#CSK8 Podcast - A podcast for computer science educators

In this episode I unpack Bowler and Champagne’s (2009) publication titled “Mindful makers: Question prompts to help guide young peoples' critical technical practices in maker spaces in libraries, museums, and community-based youth organizations,” which "examines question prompts as a means to scaffold reflection and reflexivity in the design, development, and use of technological artifacts in make...

In this interview with Sarah Judd, we discuss what Sarah learned both in the classroom and as a CS curriculum writer, the curriculum Sarah continues to develop for AI4ALL, advice and philosophies that can guide facilitating a class and designing curriculum, some of our concerns with discourse on gender in CS, my recommended approach to sustainable professional development, and much more. Click her...

In this episode I unpack Allsup and Baxter’s (2004) publication titled “Talking about music: Better questions? Better discussions!” which is a short article that discusses open, guided, and closed questions, as well as a framework for encouraging critical thinking through questions. Although this article is published in a music education journal, I discuss potential implications for computer scien...

In this interview with Gail Lovely, we discuss navigating appropriate behavior with digital technologies, some considerations for early and pre readers, how to respond to concerns about screen time, metaphors of education as playpens and playgrounds, learning CS/coding through literacy, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━...

In this episode I unpack Sotamaa's (2010) publication titled “When the game is not enough: Motivations and practices among computer game modding culture,” which is a case study that explores the attitudes, motivations, and practices of 29 people who create mods for the game Operation Flashpoint. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━...

In this interview with Jon Stapleton, we discuss metaphors for education and facilitating, the importance of community and navigating inappropriate content online, how programming languages and platforms influence learning, theories and philosophies that inform Jon’s practice, critical code studies, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science...

In this episode I unpack Scacchi’s (2010) publication titled “Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene,” which examines modding practices within the mod scene, and discusses the social and corporate pressures that influence this culture. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Introduction 01:31 Abstract 02:42...

In this interview with Katie Henry, we discuss the micro:bit and the do your :bit challenge, rhizomatic learning, the potential for CS for healing, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Introduction 01:11 Katie introducing herself 01:18 How Katie got into computer science education 02:04 An experience in edu...

In this episode I unpack El-Nasr and Smith’s (2006) publication titled “Learning through game modding,” which describes two case studies on modifying video games to learn software development and design, as well as programming, artistic, and video game concepts. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 01:15 Abstract 02...

In this interview with Bob Irving, we discuss our emphasis on creative coding/computing for leisure, fostering engagement with coding/CS, improving pedagogy over time, and much more. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 00:41 Bob introducing himself 01:06 How Bob transitioned into CS education 03:59 Bob's recommenda...

In this episode I unpack Hsu, Chang, and Hung’s (2018) publication titled “How to learn and how to teach computational thinking: Suggestions based on a review of the literature,” which is a content analysis of 120 publications written between 2006 and 2017 that reveals that CT means many things and that people are implementing it through a variety of means. Click here for this episode’s show notes...

In this interview with Sandra Ahlstrom, we discuss transfer of understanding across programming languages, collaborating around computing, the impact we want to have as educators, and several more topics relevant to CSK8 educators. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 01:35 Sandy introducing herself 02:13 Sandy's CS...

In this episode I unpack Peppler and Kafai’s (2009) publication titled “Creative coding: Programming for personal expression,” which is an analysis of a single project created in Scratch that appears to indicate kids can learn how to create media arts expressions despite little experience with coding. Click here for this episode’s show notes How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━...

In this interview with Eljakim Schrijvers, we discuss computational thinking and programming challenges through Bebras and the International Olympiad in Informatics. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro 01:36 Eljakim introducing himself 02:01 How Eljakim got into CS and informatics 04:03 How Eljakim learned CS 04:43...

This episode introduces the podcast by discussing what listeners can expect in the following episodes. Click here for this episode’s show notes . How to Get Started with Computer Science Education