MARYVILLE, Mo. – High school educators interested in learning computer science skills and trends they can use to help prepare students for the 21st century workforce are encouraged to participate in a summer workshop sponsored by Northwest Missouri State University.

The workshop, offered during two weeks in June on Northwest’s Maryville campus, will train teachers on coding and creating websites in addition to introductions of mobile apps and the internet.

Interested individuals need no background in computer science to participate.

“We will literally start from scratch, and our goal is to provide a gentle introduction to these topics,” Dr. Michael Rodgers, associate professor of computer science and information systems at Northwest, said. “All of the presenters have experience working with teachers and are attuned to their needs.”

Participants will receive hands-on introductions to new technology during each day of the workshop. They will work through entertaining exercises suitable for students, develop lesson plans and test those plans by teaching them to peers.

The workshop incorporates Scratch, a kid-friendly and popular visual programming language, and Cloud 9, a cloud-based environment that allows students to publish their work, as well as mobile app development using Android Studio and Swift Playgrounds, internet of things, and Hour of Code.

 

Participants will attend two sessions, June 19-20 and June 26-27. Lodging may be included with registration. The first 25 individuals to register will receive $400 plus lodging expenses for completing the program.

Registrants also may choose to receive one or two graduate credit hours from Northwest and a professional development certificate.

For more information about the workshop, contact Michael Rogers at [email protected]. To register, contact Beccy Baldwin at (660) 562-1995 or visit nwrpdc.org