate the contribution that computing teachers make to everything that computing has and will achieve.

Volunteers Needed: Review Applications for the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (from Ruthe Farmer of NCWIT)

Greetings! We have had a huge spike in interest in the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing this year. A total of 2,668 girls registered on the award portal and we have more applications than ever to review! We especially need volunteers to review for the Florida affiliate award. Thank you all for your contributions in spreading the word about the award, and a special thank you to Bank of America, Motorola and Google for providing financial support. This is up 700% over last year's numbers and proves that girls are out there that are interested in technology!

We have moved to a completely web-based grading system, so it will be a simpler process than last year. We intend to initiate the review process on Tuesday, December 1. Anyone interested in being a reviewer should provide the information detailed below by Monday, November 30. If you have previously indicated your interest, you do not need to email again. You will receive an email with instructions in the next few days. Anyone can be a reviewer. This is a fun, short-term volunteer opportunity for technical and non-technical employees, college students, and faculty. Please use the text below to recruit potential reviewers within your organizations.

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing recognizes young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. All US high school young women (grades 9-12) are invited to apply. Complete information on the award is available at http://www.ncwit.org/award including Spanish language versions of the Award promotional materials. Awardees are selected for their demonstrated, outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology/computing; solid leadership ability; good academic history; and plans for post-secondary education. Volunteers are needed to help review and score the applications. Reviewers can be professionals, students, or faculty.

How do I participate? Reviewers will receive a login and password for the NCWIT Award Portal where they will view applications and score them online using a universal rubric. To volunteer, email aspirations@ncwit.org with the following information:

First Name
Last Name
Email
Password (your choice)
Organization/Employer
Job Title
Phone Number
Zip Code

You will receive an email confirming your status as a reviewer and a reminder of your login/password. Once the application period has closed, applications will be randomly assigned to reviewers and you will see a queue of applications to review and score.

How long will it take? You can expect to spend 2-4 hours reviewing and scoring applications, depending on how many young women apply in the given pool and how many reviewers volunteer. Review and scoring will take place between December 1 and December 15, 2009.

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is sponsored nationally by Bank of America. The Affiliate Awards are sponsored by the Motorola Foundation and Google.

SIGCT Robotics Theme Workgroup page for ISTE 2010

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION - ISTE 2010 PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS (CFP closed ... thanks to all for submitting proposals for ISTE 2010!)

NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing recognizes young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. By generating visibility for these young women in their local communities, the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing encourages their continued interest in computing, attracts the attention and support of educational and corporate institutions, and emphasizes at a personal level the importance of women's participation.

Applications will open October 1, 2009 for the 2010 National award call. Applicants will have until November 15, 2009 to complete their application. Additionally, there will be affiliate award programs in Texas, Illinois & Florida.

For more information on the NCWIT awards program, visit:
http://www.ncwit.org/work.awards.aspiration.html

Newsletters

January 2010:  pdf  doc
December 2009:  pdf  doc
November 2009:  pdf  doc
October 2009:  pdf  doc
September 2009:  pdf
Archive of previous newsletters (V 1: September 2007 - June 2008 and V 2: September 2008-June 2009)
Page summarizing all of the links/resources/websites noted in all newsletters up through June, 2009 (there are about 65)

Journal for Computing Teachers

Spring, 2009
Fall, 2008
Spring, 2008

SIGCT Annual Report for 2008-2009:  doc  pdf

SIGCT Agenda for Business Meeting, June 30, 2009:  doc  pdf

SIGCT Breakfast Forum at NECC 2009

Below are Powerpoint presentations of our featured speakers:

Dr. Mark Ciampa, Western Kentucky University: Information Security in Your Classroom - What Students and Teachers Should Know

http://cid-2caeaf78f3bff35c.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Presentations/Information%20Security%20In%20Classroom%20ISTE%20SIGCT%20M%20Ciampa.pptx (password on .pptx file: 'course')

Dr. Jeannette Wing, CISE Assistant Director - National Science Foundation: Computational Thinking

__http://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115161&org=CISE__


NECC 2009 List of Sessions of interest to SIGCT membership ( Excel Spreadsheet) ( PDF)

SIGCT Executive Board Conference Call Meetings

 SIGCT Proposal for additions and changes to the NETS-A standards, submitted March 23, 2009

SIGCT Abbreviations (NEW) - Please send additions or corrections to SteveSings@gmail.com

SIGCT Accomplishments and Mission (NEW) - This is my condensed summary of the brainstorming ideas received on SIGCT's mission statement. I welcome your comments on the page itself or at SteveSings@gmail.com

Mission Statement Brainstorming Page

NCWIT Collaboration Committee page

Current list of SIGCT Committees (including member volunteer opportunities)

Quarterly Activity Reports for SIGCouncil
 SIGCT Quarterly Activities Report for May, 2009  (brief version)
Archive of previous reports (September 2007, February 2008, May 2008, August, 2008, November, 2008, February 2009, May, 2009)

Other Recent Information
 SIGCT Annual Report for 2007-2008
Annual Membership Meeting at NECC 2008:  agenda  minutes
ISTE Staff and SIGCT Board Futures Meeting:  SIGCT Futures  Agenda
ISTE SIG Handbook
 ISTE SIG Webinar Request Form (draft)
SIGCT NECC 2009 Breakfast Forum: Discussion summary
 SIGCT NECC Session Review Committee Resolution

University of Washington Computer Science Recruiting Videos
The videos at this site (<http://www.cs.washington.edu/WhyCSE>) might be useful to you as you promote Computer Science to your high school students. As you view these videos notice that these go well beyond a narrow vision of Computer Science and into the broader realm of Computational Thinking, which is an idea compatible with the SIGCT mission. You can view these online, download them or even order a DVD for yourself. Enjoy!

Archive of NECC 2008 Activities
Archive of NECC 2007 Activities