Connecting Computing Education Research to Practice
The SIGCSE 2010 keynotes by Sally Fincher and Carl Weiman suggest how we connect research to changing practice. It's complicated! It's enculturation.
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Cleaving Computer Science Into New Degrees
Computer science is becoming too broad to fit under the tyranny of a single bachelors degree. Cleaving the BS in CS into new degrees is a natural growth path.
Encouraging Girls to Study Geeky Subjects (Part 1): Emotionally Intelligent Tutoring Systems
The first in a couple of articles in which I look at some ways of encouraging girls to engage with technical subjects; this focuses on an emotionally sensitive tutoring system to help girls with maths.
Errors in Database Systems, Eventual Consistency, and the CAP Theorem
Recently, there has been considerable renewed interest in the CAP theorem for database management system (DBMS) applications that span multiple processing sites. In brief, this theorem states that there are three interesting properties that could be desired by DBMS applications.
What are the implications of electronic voting? Which countries are using this system? What are the advantages of using such systems? And what are the problems with normal voting systems?
Time to Rethink Computer Science Education: The (Social) Web Changes Everything!
Let's rethink computer science education in face of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and beyond. The Internet have changed everything we know about how computing is done. It's time to revamp the entire curriculum to make it more relevant to the new world.
SQL Databases v. NoSQL Databases
Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about NoSQL databases. In fact, there were at least two conferences on the topic in 2009, one on each coast.
How Much Software Testing Is Enough?
Investing in a large amount of software testing can be difficult to justify, particularly for a startup company. How much software testing is enough?
Computer science education gets a boost from an historic document released by governors and education leaders in the United States and you can show your support for this effort.
A Personal View of the Future of Personal Computing
The future of computers will be created by a conjunction of several key aspects of technology.
SIGCSE 2010: Keywords, Final Thoughts
The keywords for SIGCSE 2010 include computational thinking, parallel programming, compilers, introductory CS courses, and Initial Learning Environments like Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch.
SIGCSE 2010: Carl E. Wieman Keynote
Physicist Carl E. Wieman’s keynote speech at SIGCSE 2010, "Science Education for the 21st Century: Using the Insights of Science to Teach/Learn Science," focused on a scientific approach to the teaching and learning of all sciences.
SIGCSE 2010: Sally Fincher v. Barbie
Sally Fincher’s keynote focused on the importance of representation, such as how computer scientists represent their work, how they represent their work to each other, and how they represent themselves to the world.
A CS conference is only as good as its selection of keynote speeches, and SIGCSE 2010 offers a formidable cast of keynotes, including a Nobel Prize winner.
Learning from the DARPA Network Challenge
Part 3: Lessons Learned. This is the story of the Georgia Tech team's experiences in the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition designed to see how online social networks could locate 10 red weather balloons moored throughout the continental US.
A decade ago, e-mail spam was a severe problem. Now, e-mail spam is barely noticeable. After years of battles between spam filters and spammers creating new tricks to evade those filters, have the spammers lost?
Presentations, Humor, and Memes
I have been reflecting on the nature of technical presentations. Public speaking can be great fun. When done well, it is a form of performance art. Enjoy it, and help your listeners enjoy it also!
How Do You Assess Computational Thinking?
There is a big buzz in the field about computational thinking just now. But what is it really? How do you assess it? I offer an initial assessment for a subset of these skills: all comments appreciated!
Finding DARPA’s 10 Red Balloons
Part 2: Launch Day. This is the story of the Georgia Tech team's experiences in the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition designed to see how online social networks could locate 10 red weather balloons moored throughout the continental US.
200 Years of Independence and Internet-Available Information
A quick summary of Web sites about the celebration of 200 years of independence in Latin America.
Too Much Programming Too Soon?
Mark Guzdial and Judy Robertson discuss the role of programming in introductory computer science.
Preparing For the DARPA Network Challenge
In late 2009 DARPA held its Network Challenge, a competition designed to see how online social networks could locate 10 red weather balloons moored throughout the continental US. This series describes one team's experiences in the competition.
Top 100 Software Tools For Learning
A brief article about a compiled list of software tools to support learning.
Mimi Ito on Amateur Media: Incremental, Experimental
When late night comedy can't retain an audience but a man lipsynching in his chair nets more than 700 million views, we know that something is up. What makes amateur media production tick, what makes it successful, and where is it going next?
Shape the Future of Computing
ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.
Get InvolvedCommunications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.
Learn More