Once Upon a Tech

Have you seen a little green cassette taking over your social media feed recently? That’s a Synth-a-Sette, one of the delightful inventions from MicroKits. The stars aligned (and electric fields combined) for our interview with MicroKit inventor David Levi. Hear from David himself about falling in love with electronics, life as an inventor and entrepreneur, what it’s like to see your hard work go viral, and his vision of circuit creation for all! Find resources here.

Camilo Viera is a computer science equity superhero. He’s providing evidence-based professional learning opportunities to educators in Columbia and beyond - and now, through the Global Center for Equitable CS Education, his work is more impactful than ever. Want to take your first steps into CS education? Camilo has three suggestions for you. Hear those suggestions - and more of Camilo’s inspiring story - on today’s episode. Find resources here.

What if you had the opportunity to create a new STEM field? To influence the way future leaders approach and facilitate a growing skillset and field? That’s a lot of pressure - and today’s guest, Brian Wright, is thriving under that pressure. Listen to learn about Brian’s work building the Data Science School at the University of Virginia, putting together the liberal art degree for the data age! Find resources here.

Sometimes an organization is just so interesting, you need two episodes to get all the juicy details. Today, we reconnect with CodeVA and chat with Jessica Lawson, CS Ready Schools program specialist, and Kristin Hott, Engagement Strategist, about their CS Ready Schools initiative and so many other ways they are empowering students and teachers through computer science education! Listen to find out how YOU can get this incredible support for incorporating CS into your school for FREE. Find resources here.

The goal of this blog and podcast series is to bring CS education research into the K-8 classroom. In this episode, I take a deep dive into exploring elementary students’ understanding of computer science and computational thinking concepts with Feiya Luo and Wei Yan. Feiya is an Assistant Professor in Instructional Technology at the University of Alabama and Wei is a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Florida, majoring in Educational Technology. Find resources here.

What is it like to teach alongside your former mentor? In this episode we interview Kakim Fung and his former student and now teacher colleague, Harold Aquino-Guzman. Kakim is a computer science, mathematics, English, and history teacher at George Wythe High School. He is on a mission: to give every student in the Richmond City Public Schools the opportunity to earn an associate degree while in high school. Harold is a former student of Kakim’s who struggled academically in middle school, but with Kakim’s guidance, went on to earn over 100 college credits during his high school career. He graduated high school in 2021 and earned his bachelor’s degree in math in 2022. These two make an incredible pair - you won’t want to miss this story! Find resources here.

How’s your summer going? Join us for a catch-up episode where we share our updates and reflect on our amazing experience at the Computer Science Teachers’ Association Conference. Plus, the MOTHER of all announcements from Sarah ;) Listen and let us know - how are you spending your sunny August afternoons? Find resources here.

In this episode, I take a deep dive into the paper, Breaking the Code: Confronting Racism in Computer Science through Community, Criticality, and Citizenship with Aman Yadav. He is a Professor in the College of Education and the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University. Aman’s teaching and research focuses on computational thinking, computer science education, and problem-based learning. Find resources here.

In this episode, I take a deep dive into the paper, Dynamics of emotion, problem solving, and identity: Portraits of three girl coders with Maggie Dahn. She is an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine working with the Connected Learning Lab and Creativity Labs. Maggie has a background in visual arts and engages in design research to study how people learn in different contexts and the affordances of art making for the development of voice and identity and issues of access and equity. Find resources here.

What happens when a mechanical engineer craves more play and curiosity in her day? She starts exploring ways to combine math, engineering, art, creativity, and play in a space and format that makes everyone feel welcome and included! On today’s episode of Once Upon a Tech, we speak to the amazing Khushbu Kshirsagar about her experience with the Mozfest Zine Fair and her awesome work in Brooklyn, New York. Find resources here.