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Alfred Thompson's blog about teaching computer science at the K-12 level. Alfred was a high school computer science teacher for 8 years. He has also taught grades K-8 as a computer specialist.
Build Your Own or Buy Built
I'm not much of a hardware guy. Oh sure I have built a few systems and I can add and replace...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/12/2008
So You Want A Job in the Software Industry
Clint Rutkas has been doing a lot of interviewing lately. At a number of events he has been...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/11/2008
Passion Quilt meme
Yeah I used a Microsoft image but the view of the mouse and the books connected was irresistible....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/10/2008
Is Computer Science Enrolment Heading Up?
The Computer Research Association (CRA) has a new report out on computer science enrollment. The...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/10/2008
Big Money for Teachers or for Technology
There is an interesting new charter middle school opening in New York City that promises to pay...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/09/2008
Keeping Track of Education Bloggers
I found an interesting new site today. I found it on Twitter actually. I am finding that a lot of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/09/2008
More on the GDCSE Conference
So I'm still way behind on blogging to say nothing of my email. I spent the last day as a vacation...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/05/2008
LiveWeb - insert and view web pages real-time
Philip DesAutels sent me a link to a PowerPoint add-in called LiveWeb. I haven't had a chance to try...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 03/04/2008
It's Leap Day - Does Your Software Know That?
Well today is February 29th 2008. A February 29th only comes around once every four years. Or does...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/29/2008
Join The Conversation - Girls On The Web and Other Topics
I'm away on a gaming in computer science conference and while I really wanted to have a lot of great...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/28/2008
When Cods Collide - an XNA Game in 2D
Well I'm on the road again. Today I am flying to Miami for the Game Development in Computer Science...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/27/2008
Time To Take Out The Garbage - The Interview
Channel 9 is one of my favorite tech websites. It's designed and targeted for professional...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/25/2008
Reality Check: Teaching Students About Intellectual Property Rights
More and more computer science programs are including units on ethical and legal issues. Perhaps one...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/22/2008
XNA - Games for the Zune
Well there are always questions about an handheld game device from Microsoft. Well this isn't it....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/21/2008
Programming as the New Literacy
Regular readers know that I have been pushing this idea of programming and computer science as being...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/20/2008
DreamSpark - Microsoft Gives Software to Students for Academic Use
OK so it is already all over the blogosphere that Bill Gates announced a new program called...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/20/2008
Science and Engineering Links
Did you know that this is National Engineering Week? Well it is. So in honor of that a few links....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/19/2008
Summer Workshops for Teachers
I received a pair of announcements about summer workshops for teachers at Carnegie Mellon this...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/18/2008
An Operating System You Can Play With in C#
The contributors over at Channel 8, the web community for students interested in computer...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/15/2008
Build, Craft, Hack, Play, Make!
It looks like Maker Faire is starting to ramp up for this coming May. I'm trying to see if I can...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/13/2008
Expression Web Project For Students
[Updated with new project page link.] When I was a student a lot of projects we used to do were...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/12/2008
How Rare (Game Dev Company) Recruits Graduates
Rare is one of the top game development companies in the world and is based in the UK. As you might...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/12/2008
Alfred On Channel 8
Just in case you wondered what I looked and sounded like, I am in a brief video at Channel 8 right...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/11/2008
Microsoft Math Demo - Making Your Math Homework Easier
Microsoft Math is an interesting and easy to use tool for doing mathematical calculations. It is...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/11/2008
Developing CS1/2 Programming Assignments on the XBOX 360
I just found out that there is a special FREE pre-conference workshop on developing assignments for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/08/2008
XNA, a Guitar Hero Guitar and a Game of Your Own
Dan Waters is at it again. He's created a game and video taped the whole process in a series of 12...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/05/2008
Secure The World
I just found a new web site that collects a lot of existing security information and adds some new...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/05/2008
Fun or Serious Learning - Why not both?
The SIGCSE mailing list recently had a long discussion about plagiarism in the context of philosophy...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/04/2008
Visual Studio Learning Opportunities
I received some information about some new offerings from Microsoft learning last week and thought...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 02/01/2008
More Kids Programming Environments
I'm always looking out for new tools and environments for teaching young people to program. Recently...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/31/2008
10 Golden Rules For Teaching Computer Science
It's often amazing what you find while you are looking for something else. Last week while following...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/30/2008
Tablet PCs in the K12 Classroom
I found a bunch of new information and case studies about schools using Tablet PCs across the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/29/2008
Pre-Collegiate Faculty Connection Site For CS, Technology and Math Education
Microsoft’s new Pre-Collegiate Faculty Connection site is where K-12 educators can access resources...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/28/2008
High School XNA Game Development Class
Back in November I listed some high school computer science teacher blogs that I am following. At...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/25/2008
Education Test Drive
Last week I found something that may be of interest to school and district technology coordinators...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/24/2008
Is Java the Problem?
Recently an article by Dr. R.B.K Dewar and Dr. E. Schonberg called "Computer Science Education:...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/23/2008
A Stopwatch Object in .NET
Did you know that there was a Stopwatch object in .NET? Me either. Apparently it was added in the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/22/2008
Very Silly Games (for XNA Game Studio Express 2.0)
I must confess that I am not a serious gamer. I am not serious about playing games and I am not all...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/21/2008
How Software Is Built - Updated
It's been about five months since I wrote about a then new site called How Software Is Built and a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/17/2008
Adding the Percent Key to a Calculator Project
Like a lot of teachers I have use the four-function calculator project as a way to introduce various...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/16/2008
How To Teach Your Child to Program
Randy Guthrie is a member of my team out west who used to be a professor of Information Systems....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/15/2008
OneNote and Students, Networks and the Paperless School
I had two notes from Mike Tholfsen last week. Now Mike is the OneNote Ninja - there is not much...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/14/2008
Getting Started With Silverlight
The Silverlight 1.0 Fire Starter is a one-day event providing developers and designers information...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/11/2008
Update on DigiGirlz Days at Microsoft
I got this announcement this week and thought it worth sharing and reminding people that sign ups...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/10/2008
A Fine Arts Degree in Computer Programming
The first thing I think we have to get out of the way is that programming and computer science are...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/09/2008