Blog
BootUp 2020 Year in Review
This year, we've been busy adding new partnerships with Amazon Future Engineer, renewing our commitment to closing gaps in CS Education, and fighting for equity and inclusion inside and outside the classroom.
Scratch Packs: Integrating Personal Relevant Themes in CS
At BootUp, we often receive requests from teachers for pre-made materials to help them as they integrate coding into other subject areas. This is an intro to Scratch Packs ways to integrate coding into core-subject areas.
Let The Student Program The Computer, Not The Computer Program The Student
Seymour Papert, in his book Mindstorms, reminds us that the greatest benefit of integrating computers in the classroom is NOT as a tool for standardized assessment, repetitive skill reinforcement, or as Papert put it, “the computer programming the child.” Rather, he argued, “The child programs the computer. And in teaching the computer how to think, children embark on an exploration about how they think themselves”. This approach cultivates the soft skills identified as necessary in today’s workforce, including problem-solving, creativity, and cooperative learning. Further, Papert advocated that this benefit begins in pre-school. Yes...pre-school!
Designing an Equitable Computer Science Education Program for Your District
With equitable design and a concerted effort, computer science programs can promote equity and empowerment among students.
In Praise of Teachers
I have always looked up to and respected teachers. Most of us can look back fondly on a teacher who saw more in us than we saw in ourselves. Or a teacher who sparked an interest or passion in us and then fanned that small ember into a flame of lifelong learning. At BootUp, teachers are absolutely central to our nonprofit mission of bringing coding and computer science to all elementary students. We cannot begin to imagine the fulfillment of our nonprofit mission without them.
