Celebrate Computing!

Computer Science Education Week 2011 (December 4–10) is your opportunity to raise awareness about the societal impact of computing, the richness of computing careers, and the critical need for computer science education. This is your call to action to inspire students about computer science, to employ new and better ways to engage students, and communicate with the public and parents about the need for and value of computer science education.

ACM participates in CSEdWeek each year, along with other partners, as part of the community’s commitment to promoting awareness about the vital field of computing. This week gives our community a platform to reach out and let others know about the wonder, opportunity and issues in computing and computer science education.

So what can you do to be part of this celebration? The first step is to pledge your support for CSEdWeek (there is no cost for pledging), and tell your friends! Sharing your support for CSEdWeek will help drive much needed awareness about computer science education.

You can also plan events or activities around CSEdWeek, and let us know what you’ll doing during the week through your pledge. We have an excellent set of resources to plan your event on CSEdWeek.org. For example:

• Post a "fact a day" on your social network feed about Computer Science from our facts about using hash tag #csedweek
• Hold an event using our toolkit for CSEdWeek events
• Create an e-mail signature proclaiming your commitment to CS education. Use the CSEdWeek image from csedweek.org
• Send a letter to your local school board asking them to make computer science a core academic subject (see, http://bit.ly/ryj9pr)
• Post the CSEDWeek countdown widget on your website

From small activities to major events the csedweek.org website has resources that you can use to fit your needs.

Please join us in the celebration of computing during CSEdWeek and pledge your support for this important effort!

Debra Richardson is Chair, CSEdWeek 2011, Professor of Informatics and Founding Dean of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.