Interdisciplinary Team Develops Open-Access Computer Programming Course for High School Teachers

A modular, open-access curriculum created at Vanderbilt is designed to expand the ability of high school teachers to use technology in learning, offering an engaging introduction to advanced topics that are otherwise accessible only to computer science majors in college. Programming for a Networked World is a beginner-level MOOC on Coursera covering the fundamentals of programming, the basics of distributed computing and computer networking, and problem solving with NetsBlox, the block-based educational programming environment developed at Vanderbilt.

The course was developed and is taught by Clifford B. Anderson, chief digital strategist at the Vanderbilt University Library; Akos Ledeczi, professor of computer science; and Brian Broll, research scientist at Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems and chief architect of NetsBlox. It was created primarily as a professional development opportunity for teachers who may want to teach The Frontiers of Computing, a Vanderbilt-developed course for high school students approved by the Tennessee Department of Education. Both courses are projects within the LIVE (Learning Incubator: a Vanderbilt Endeavor) Initiative, with support from Vanderbilt seed funding, the National Science Foundation, and the National Security Agency.

“The course teaches the basics of computer science in a relaxed, down-to-earth, and visually appealing manner,” Anderson said. “Building on our transdisciplinary collaboration, the MOOC will appeal to those from all educational fields and scholarly backgrounds. Our hope with this course is to make the leading ideas of computer programming and distributed computing accessible to all.” Read more …