A Workshop on “Bringing Computational Thinking to Schools –CSpathshala” was organized by School of Computer Studies, Ahmedabad University in association with ACM-India and Tata Consultancy Services under the Sponsorship of Google on 22 October, 2016.
CSpathshala: ACM India K-12 computer science education initiative is aimed to promote the teaching of computing as a science in schools of Ahmedabad for 1-8 grades, during academic year 2017-18.
To implement this initiative, 45 participants including computer science school teachers and principals of various schools attended this workshop.
Dr. Madahvan Mukund, Dean of Studies and a professor of Computer Science at Chennai Mathematical Institute, and President – ACM India addressed the keynote with significant relevance of computational thinking at school for primary level students in this digital revolution. He provided very simple and general, real life examples to stimulate logical and critical thinking with inclusion of iterative process. Mr. Shekhar Sahasrabudhe (Persistent Systems Ltd) and COO of ACM, talked on efforts of ACM contribution to society in Computing, and its visibility on activities across India at increasing level with respect to membership, number of chapters, sponsored conferences and symposia. Mr. Vipul Shah, TCS gave overview about CSpathshala and roll-out of pilot projects for 20 schools in Pune to teach computing as a science for 1-5 grades. He briefed the curriculum and plan for year 2017-18. He explained the importance to teach computing which promotes problem solving, computational and critical reasoning. He presented simulative examples reflecting logical thinking using Scratch Software, developed by MIT.
The workshop provided highly informative knowledge and significance of computing at school level. Participants appreciated the sessions conducted by eminent speakers and gave note-worthy feedback about the topics covered.
The workshop was coordinated by Prof. Heena Timani, Vice Chair, ACM-Ahmedabad Chapter, and Dr. Kuntal Patel, Membership Chair, ACM-Ahmedabad Chapter.
– Dr. Kuntal Patel
