December 7, 2018 / Vincennes University students celebrate milestone
with Code.org
VINCENNES, Ind. - For the fifth consecutive year, the Vincennes
University Information Technology Department hosted fifth graders from
the South Gibson School Corporation on for the National Hour of Code
event held at VU’s Gibson County Center for Advanced Manufacturing and
Logistics in Fort Branch.
The December 6 event drew 140 fifth graders and was planned and
executed by 27 VU students majoring in VU’s Information Technology
Concentration Baccalaureate Degree program. The VU students first
completed a class in Project Management.
In addition to computer science, the fifth graders were engaged
with multiple examples of technology, including logic activities,
coding, 3D printing, IOT (Internet Of Things), Lego bots, and cyber
security safety.
Code.org organizes the annual campaign which has engaged 10
percent of all students in the world and provides the leading
curriculum for K-12 computer science in the largest school districts
in the United States.
According to Code.org, to date, policies have changed in 44
U.S. states (including Indiana) to establish CS education standards,
to make CS courses count toward high school graduation, etc. There are
570,926 open computing jobs nationwide and 49,291 computer science
students graduated into the workforce last year. In Indiana alone
there are 5,010 open computing jobs and 1,578 computer science graduates.
Jaci Lederman, department chair of VU Information Technology,
first read about Code.org and the Hour of Code event in Wired Magazine
five years ago took steps to incorporate the Hour of Code into
project-based learning for her Information Technology students.
“Technology encompasses many areas and it is exciting to see college
students that want to share their area of interest,” said Lederman.
"This event is an excellent opportunity to give back to the
community. College students are given the opportunity to inspire
fifth grade students by teaching them about various types of
technologies within the Information Technology profession."
Brian Igel, assistant professor of Information Technology, also
assisted with the event.
"The Hour of Code event is an excellent opportunity to
expose fifth grade students to the possibility of a rewarding career
in Information Technology," said Lederman.
VU GIBSON COUNTY CENTER
VU’s Gibson County Center for Advanced Manufacturing is a
leading resource for workforce development. The 57,000 square-foot
facility features modern and flexible training labs and classrooms
that serve employers, employees, and students within southwestern
Indiana’s industrial corridor. It is located on U.S. 41 near Fort
Branch and just a few miles from Interstates 64 and 69.
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VINCENNES UNIVERSITY, Department of University
Relations, www.vinu.edu/newsroom