COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION GROWING ACROSS THE STATE OF INDIANA

Thursday, August 15, 2019 - 11:23

For years there's been a demand for computer science classes across Indiana. A new bill would require it to be part of your child's curriculum in all public schools.

 

VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI)- For years there's been a demand for computer science classes across Indiana.

According to csedweek.org, 93% of parents want their child's school to offer it but only 35% of high schools teach it.

 

In no time, you may see that integrated into the classroom that's as the Indiana General Assembly approved a bill that would require public schools to include computer science in the curriculum. 

Jeff Kinne, an associate professor at ISU, is in favor of this bill and will be one of the many pushing this program forward.

He tells us that computer science plays a major role in our everyday lives and shares his excitement to see it gain momentum in other grade levels.

"We've been talking about it for 20 or 30 years and now it's actually happened. The curriculum is changing, computer science is getting more important so it's pretty exciting to be involved in finally fulfilling what people have been talking about for a long time," Kinne said

House Enrolled Act 172, also established a grant program and fund supporting computer science development for teachers K-12.

This program would train teachers on the subject area so that they can better teach computer science to students as young as kindergarten. 

Schools across the state, including, Indiana State University are taking part in this initiative to get teachers properly trained. 

Devon Kinne, a lecturer at ISU, shares with us the intense workload most teachers deal within the public school system.

"Teachers are overworked. We have good teachers, we need to keep those teachers. In order to do that, you need to really teach the teachers. They don't have that when they're getting their degree in education they don't focus on how to teach computer science," Kinne said.

She says this new training is a positive way to teach others properly while taking the pressure off of other educators. 

"They really needed something to support those teachers that would already be out there teaching to better be able to teach computer science," Kinne said. 

This bill will make its way into the classroom in 2021. For more information on the initiative, click here.

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