In conjunction with Kent ISD, Open Systems Technologies is hosting a BitCamp for Teachers this week to help hone basic programming skills teachers can later bring back to their classrooms.
Founded by Software GR, the one-day educational opportunity was created to help engage more middle school-aged girls in technology and programming. However, after hosting its first BitCamp last year, OST's Tamara Iakiri said organizers at OST couldn't help but notice another group taking interest in learning basic programming skills.
Iakiri says within two days of posting the event, all 24 spots filled up with area teachers for the Tuesday event, prompting Spectrum Health to open another event scheduled for today with 18 spots – all of which have since been spoken for.
“Kent ISD was excited to team up with Open Systems Technologies and extend this opportunity to teachers because it provides access to the world of code that students will become more and more reliant upon in the future,” says Lindsey Tilley, career exploration coordinator at Kent Intermediate School District. “Teachers were anxious to expand their own understanding of coding so they can bring it back to share with students… The more opportunities we have as educators to interact directly with industry professionals that represent the positions we hope to train our students for the more effective we can be in the classroom.”
Not only does BitCamp offer teachers a way to step into the Digital Age and brush up on the kind of basic programming skills many of their students may already come equipped with, but Iakiri says teachers can also earn continuing education credits and connect with other area professionals who can help bring even more technology into their classrooms.
"(Teachers) can leverage these type of events and other opportunities to bring tech professionals in to their classrooms either to talk about careers or help with things like coding," Iakiri says, adding that OST is always searching to find different ways to partner with teachers and help increase their knowledge and skill level, like sponsoring more teachers to go to a McCall conference hosted in Sagatuck free of charge later this year.
Eric Closson, 5th grade teacher at Discovery Elementary says this kind of hands-on teacher education helps clarify the purpose of common core and make that mission more tangible to bring back to his own students.
“This is the why behind the how,” Closson says. “Just like in math you can teach a student an algorithm but if they don’t understand how it functions it will never matter. This is the depth of knowledge that the Common Core is always referencing.”
For more information, visit http://bitcamp.softwaregr.org.
Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Open Systems Technologies
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