GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Stockton University’s vision of creating a technology hub for K-12 education is coming to fruition after the school was awarded a two-year, $333,313 grant to help support it.
“It’s time for the next step — making sure teachers and students can use the technology to create the ideas, the codes, that can support the development of computer science,” Patty Weeks, director of the Southern Regional Institute and Educational Technology Training Center in the School of Education at Stockton, said in a statement Thursday.
The CS Coastal Hub will give K-12 students access to computer technology by assembling a regional network of educators developing their students’ skills in computer science, according to Stockton’s website.
The grant was provided by the state Department of Education.
Beginning this fall, New Jersey students must have access to computer science tools. A drawback is that not enough teachers are prepared to instruct their students in the subject, Weeks said.
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Stockton formulated its network to meet state standards, Weeks said.
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The institute’s Coastal Hub for Computer Science Education hosted its first free cohort of 30 teachers from local school districts last month for a four-day workshop, Weeks said.
Throughout the fall, teachers will get on-site coaching in their classrooms, Stockton said.
Teachers also will participate in an online community, sharing ideas about teaching and learning computer science across all grades.
Additional sessions are expected throughout October and November, Stockton said.
“The teachers loved it because it’s not just about coding,” Weeks said. “It’s about thinking in a different way.”
While the workshops are open to any teacher in South Jersey, Stockton’s tech hub has partnered with school districts in Mullica and Hamilton townships, Buena Regional and Wildwood for additional on-site instructional help.
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Stockton hopes to have more districts join the partnership in the hub’s second year, Weeks said.
“We really want to reach those districts that are typically underrepresented in the field of computer science, districts that don’t have any computer science education,” she said.
Currently, Weeks said, New Jersey does not have a standard teaching certification for computer science, but she expects that to change, given the field is quickly evolving. Once the certification is approved, the hub will offer support to novice teachers interested in acquiring it.
“I just can’t imagine the world that these kids are going to face and the kinds of work they are going to do,” Weeks said. “But the industry needs this computer science training. They are asking for this. Parents are asking for it. The timing is right.”
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