Teachers, educators, Pythonistas, come and share your projects, experiences, and tools of the trade as you teach coding and Python to your students. The “Call for Talks” to speak at the Annual Python Education Summit, which is held in conjunction with PyCon, is open until January 3rd. We want to hear from you!
Go here for more details: https://us.pycon.org/2017/speaking/education-summit/
We are looking for ideas and experiences and best practices: how teachers and Python programmers have implemented Python instruction in their schools, communities, and other places of learning.
- Have you implemented a program that you’ve been dying to talk about?
- Have you tried something that failed, but learned some great lessons that you can share?
- Have you been successful implementing a particular program?
Then we urge you to submit a talk! You do not need to be an experienced speaker. We want you to share knowledge; we want to learn from your experiences.
This year, talks that focus on the challenges and triumphs of implementing code education are especially encouraged.
About the Python Education Summit
The Education Summit was started by Naomi Ceder in 2013: https://us.pycon.org/2013/events/edusummit/
The goal of the Summit was to form a coalition of teachers and educators from various walks of life who believe in teaching programming and using Python as a tool to do so. Since then, the Education Summit has become an integral part of PyCon, and 2017 will be its 5th year!
The structure of Education Summit has changed since its inception. In 2013 the Summit was by invitation only — it consisted of three discussion panels focusing on curriculum, teaching and engagement. Following lunch, the Summit transformed into a workshop where attendees could mingle and discuss topics from the morning sessions.
But from 2014 onwards the Education Summit became a whole-day event, with both morning and afternoon talks. The proposals for these were invited via a CFP. Some topics that were presented were on Teaching Data Science with Python, FOSSBox, et cetera.
You can check out the list of talks presented at Pycon 2015. Some that stood out to me were an uplifting talk about Women in Peru and how the outreach activity there is encouraging young women to take Python. Another one was how to use Trinket to create games! There is a recent article on Eliot Hauser who presented this talk, and how his product is now benefiting K-12 students and being used in schools.
In 2016, the talk list grew even further! There were two tracks, and the talks were recorded. A variety of talks were presented. This led to some great discussions, friendships, and engagements that went beyond PyCon. An excellent keynote on the Python Education Working Group and the micro:bit was presented by Nicolas Tollervey. This gave us insight on Python and Education activities in the United Kingdom. We learnt how one can attract younger minds to coding through games, with a talk on Pygame Zero and Minecraft. Teachers gave us excellent insight into their Python curricula and methods of teaching. The unconference sessions that followed further fueled the discussions and filled us all with renewed vigor and motivation to do something and make a difference!
Personally, I am full of gratitude to the Python Community and the Python Education Summit. My participation and learning has led to fruition and I was able to launch PyKids in the Summer of 2016 with the goal of teaching Python to grade schoolers. I have had much success — 7 after-school sessions this Fall with 5th graders, and a promise of new students in early 2017!
We hope to see you at the Education Summit this year. Hurry! January 3rd is the Talk Submission deadline — so pen down your thoughts and ideas and send them to us now.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
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