At one table, thirteen Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students from Baltimore used tablets to create patterns of colorful shapes through code. At another station, the students composed music and played games on laptops by completing circuits connected to bananas and celery.

The scene in UMBC’s Commons last Thursday was just what Gabrielle Salib ‘17, interdisciplinary studies, had hoped for. “Our world is quickly becoming more automated and by learning how to code, as President Obama has said, we ‘become the creators rather than just the consumers’ of our ever-growing tech society,” shared Salib. She is president of UMBC’s Computer Science Education student organization, which organized the event as part of the international Hour of Code movement

UMBC joined thousands of schools around the world in hosting Hour of Code events to celebrate Computer Science Education Week, drawing both UMBC students and younger area students to learn about circuits, coding, and computing through hands-on activities.

“Hour of Code events are a great way to gain visibility and awareness of the importance of CS for All,” said Marie desJardins, COEIT associate dean and professor of computer science, and faculty advisor of the Computer Science Education student organization. “It’s especially important to reach out to young women and minority students in their critical middle school years, and to connect them with peers and role models they can relate to.”

“The Hour of Code day is especially important for our Technovation Club because two days a week our girls spend two hours learning how to code and how to develop their own apps,” said Acacia Asbell, a project director for UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program who works closely with Lakeland Elementary School. “This event really reinforces how important coding is, and how they can have an impact on the world around them.”

The Lakeland Elementary School students were not the only ones to gain valuable experience from the event. “Our student volunteers also benefited by increasing their own confidence in their skills, connecting with other students and faculty, and knowing that they are making a difference in the world around them,” said desJardins.

Dr. Marie desJardins, President Freeman Hrabowski, and Gabrielle Salib ’17, interdisciplinary studies, working with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students at the Hour of Code.

One major challenge with engaging young student in coding is the intimidation factor, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski told The Baltimore Sun, at the event. He noted that Hour of Code events give hands-on experience that removes that barrier and encourages young students to pursue college degrees and careers in technical fields.

For Salib, that hands-on experience is core to bringing home the point that anyone can code, and that coding can open doors to creative careers.“I had some students tell me that coding was much more fun than they thought it’d be,” she said. “That was precisely the purpose of our event: to show the UMBC community that they, too, can code!”

Read “City students get early exposure to computer careers at UMBC” in The Baltimore Sun.

Adapted from an article on UMBC News by Megan Hanks

The post In Hour of Code, UMBC students give Baltimore youth hands-on intro to computing careers appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

At one table, thirteen Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students from Baltimore used tablets to create patterns of colorful shapes through code. At another station, the students composed music and played games on laptops by completing circuits connected to bananas and celery.

The scene in UMBC’s Commons last Thursday was just what Gabrielle Salib ‘17, interdisciplinary studies, had hoped for. “Our world is quickly becoming more automated and by learning how to code, as President Obama has said, we ‘become the creators rather than just the consumers’ of our ever-growing tech society,” shared Salib. She is president of UMBC’s Computer Science Education student organization, which organized the event as part of the international Hour of Code movement

UMBC joined thousands of schools around the world in hosting Hour of Code events to celebrate Computer Science Education Week, drawing both UMBC students and younger area students to learn about circuits, coding, and computing through hands-on activities.

[nivoslider slug=”hour-of-code”]

“Hour of Code events are a great way to gain visibility and awareness of the importance of CS for All,” said Marie desJardins, COEIT associate dean and professor of computer science, and faculty advisor of the Computer Science Education student organization. “It’s especially important to reach out to young women and minority students in their critical middle school years, and to connect them with peers and role models they can relate to.”

“The Hour of Code day is especially important for our Technovation Club because two days a week our girls spend two hours learning how to code and how to develop their own apps,” said Acacia Asbell, a project director for UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program who works closely with Lakeland Elementary School. “This event really reinforces how important coding is, and how they can have an impact on the world around them.”

The Lakeland Elementary School students were not the only ones to gain valuable experience from the event. “Our student volunteers also benefited by increasing their own confidence in their skills, connecting with other students and faculty, and knowing that they are making a difference in the world around them,” said desJardins.

One major challenge with engaging young students in coding is the intimidation factor, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski told The Baltimore Sun, at the event. He noted that Hour of Code events give hands-on experience that removes that barrier and encourages young students to pursue college degrees and careers in technical fields.

For Salib, that hands-on experience is core to bringing home the point that anyone can code, and that coding can open doors to creative careers.“I had some students tell me that coding was much more fun than they thought it’d be,” she said. “That was precisely the purpose of our event: to show the UMBC community that they, too, can code!”

Read “City students get early exposure to computer careers at UMBC” in The Baltimore Sun.

OVERVIEW

The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) is seeking a part-time Marketing Intern, beginning not later than September 5, 2017, to work with the Program & Marketing Manager on GBCA’s institutional marketing, external communications, as well as its audience development programs.

Sustainability Matters at UMBC inducted 14 campus offices into the Green Offices program at the semiannual Green Office Training Luncheon and Certificate Reception, held on November 3. The Offices of the President and Provost, and a dozen others, joined 13 UMBC offices that qualified for the special designation in 2015 by committing to implement at least 20 items on a Sustainability Matters checklist. Green Offices upgrades include using task lighting, setting printers to automatically print double-sided, and lowering blinds during hot weather—small changes that, when combined, significantly decrease energy and other resource consumption.

President Freeman Hrabowski signed the American Colleges and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007, which committed UMBC to devising a climate action plan to achieve carbon neutrality. Since then, UMBC has been working to reduce the campus’ carbon footprint. For example, facilities management has updated heating and cooling systems and campus lighting. Other sustainable initiatives to date include a major renovation of the central Library Pond. Long regarded as a beautiful space for students to gather and relax, it is now also a state-of-the-art stormwater management system. Facilities staff have installed rain gardens and no-mow zones around campus, and green roofs now adorn four campus buildings.

Since President Hrabowski signed the climate commitment, UMBC has achieved a 15.5 percent reduction in carbon emissions, despite an 18 percent growth in campus population and seven percent increase in square footage of campus buildings. But even with such a positive trajectory, by 2013 it became clear to UMBC’s Climate Action Steering Committee that something important was missing. By then, says Tanvi Gadhia, UMBC sustainability coordinator, “We were looking for a way to more actively engage the UMBC community in green initiatives, to work together toward these shared goals.”

The Green Offices Program is one way that Gadhia helps faculty and staff cultivate “a visible culture of sustainability on campus.” She explains, “A lot of people wanted to be more sustainable, but didn’t feel empowered to take action,” so the program provides a scaffold upon which an office can build its own green efforts. Once an office joins the Green Offices program, it can receive signage, stickers, and recycling bins to support the implementation of its commitment.

The Green Office Program is one outcome of the Climate Action Steering Committee, created in 2007 concurrent with President Hrabowski signing the climate commitment. The steering committee oversees numerous sustainability efforts through work groups focused on energy, transportation, research and education, and waste reduction and recycling.

Student advocacy also plays a major role in campus conversation and action around climate change and sustainability. Each semester around a dozen undergraduates work as eco ambassadors to spread the message of sustainability across campus through peer education and outreach, and several student groups have a sustainability focus. One group collects markets’ surplus food that would otherwise be wasted and converts it into healthy, delicious meals for homeless people in Baltimore City. Another organizes a weekly campus clean-up.

“Sustainability has become a larger part of our identity and our culture at UMBC,” says Gadhia. “Sustainability is not a side project. It’s something we need to integrate into everything we do.”

A list of departments participating in the Green Office Program is available on UMBC’s Sustainability Matters website. To learn more about how to certify your office as a Green Office, or if you are interested in conducting research to quantify the effects of the program, contact sustainability@umbc.edu.

Image: UMBC’s recently-renovated Library Pond serves as a beautiful campus centerpiece, wildlife habitat, place for reflection, and state-of-the-art stormwater management system. Photo by Tanvi Gadhia.

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