Tag: igbepost

Computer Science For Fun (CS4FN) – Women in Computing Resources

CS4FN is a fantastic site full of free resources for teaching computing science, including some great lists of articles and resources highlighting the important role women have in computing.

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: Computer Science and Electronic Engineering: The Women are here!

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: cs4fn Magazine+: Issue 23: Women in Computing

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: Ada Lovelace: Computer Scientist without a Computer

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: Ada Lovelace: Visionary: Computational Creativity

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: Sorry to bug you: Grace Hopper

Computer Science for Fun – cs4fn: A gendered timeline of technology

Sign up for CyberFirst Girls Development Days!

This year’s CyberFirst Girls Competition was a great success with over 6,000 entries from across the UK! And we’re not stopping there – girls that entered the 2020/2021 competition are now eligible to attend free Development Days and continue their CyberFirst journey.

 

The CyberFirst Girls Development Day initiative is inspired and led by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ to encourage understanding of the different specialisms within cyber security and equip the girls with practical, in-demand skills.

 

On the day, the girls will be role-playing as cyber security experts working for a fictitious app company, Sirius Cyberworks. Unfortunately, disaster has struck and there has been a serious breach of the company network – a new flagship app has been leaked.

 

The girls’ role is to work through four different parts of the company, uncovering how the leak happened whilst learning new cyber skills along the way.

 

The development days are running throughout October and:

  • are open to girls now in S2/S3 in Scotland
  • consist of a series of fun, interactive one day face-to-face courses; or two half-day virtual sessions (depending on the preferred delivery model)
  • feature guest speakers and videos from trailblazing women leaders working in the cyber industry

 

Places fill up fast, so make sure you secure yours as soon as possible. Reserve your place today with your priority booking voucher code: CFSCOT2021

 

Click here to find out more and reserve your place or share with any friends or family who may be interested.

Bridging the Digital Gender Divide – OECD

This post is based on a report published in 2018 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report aims to further strengthen the evidence base in support of the equitable participation of women in the digital economy. As the OECD report runs to more than 150 pages, I have written this post to share what I believe are the key messages, most relevant to educators in Scotland, and some of the guidance we are putting, or can put, in place to improve gender balance in computing and digital skills. 

 

We are all well aware of the increasing gender wage gap, which is especially so in digital careers, and if we don’t engage girls, they’ll be further behind in terms of earnings and career progression. In terms of digital literacy, the report suggests that the ‘generalist wins out over the specialist’ – this is useful to consider when we plan our learning and teaching: do we need children and young people who are very good at one area or skill, let’s say coding, or would be preparing them better for the world of work by allowing them to experience data, security, web development and other areas all set in cross-curricular meaningful contexts? 

 

Regarding gender balance in Computing Science, the report recognises that ‘girls perform better in collaborative tasks yet we celebrate completion/accuracy of tasks (think exams!) which don’t reward or mention the collaborative process’ – this made me reflect on my own practice, and while I would recognise good teamwork or effort that would probably be second to task accuracy or completion. So, do we need to upskill ourselves in supporting and developing collaborative learning – how to recognise when this is effective and how to feedback effectively on it – so that we can design learning and environments that foster, promote and celebrate collaboration? 

 

It might seem like common sense to promote girls-only or girl-centred lessons, classes and clubs to engage more girls – and yet the research does not support this! The OECD points to the need for ‘girls and boys working together breaks down barriers and biases’ and ‘awareness raising of digital as a cultural norm for girls and women’, while ‘showcasing female leadership in digital’. So, next time you think of setting up girls-only clubs, is it worth thinking how you can ensure mixed-gender activities that promote the skills, abilities and characters of girls alongside those of boys? 

 

In addition to the potential ‘barrier’ of gender to accessing computing and digital skills, how many of use consider the possibility of cultural and language barriers? Are our computing lessons relatable and meaningful to learners who speak English as an additional language? Does it fit their cultural capital – or that of their family? The ‘most exciting’ computing lesson (if such a thing existed) might be that for just one group while being less accessible to others. So, how do we ensure our lessons and activities excite and engage more learners, and not just more girls. 

 

The DigiLearn team have been working with our Improving Gender Balance colleagues to ensure we implement as much of this in our support as possible. We are proud to say that we will ensure that our support for educators will: 

  • support engagement in extracurricular activities 
  • bear in mind gender-related considerations for teaching – this will be built-in to our webinars and web content 
  • raise awareness of women who lead in computing and digital skills – in and out of education 
  • support applications for funding that can be accessed to support or enhance female participation 

 

Read the paper

GENDER BALANCE IN COMPUTING

Teach Computing Research Programme – Gender Balance in Computing (GBIC)

The Gender Balance in Computing (GBIC) research programme is an amazing opportunity to find out what works to encourage girls to develop an interest during their primary and secondary school years, and increase the number of young women who choose to study Computer Science at GCSE and A level.

Sign up here

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Have you been involved in GBIC? Share your experience with our community and inspire someone!

COMPUTING SCIENCE GENDER BALANCE LESSON PLANS

Computing Science Gender Balance Lesson Plans

Research tells us that more boys achieve computing qualifications than girls. There can be many reasons for this and in order to help you mitigate some of these gender imbalances we have curated this folder of lesson plans and resources to support them. They have been curated to help you ensure your Computing Science lessons are as accessible and engaging to learners regardless of their gender.

Find out more abour Improving Gender Balance support here.