Once Upon a Tech

Have you seen a little green cassette taking over your social media feed recently? That’s a Synth-a-Sette, one of the delightful inventions from MicroKits. The stars aligned (and electric fields combined) for our interview with MicroKit inventor David Levi. Hear from David himself about falling in love with electronics, life as an inventor and entrepreneur, what it’s like to see your hard work go...

Camilo Viera is a computer science equity superhero. He’s providing evidence-based professional learning opportunities to educators in Columbia and beyond - and now, through the Global Center for Equitable CS Education, his work is more impactful than ever. Want to take your first steps into CS education? Camilo has three suggestions for you. Hear those suggestions - and more of Camilo’s inspiring...

What if you had the opportunity to create a new STEM field? To influence the way future leaders approach and facilitate a growing skillset and field? That’s a lot of pressure - and today’s guest, Brian Wright, is thriving under that pressure. Listen to learn about Brian’s work building the Data Science School at the University of Virginia, putting together the liberal art degree for the data age!...

Sometimes an organization is just so interesting, you need two episodes to get all the juicy details. Today, we reconnect with CodeVA and chat with Jessica Lawson, CS Ready Schools program specialist, and Kristin Hott, Engagement Strategist, about their CS Ready Schools initiative and so many other ways they are empowering students and teachers through computer science education! Listen to find ou...

The goal of this blog and podcast series is to bring CS education research into the K-8 classroom. In this episode, I take a deep dive into exploring elementary students’ understanding of computer science and computational thinking concepts with Feiya Luo and Wei Yan. Feiya is an Assistant Professor in Instructional Technology at the University of Alabama and Wei is a Ph. D. candidate from the Uni...

What is it like to teach alongside your former mentor? In this episode we interview Kakim Fung and his former student and now teacher colleague, Harold Aquino-Guzman. Kakim is a computer science, mathematics, English, and history teacher at George Wythe High School. He is on a mission: to give every student in the Richmond City Public Schools the opportunity to earn an associate degree while in hi...

How’s your summer going? Join us for a catch-up episode where we share our updates and reflect on our amazing experience at the Computer Science Teachers’ Association Conference. Plus, the MOTHER of all announcements from Sarah ;) Listen and let us know - how are you spending your sunny August afternoons? Find resources here .

In this episode, I take a deep dive into the paper, Breaking the Code: Confronting Racism in Computer Science through Community, Criticality, and Citizenship with Aman Yadav. He is a Professor in the College of Education and the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University. Aman’s teaching and research focuses on computational thinking, computer science education, and problem-based lear...

In this episode, I take a deep dive into the paper, Dynamics of emotion, problem solving, and identity: Portraits of three girl coders with Maggie Dahn. She is an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine working with the Connected Learning Lab and Creativity Labs. Maggie has a background in visual arts and engages in design research to study how people learn in different...

What happens when a mechanical engineer craves more play and curiosity in her day? She starts exploring ways to combine math, engineering, art, creativity, and play in a space and format that makes everyone feel welcome and included! On today’s episode of Once Upon a Tech, we speak to the amazing Khushbu Kshirsagar about her experience with the Mozfest Zine Fair and her awesome work in Brooklyn, N...

Have you ever met a scientist whose life goals include embracing their inner child and sharing all of their knowledge for free? You’re about to! Pen-Yuan Hsing is an ecologist, a marine biologist, and a passionate advocate for open source resources. He’s also curious, creative, and a delight to talk to! Learn all about Pen, his ongoing projects, and the way he wants to change the world on today’s...

Large conferences like Mozfest can be intimidating for anyone ( 🙋🏻‍♀️ ), but hosting a session for the first time during a gap year when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life? That’s next level! But for today’s Voices at MozFest podcast guest, Muskan Fatima, it was a breeze. Muskan joined us from Islamabad to talk about her surprising Mozfest experience, the amazing conn...

CodeVA is an organization focused on student and adult computer science education, advocacy, professional development for educators, and more. It’s a huge grassroots effort, and it takes a powerful team to guide a movement so big. We were lucky enough to speak with an integral member of that team: Kristin Hott, CodeVA’s incredible Engagement Strategist! We spoke with Kristin about CodeVA’s focus,...

What should computer science education look like in K-12? Nick Grzeda and his team have a vision and are making it a reality in Loudoun County Public Schools! Their CS education pipeline includes support for elementary and middle school teachers through coaching and integrated curriculum and connecting CS with experiential learning opportunities for high school students. Plus they are generously s...

What is the Women’s Maker Program at UVA? We spoke to Fang Yi, Educational Technologist at the UVA Library, and student leader Izzy McReynolds about the work they’re doing to create a haven for makers, tinkerers, and tech explorers. We also get a behind-the-scenes peek at the Girls Maker Camp and how they hope this experience will help educate middle school girls about gender equality issues in ST...

What do philosophy and the metaverse have in common? How do we share knowledge and connect with each other in this ever-evolving virtual space? We spoke with Stella Anne Teoh Ming Hui right on the heels of her Youth & Futures Mozfest session, “Rethinking the Digital Space (Metaverse) through a Non-Digital Means: Philosophy”, to find out! This fascinating Voices at Mozfest interview is sure to push...

Web Monetization vs. web monetization? What’s the deal? In this Voices at Mozfest session, we sat down with Tani Olhanoski, CEO and co-founder of Mysilio, about how she’s working to make the internet more fun, safe, and creative for all. We bet that her passion will get you up and moving, too! Find resources here .   This episode is part of a special Voices at MozFest series.

In this episode, I take a deep dive into a report on the state of CS in preservice education programs and a special issue from ACM highlighting a variety of research on CT in preK-5 with Anne Leftwich. She is a Professor and Interim Chair of Instructional Systems Technology within the School of Education and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and the Barbara B. Jacobs Chair in Education and...

We were feeling a little starstruck during our interview with one of the 2018 European Digital Girls of the Year, Aoibheann and her mom Iseult! In this episode, they give us a sneak preview of the Youth & Futures space at MozFest which is happening this year online, March 7-10. There’s really something for everyone to enjoy and learn from, so don’t miss this amazing opportunity to join a global co...

It’s almost Valentine's Day, which means it’s the perfect time for a LOVE story! Our wonderful guest for this episode, educator Bea Leiderman, and her love for Scratch & computer science education are sure to make you swoon. Grab some chocolates and enjoy the romance! Find resources here .

It’s almost 2022! Time to reflect on 2021, Once Upon a Tech Style… with guessing games, challenges, and a good old fashioned lightning round :) Thanks for listening this year, and for being a part of our community at the intersection of technology and literacy. We’re so glad you’re here!  PS: We want to know - if you had to choose one word to describe YOUR 2021, what would it be?? Find resources h...

What does the executive director of a nonprofit organization do? How does a nonprofit organization grow and change to meet the evolving needs of a community? What does it feel like to be at the helm of a community nonprofit organization navigating a global pandemic? We went all in with the BIG questions for our interview with Kala Somerville, Executive Director of beloved Charlottesville nonprofit...

The goal of this blog and podcast series is to bring CS education research into the K-8 classroom. In this episode, I take a deep dive into two papers: Designing an Assessment for Introductory Programming Concepts in Middle School Computer Science (2020) and Assessing Algorithmic & Computational Thinking in K-12: Lessons from a Middle School Classroom (2017) with Shuchi Grover. She is a learning s...

The goal of this blog and podcast series is to bring CS education research into the K-8 classroom. In this episode, I take a deep dive into two papers: Tapestry Workshops: Helping High School Teachers Grow and Diversify Computing and Lessons Learned from Providing Hundreds of Hours of Diversity Training with Luther Tychonievich. He is an Associate Professor of CS at the University of Virginia. I f...

This week’s podcast guest is: A. teacher, technology enthusiast, and reader B. student, problem solver, and creative thinker C. maker, a developer, and a lifelong learner D. All of the above The answer is… D! We’re so excited to introduce you to Eric Bredder, a PhD student at the UVA School of Education. Eric is a passionate educator who loves teaching - and because of that, he’s determined to cha...