Cultivating computational thinking and computational creativity in the classroom
August 8-11, 2012
A summer workshop for K-12 teachers
Organized by the MIT Media Lab, in collaboration with Google's CS4HS initiative

Overview

Are you interested in helping your students:

  • imagine new possibilities of what they can do with computers?
  • learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies?
  • explore computational ideas through personally-meaningful projects?

At the Creative Computing workshop, we'll explore new educational technologies and instructional strategies to engage students in creative design activities -- and, in the process, help students develop as computational thinkers and computational creators.

The workshop will feature technologies developed at the MIT Media Lab, with presentations and demonstrations by Media Lab researchers. Hands-on sessions will focus on Scratch, an easy-to-use programming environment that enables students to create interactive stories, games, animations, and simulations. As students create and share Scratch projects, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively -- while also learning important mathematical and computational ideas.

The workshop, which will take place at the MIT Media Lab, will begin with an evening event on Wednesday, August 8, and continue with three full-day sessions on August 9-11. Participants are asked to bring their own laptops, if possible.

The workshop is open to all media specialists, technology coordinators, computer-science teachers, and others who focus on the integration of new technologies into elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.

Schedule

In the workshop, we will explore computational ideas through a series of hands-on Scratch workshops. The activities will span several different genres of creating with Scratch: art, stories, and games.


  Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
8:30-9:00 Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast
9:00-12:30 Workshop 1: Art Workshop 3: Games Independent Project
12:30-1:30 Lunch Lunch
Scratch Educator Panel
Lunch
1:30-5:00 Workshop 2: Stories Independent Project Show & Tell
5:00-8:00 Event Overview
Kick-Off Dinner
Media Lab Tour
Dinner and Guest Speakers
Dinner Excursion

Participants

40 workshop participants were selected randomly by a lottery process. Congratulations to our 2012 Creative Computing cohort!

Franklin Abbott
Andrew Alford
Omar Ali
Andrea Ange
Martha Bowden
Michael Brother
Vonda Brown
Pat Bucher
Susan Clark
Margie Conklin
Debbie Corleto
Karie Ann Crowther
Karen Eutemey
Troy Flowers
Mary Freitas
Dana Fritzinger
Linda George
Judith Goldsmith-Karp
Jim Greenlee
Sue Heintz
Sarah Johnson
Joan Kane
Debra Kessler
John Knox
Karen Locke
Maria Marsicano
Anna Nunez
Elizabeth Perry
Karen Redmond
Theresa Rossi
Barbara Sanchez
Janet Schenden
Todd Shattuck
Kim Sivick
Jean Sorensen
Rose Truglio
Karen Valente
Andrea Vasquez
Steve Wells
Joy Wolfe

Pricing

The workshop costs $80 per participant -- this covers parking, meals and workshop materials. Housing and travel are not included in the registration fee. If you're looking for a place to stay, MIT on-campus housing is available. Single-occupancy rooms cost $74/night.

Contact

For more information, please email us at cs4hs@media.mit.edu.