ATE Grant Goals

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Revision as of 20:18, 8 February 2010

Oregon Center for Computational Thinking (suggest names :-)

OCITE - Oregon Center for Integrated Technology Education The mission of the Oregon Center for Integrated Technology Education is to support integrated pathways for K-16 students to attain sustainable employment in Oregon's technology sector. There are 3 primary components for achieving this:

1. Programs: Provide coordination and integration among existing programs, and support for development of new programs

2. People: Provide professional development, instructor training, and support in deploying technology education programs

3. Practices: Provide centralized communication, coordination, and dispersement of curriculum, resources, and best practices.

(Draft mission statement) The Oregon ATE center's goal is to improve workforce development pathways to information technology and computer science careers in northwest and nationally. Key to this is the coordination of education and training pathways from K-12 thru Community Colleges and Universities. The focus will be deploying and developing curriculum and teaching best practices from middle school through lower division college coursework. The center researches existing curriculum resources, develops and disseminates curriculum, and offers instructor training and support in deploying pathway courses. The center also functions as a coordinating entity, identifying and coordinating resource sharing and professional development for a diverse group of public and private organizations focused on workforce development for the computing industry. The center is being established by a consortium of Oregon Community Colleges, the Oregon University System, Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association, Software Association of Oregon/Tech Start, and the Oregon Council of Computing Chairs.

Map of the Center's resources and collaborating organizations

Below is a white board drawing captured during the January 21st meeting. This will be replaced with a more formal diagram as soon as someone has time to extract a drawing of it.

Goals list from brainstorming sessions

Feel free to add items that I missed in my notes; I am sure there are several

• Identify CS/Eng education best practices from national and local resources and apply to Oregon/NW
• Improve the access to CS/Eng courses to rural Oregon HS students
• Coordination of various statewide activities to attract students into CS/Engineering careers
• Efficient utilization and dissemination of Oregon CS/Eng educational resources
• Increased student engagement in STEM learning in middle and high school
• Undergraduate CS/Eng retention in lower division classes
• Shared best practices for K-16 education
• Coordinated and shared lower division college CS curriculum
• STEM education support
• Increase under represented groups in CS/Eng
• Education support issues for rural Oregon
• Education support issues for urban Oregon