Thank you for watching our video!

One of our program's focuses is building a community of computer science teachers in Louisiana. Many of the teachers we train to teach the BRBytes courses do not have a background in computer science. Because of this, we are trying to build their skills through our annual summer training events and monthly community of practice meetings for professional development.

• Our ultimate goal is to develop a community of computer science teachers who are proficient in the subject so they can truly teach students, rather than simply facilitating a course that is taught entirely through an online program. What recommendations or ideas do you have for how we can support the teachers and to help them support each other?

Another main focus of ours is going beyond providing accessibility to computer science education.

• We want all students to not only have the opportunity to take a computer science course, but to actually take at least one of these courses. What ideas have worked for you to spark student interest in computing courses and to have them see CS as a necessary part of the jobs of the future?


• We also envision permanent integration of the BRBytes curriculum into middle and high school course offerings. There is currently no computer science graduation requirement in the state of Louisiana. What recommendations do you have for creating a systemic change that would permanently integrate the BRBytes pathway in the schools?

Thanks for stopping by to view!! East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) and Louisiana State University (LSU) are bridging the gap in computer science and computational thinking education in Louisiana.

Hi BRBytes team and collaborators! I'm so curious about how you built the teacher-training curriculum and teacher community for this project. I love how the teacher-participant featured in your presentation said they felt like they was part of a connected network of teachers; it allowed them to talk about teaching, but also about the new coding platform they was learning. Would you please tell us a little more about the design considerations that went into that learning experience - as well as maintaining the community throughout the year?

Hi BRBytes team, I really like how this program focuses both on teachers and students.  I would like to know how much of an increase in enrollment for this pathway has happened since the program's inception.  Have you had a chance to track students' retention in the pathway? Similarly, what attitudinal, perceptual or educational changes have occurred for those who participate in the pathway regarding science, educational goals and other general goals?  

Look forward to reading your response.

Juana and team - congratulations on your growth each year! Thanks for sharing your work here. Clearly you are on to something and have been able to attract interest and commitment from teachers AND students in Louisiana. I'm actually curious what you would say to one of the questions you ask in your welcome posting Juana - What ideas have worked for you to spark student interest in computing courses and to have them see CS as a necessary part of the jobs of the future? 

Hi BRBytes! I think it's great that you are making STEM literacy and computing sciences accessible to all. Has your program been going long enough to get data on how many students continue with computer and/or STEM pathways in college or as a career choice?

Hi BRBytes! What an engaging and important program this is. At Challenger Center, we know that hands-on activities are key to building self-efficacy in any topic students are interested in. Do you have any supporting activities that preface or continue the lessons that students are experiencing on the digital devices? If so, do you find that improves engagement and understanding?

We have many hands-on activities, especially in the middle-school courses. The high school courses include hands-on activities as needed by the curricula. For example, students need to set up networks of Raspberry Pi's and program small bots and other devices. And the computer-based lessons are still built around students creating code in groups or in pairs, so I would not describe what they do as "experiencing a lesson" but rather as creating projects and performing tasks.

Hi BRBytes team -- circling back to thank you for your video. It's inspiring me to deeply consider how to revise my curricula to incorporate (and make explicit) more CS principles :)

Juana: Great description of the project.  Are you working with Baton Rouge to measure participation in the pathways over time?  I would love to discuss this with you in more detail if you are to understand how you are doing it and the challenges faced in that data collection and reporting process.  It relates to the work we are doing with ECEP.