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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.
Calling All Games
The XNA Team is looking for cool XNA based games to highlight. From the announcement: We’re looking...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/08/2008
Technology Questions for a Teacher Interview
Jeff Utecht is a really cool teacher with a very interesting blog. Jeff is a K-12 Technology...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/08/2008
Friday Interesting Links
I found a couple of short things I felt I should link to today. Martin Schray pointed me at an...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/04/2008
A Protractor Compared to a Non-pro Tractor?
This video from MathMovesU is either funny or scary depending on how you view it. They sent some...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/04/2008
Some Interesting and Useful Curriculum Links - Visual Basic, XNA, Other Intro CS
Over the holiday I did some browsing around the Internet. I found a couple of new blogs to follow,...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/03/2008
Top December Posts
Well I must confess that I am struggling to get back into the whole "doing work" thing after taking...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 01/02/2008
Projects for a Programming Course
At their best teacher blogs are full of information and idea sharing that benefits other teachers....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/31/2007
Use Your Wii Controller To Fly Through Virtual Earth
Now I love Virtual Earth and I especially enjoy using my Xbox 360 controller to fly around, zoom in...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/28/2007
Updates on Beginning Programming Languages
I would imagine that a lot of people are looking for interesting things to do with brand new...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/27/2007
Fixing the AP CS Curriculum
So as you read this it is a day or two after Christmas. You may still be full from Christmas dinner...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/26/2007
Higher Algebra with Visual Basic
Here's something for the math teachers. And the people who are teaching computer science but who...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/24/2007
Office 2007 Tips and Tricks
Hilary Pike has a nice set of videos on her favorite features in Microsoft Office 2007. She starts...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/21/2007
A Simple Check Digit Project
[Note: is this is interesting to you then this page at CS Unplugged is a must read for extra ideas...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/20/2007
Third Annual Microsoft Academic Days Conference on Game Development in Computer Science Education
The last two winters Microsoft and Microsoft Research have partnered to host a conference on game...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/18/2007
Stephen Downes on EduBlogs
There are a couple of reasons to link to this post by Stephen Downes. The best reason is because he...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/18/2007
XNA Game Studio Express 2.0 Is Out
Over at the XNA blog they have announced that XNA Game Studio Express version 2.0 has now been...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/17/2007
Popfly Goes to School
Popfly is a very easy to use and yet powerful mashup tool for non-professional developers. It's...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/16/2007
Robotics and .NET Fundamentals Series
Sometimes it really pays to have smart friends and let them figure things out for you even if you...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/15/2007
Tandy Trower on Microsoft and Robotics
Tandy Trower is the General Manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group. A 26-year veteran of the...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/11/2007
Torque X 3D for Education Boot Camp
Torque X is an extremely powerful game development tool (built on Microsoft's XNA) from GarageGames....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/10/2007
Inspiring Teachers Inspired Students
I visited a high school last week. This is not atypical for me of course. I visit high schools on a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/09/2007
Could not find any resources appropriate for the specified culture or the neutral culture
There is a problem, a technical problem, that I hear about from teachers from time to time. I've...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/07/2007
Max Builds a PC
My friend Max is building a PC from parts. Over at Channel 8 (First post in the series here) he's...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/06/2007
How Do I - Videos
I found out about a bunch of new videos that show how to do different things with different...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/05/2007
Top November Posts
November was an interesting month in some ways. It seems that when I really lay out an opinion piece...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/04/2007
Blogs By and For High School Computer Science Teachers
Well the nominations for the Educational Blog awards are out again. I'm not nominated but some...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/03/2007
MSDN Flash - Newsletter for Students and Professionals
Hilary Pike (a friend and co-worker) edits a section of the MSDN flash newsletter designed for...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 12/02/2007
Math Add-in for Microsoft Word
Here is a little goody for all of you out there (especially you math teachers) who are always...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/30/2007
Is Computer Science Dying
Well that is a pretty dramatic title. I didn't think it up myself though. I'm not so pessimistic. It...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/29/2007
Advertising Free Wiki Space at WetPaint
One of the problems with many "free" Internet services is that they are supported by advertising....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/28/2007
WiiMote (Wii game controller) and Microsoft Robotics Studio
I've written before about the Wii controller with links to software that allows a programmer to use...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/27/2007
Update on Summer 2008 Alice & Media Computation Workshops
Barbara Conover, Project Manager, Center for Visualization (Alice Grants) sent me the following...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/26/2007
Visual Studio Express 2008 is out
Visual Studio 2008 was released to manufacturing this week and there is a lot of news about it...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/23/2007
Channel 8 at European TechEd
The Dutch Microsoft Student Partners (MSPs) have been at the European Teched event interviewing...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/22/2007
Mass Technology Leadership Council Above and Beyond Awards
The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council annually awards teachers in the state who go Above...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/21/2007
XNA Express 2.0 Beta Announced
There is a new version of XNA Studio Express available. XNA Game Studio 2.0 (Beta) also comes with a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/21/2007
Will the Kindle Change the World of Textbooks
There is a lot of talk on the Internet today about Amazon's new electronic book called the Kindle....
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/20/2007
Carrot, Stick, Attract, Retain, Boys, Girls
Is the shortage of women in computer science caused by a failure to attract women or are women being...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/19/2007
Your way, Your play, XNA: Modify a 2D Game in 10 minutes
Short attention span? No problem. Hilary Pike has created a short quick moving demo/screen cast on...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/16/2007
Creating An Install Project and More
This is sort of a two for one post. The first thing that happened is that Clint Rutkas created a...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/14/2007
What in the world is a Developer Evangelist?
The word "evangelist" is showing up in job titles more and more these days. But what is a job like...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/13/2007
Computer Technology, Agriculture and Africa
My friend and co-worker Philip DesAutels is in Africa this week. Philip has a wide range of...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/12/2007
Where Does Computer Science Fit in the Curriculum
I've been thinking about this whole "computer science is a liberal art" that I have commented on...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/12/2007
The Computer Science Alphabet
Something just for fun today. Recently Lucy Sanders of NCWIT published a blog post called "Computing...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/09/2007
Office Offline
I just came across a new web comic site/blog called Office Offline. Very simple and very funny. It's...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/08/2007
XNA Student Projects/Games
It looks like a lot of my co-workers have been running into students who are having fun creating...
Author: Alfred Thompson Date: 11/07/2007