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I am not in a district at the moment. One barrier that I can see possible is the lack of teachers for coding or CS class. If there is no one to teach it, the kids can't learn it. A way to make sure that that isn't a problem in the future is to have the teachers take CS class training or just somewhat of a CS class to get the idea of some basics that they can teach. Another barrier that I would imagine is the lack of internet or devices. Some kids don't have internet at home so they cannot do any homework at home. Some schools don't have enough devices for every kid, so it presents other issues.

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I'm not in a school district, but I think teacher training is a barrier to computer science.

Many teachers aren't CS teachers or learned about CS while getting their degree in whatever their teaching. Also, many districts aren't placing an importance on CS, or teaching it at all. This means not many are teaching CS.

I believe that one way to improve this is already happening. The world is already growing with technology, and that's the start. Overall, early teaching and interest to younger generations will help grow CS.

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In my district, we are lucky to have 1:1 devices. However, I sometimes feel like we don't effectively teach them how to use them or what we can use on them. We use Chrome books district wide for student devices, and really only use Google Drive and our elementary students are all being taught the same thing and work on the same projects each year. They don't stray away from that. I also feel like we could do so much more if we used some money and bought a few Apple devices and a few STEM kits so they can be exposed to more coding and hands on learning other than creating Google Slides presentations.

I think in the book, it did a good job of explaining why we need to do more with computers and coding. I think this would be a great read for our computer teacher and even Network admin to get a more open idea of what should be taught and why.

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I am not currently working in a district. I think one of the most significant shortcomings is just the lack of interest in coding, and I think the way to remedy this would be to educate the district on the benefits of learning these skills and how it can set them up to be successful in the future. and as some others have mentioned on page 269 it is a conscious decision to let technology pass you by or you can join it. that is something that I prescribe to because if you accept where the world is going and hitch onto the train you will be better of.

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While I am not in a school district or teaching currently, it seems like the common theme for the other posts is that there is a lack of training among the teachers. On page 269 it says "You can let the technology pass you by, or you can also join along as a builder, tinkerer and coder. You can create projects for your own classroom, you can explain and connect the dots for students, and you can have confidence to teach the students." Similar to the quote, I think a way to help get rid of some of these barriers with the teachers would be through professional development courses, whether this is familiarizing themselves with hour of code lessons or other coding courses, being exposed and having a understanding of programming it would help them push to implement coding into the classroom.

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In my district, we are fortunate to have 1:1 personal access for 6-12 and 1:1 classroom access for lower grades.  My district has put a large emphasis on hardware and network… but I feel like we maybe need to shift the focus onto non-CS teachers’ shoulders now.  This is a difficult concept as teacher’s carry the burden of so many expectations… adding things to their plates isn’t always met with agreeable teachers, especially if they aren’t trained, are uncomfortable, or don’t believe it to be part of their job.

I think Keeshin did a great job of addressing these concerns in his book, and I found inspiration both at the beginning of the book where he talked about CS and coding being a new foundational skill, and at the end of the book where he discussed the equity of CS classes.  I think that if we as a district can start to incorporate more CS fundamentals… unplugged or screen based… at a younger age, students would grow up with confidence to pursue and ask for more traditional CS classes.  It’s a long vision and a future investment, but we have to start somewhere.

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Within my school district, we have one teacher who is in charge of teaching multiple grades about computer science. She was extremely overwhelmed with her own classes alongside helping other teachers with their technology issues. Oftentimes, I feel like we lean on CS teachers to help us with our own technology issues. I think having professional development days where teachers can learn more about technology and what to do when they're dealing with technological issues would be very beneficial to both the staff within my school district and for our computer science instructor. As Keeshin stated "We need to proactively educate students on the basics, the fundamentals, give them the building blocks and creativity, and think about how they can be good stewards of the technology that will be built in the future. (pg. 270)

That pressure is too much for one person. We all need to take responsibility for our student's education so that they can be responsible citizens as adults.

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It seems like a common theme, but similar to others I think our district lacks teacher knowledge in Code. We have one technology integrationist (that I know of) and she has done activities in a few classrooms, but there is one of her and many, many schools and students.

A professional development day specifically on coding and how it can be used across content areas is something that I could see being beneficial. I feel like it can seem intimidating to many.

In Read, Write, Code, Keeshin addresses this issue about starting with beginner-friendly coding to make it easier for teachers who are new to coding and can learn alongside their students.

To help cross this barrier, I could start using it more in my classroom and share how it goes with my colleges in hopes that they see it as a positive experience and want to try to use it in their classroom.

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In my district, students K-12 have access to computers. I think the first issue is the lack of training for teachers on technology. A lot of teachers in my district are not familiar with the basic knowledge of computers. They aren't sure how they can incorporate it into lessons without making it an issue. This quote on page 269 encompasses this the best, "If you are a teacher, this is the world that we are in today. You can let the technology pass you by, or you can also join along as a builder, tinkerer, and coder." I think this quote speaks a lot for those teachers who are just "stuck in their ways." If you aren't willing to get on board with the technology, then you might be the person who is left behind in the world of education.

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In my high school, students have access to technology courses. When looking at the technology teacher's schedule, they teach Media, Dual Credit Computer Science, PLTW Computer Science, PLTW Cybersecurity, and Web Development. I believe all of the courses are considered CTE. Although all students have access to the technology classes, they are not required as they are considered CTE. If a student is more into farming, most of their CTE credits are covered by Ag and FFA related classes, giving them no opportunities for computer science skills. I believe when I was in high school, we were required to take a computer applications course. One way to fix this barrier in my current high school I teach at could be looking into changing the graduation requirements to require more technology related courses.

I also agree with what Steve said about teachers not always knowing computer science doesn't always have to be directly tied to a computer science teacher. Exposing teachers to CodeHS and showing them what it offers could be helpful to teachers when considering their own classes and lessons that they teach! We also have 3 tech support windows that students and teachers can go to for technology supports. Having the tech support staff give teachers a training on CodeHS could benefit my school as well!

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I teach in an elementary setting with computer class twice a week for a little less than a half hour. It is a computer lab and students do not have their own devices. A big barrier, like many subjects is just the lack of time for kids to get exposure to it.

One area that the book talked about that could work is doing a coding club after school. Allowing the students to do an hour of code or just exploring the different things they can do with coding to get more practice at it. They do code at our elementary school, but more time is always great!

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I think that one barrier in my district to computer science education is the access of time within a learner's schedule to this content. We have an Encore (specials) section for PLTW in the middle school in grades 6-8, and each of them incorporates various parts of computer science into their curriculum, and to varying degrees. I am much less familiar with the inner-workings of our elementaries and the high school schedules/classes and their access to computer science. I have heard from other elementary teachers that there are computer teachers at the elementaries, but more of their focus has been on typing and an occasional Scratch game lesson. Their computer classes happen at an irregular frequency and are split between several other specials so when there is class time, it is maybe once per week, or one time every other week. That inconsistency of seeing, hearing, and practicing the content would be challenging to teach some of the computer science fundamentals at the elementary level within that scheduling format.

A solution would be to communicate with building principal's and their teachers to just learn more about their schedule and just how 'computer class' fits into the master schedule. A possible solution may be to implement more computer science lessons within the traditional classroom, instead of a 'specials' class.

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I think one barrier for our school is that teachers probably think that Computer Science and programming is directly tied to a computer teacher. I don't think they probably realize the actual connections that exist between their subjects and coding. As a tech person for the school, I think I could provide a training to show the coding and how it could be used in their classrooms, just to make it known that it is something that could be used in general education courses.

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In my district, we find that students do not have internet access at home to complete assignments. While I know this is common, I feel that it is even more common in households that are different from the traditional cultures we see in our schools. Not only do they not have access to internet, but they don't have the same device options as students. Because of this, its important that we adjust any potential homework lessons or assignments. Using paper could be great! We have a great variety of tech tools and devices to give students a different experience with them, so making sure that we are going through the basics of how to use the devices in the early learning stages is an important step in busting down these barriers for all learners.

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One common barrier that many school districts, including my own, face in providing equitable access to computer science and coding courses is the lack of resources, specifically, limited access to trained teachers. Within my district, we have a Technology Integrationist in every building, which is a big deal. The problem is the lack of training within the proper knowledge and skills of computer science.

A key way to help cross this barrier is by gaining partnerships and technology to bring coding opportunities to students. In Read, Write, Code, one opportunity highlighted is the use of accessible and free online coding platforms. These tools can help students get started with coding even if their school does not have a dedicated computer science program. For instance, Keeshin mentions platforms like CodeHS, which offers coding exercises and video tutorials that can be accessed by both teachers and students, even with limited resources. Teachers can utilize these (free) resources to take professional development courses to gain the knowledge and skills needed to teach these courses and skills to our learners. I can help cross that barrier by raising awareness of the free resources to our Technology Integrationist and teachers in our district. With teachers being aware of these resources, we can get coding skills into the hands and minds of more learners.

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The barrier that my school would come across would be the teacher training about computer science. Asking people around me not alot are familiar with what it is or how to incorporate it in the lessons. I thinking starting off with teaching the teachers about what is it and the different ideas to go along with computer science would be the first start. This goes with chapter 9 and Computer Science Education. Teaching the basics first and then growing from them.

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One barrier within my school is having computer science being taught. Sure in an elementary setting they go to computer and practice their typing but not getting the behind the scene education. This can reflect on what we read about in chapter 9. Under the K-12 Computer Science Education it talk about how computer science has been a big push but schools and teachers are not ready to teach it. I think this is where my school gets stuck. To fix this we could give the basic introduction in the elementary level. Then advance it to the middle school and high school. This will begin to build a foundation and be a way to ease computer science into the school without overwhelming the teachers.