When it comes to the digital divide, often the focus is on how lack of internet service and basic technology will hurt students academic performance. This is particularly true during the pandemic, when most schools are operating online.

But as a STEM educator at one of the nations elite historically Black colleges, I see another negative effect of the digital divide: racial disparities in the field of computer science.

Computer science is one of the fastest-growing and highest-paying fields. So if students from certain groups are being shut out of the field, it means that public education is failing in its role as the great equalizer.

I see some ways for that to change. But first, a few statistics.

When you look at computer science, just 8.9% of the more than 71,000 bachelors degrees awarded in this field in 2017 went to Black students, and only 10.1% went to Latino students, federal data show. This is significantly less than the percentage of Black and Latino people in the United States: 13.4% and 18.5%, respectively.

The numbers are similarly bleak in the tech industry. At Google, only 9.6% of its U.S. workforce is Black or Latino. At Apple, only 14% of its tech workforce is Black or Latino. This is particularly concerning given that those two groups make up 30% of the U.S. labor force.

These disparities do not begin when a student steps onto a college campus and chooses a major. Rather, they begin in elementary, middle and high school.

This is why, in 2016, then-President Barack Obama launched Computer Science for All. That same year, the College Board launched a new Advanced Placement course AP Computer Science Principles specifically designed to increase the opportunity for all students to learn computer science. The course has been highly successful in its mission. The number of students taking the end-of-course exam which could potentially enable them to get college credit for their high school computer science classes more than doubled over the first three years, from 43,780 in 2017 to 94,360 in 2019. However, the data also show that these efforts to increase access have done little to shrink the gap between Black and Latino students and their white and Asian peers.

In 2019, research shows, only 7% of students taking the AP Computer Science Principles exam were Black and only 20% were Latino, compared to 66% for white and Asian students. This is disturbing considering that 14.7% of U.S. high school students are Black and 26.8% are Latino. Also, just taking a course does not mean students will master the material. In AP Computer Science Principles, the exam pass rate for Black and Latino students averages 51% compared to 80% for white and Asian students.

In my view, this data shows that successful participation in computer science requires much more than just making computer science classes available. What follows are five things that I believe are critical to making a difference in who will be able to secure the computer science jobs of the future.

As with any other subject, it is important that all students are taught by someone with a strong foundation in, and passion for, the content being taught. Hiring teachers with a background can be difficult since they have so many other job options, typically with higher pay.

Many states are trying to figure out how to enable more teachers to teach computer science without lowering the quality of instruction. For example, in Georgia, when state legislators passed a law that requires computer science to be taught in all middle and high schools, the state allocated money for grants to recruit and train more computer science teachers.

In order for students to truly connect with computer science, they must see themselves and their community reflected in the class material. This could be through simple things, such as putting up posters of people who share their backgrounds and who have advanced in STEM careers.

But it could also be done through creating more culturally relevant lessons. For example, a Georgia Tech program called EarSketch teaches high school and college students to use computer science to create music. At Johnson C. Smith University, students use sports analytics to examine the performance of the schools basketball team in order to help the team improve on court.

That is one of the aims of a computer science curriculum called CAPaCITY. The curriculum uses computer science to teach students how to advocate for themselves and their communities by allowing them to select and solve problems of their own choosing.

In order to be successful in a computer science class, a student must have access to a computer and high-speed internet at home. Unfortunately, many do not. This limits their ability to develop the educational foundation necessary for long-term success in the field.

Recognizing this fact, various cities and businesses have begun to provide free or low-cost internet service to help.

Since people of color are woefully underrepresented in the tech industry, employees of color at some tech companies have created affinity groups, such as the Black Googlers Network and Hispanic Googlers Network, that seek to encourage students of color to pursue careers in the tech industry. Unfortunately, this extra work often goes unpaid and can lead to executives believing that the diversity problem is solved. A better approach would be to place more money behind the design and implementation of these kinds of mentoring programs, including funding to see how well they work.

Whether its the after-school robotics team or the summer coding camp, extracurricular programs are a great way to get students interested in computer science. Unfortunately, these summer camps may cost more than some students can afford. Plus, a lot of kids would rather not be the only Black or Latino kid in the room. Although there are programs focused on diversifying computer science through specialty programs for Black and Latino students, all programs should be inclusive.

One example of an effort to create more inclusive programs is from the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing. Rather than focus on one group, the initiative is meant to engage diverse students in programs that celebrate their differences.

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Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America's students? - The Conversation US

Two Maryland Teachers Receive National Honors in Math, Science EducationDecember 11, 2020

Contact: Lora Rakowskilora.rakowski@maryland.gov

Educators Among 107 Nationwide Receiving PAEMST Awards

BALTIMORE, MD (December 11, 2020) Two Maryland teachers were among 107 educators nationwide that received the 2020 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Stacie Marvin, the mathematics instructional team leader at Hammond Middle School in Howard County, and Hemalatha Bhaskaran, a science teacher at James M. Bennett High School in Wicomico County are Marylands latest PAEMST honorees.

We are thrilled to celebrate the excellence of Stacie Marvin and Hemalatha Bhaskaran, two teachers who have set the bar high for their students, said Governor Larry Hogan. I commend their drive, dedication, and commitment to teaching and STEM education despite the challenging times presented by the pandemic. Congratulations on this distinguished honor.

This national distinction is truly a great honor, recognizing the nations most outstanding teachers who exemplify the best in teaching. Congratulations to Stacie Marvin and Hemalatha Bhaskaran, two true champions of education! said Maryland Superintendent of Schools Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D.

The awards were established by Congress in 1983. Each year, the President recognizes up to 108 exemplary teachers; nominations and awards are facilitated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The PAEMST is the highest award given by the U.S. government to teachers of mathematics and science, kindergarten through 12th grade, including computer science. This year, teachers in grades 7-12 were honored.

A panel of distinguished mathematicians, scientists, and educators at state and national levels assess all applications before recommending nominees. Teachers are selected based on their distinction in the classroom, and for their dedication to improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Awardees come from one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and United States territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Each receives a signed certificate from the President, a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation, and a trip to Washington, D.C. They attend a series of recognition events, participate in professional development opportunities, and discuss with policy-makers ways to improve STEM education. For more information please visit https://www.paemst.org/recognition

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Maryland Math and Science Teacher Earn Presidential Award 2020

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Two Maryland Teachers Receive National Honors in Math, Science Education - maryland.gov

It can beat anyone at chess but can't recognize fountains. One professor talks about the promise of AI and computer vision.

TechRepublic's Karen Roby spoke with David Crandall, assistant professor of computer science at Indiana University about artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, and the effects of the pandemic on higher education. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Crandall: I'm a computer scientist, and I work on the algorithms, the technologies underneath AI. And I work, specifically, in machine learning and computer vision. Computer vision is the area that tries to get cameras that are able to see the world in the way that people do, and that, then, could power a lot of different AI technologies, from robotics to autonomous vehicles, to many other things.

SEE: Natural language processing: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Karen Roby: Where are we right now, with AI? Are we where you thought that we would be, at this point? Are we moving past it? A lot of companies, we're learning now, are having to put AI projects on fast-forward, because of the pandemic, and really accelerate their use of it. Are you seeing that?

David Crandall: I think it's a really exciting time, in general, for the field, but I'd also say it's kind of a confusing time. Because, even in my lab, we often encounter problems that we think are going to be very hard, and then it turns out that they're very easy for AI. And then, on the other hand, we also encounter problems that we think are going to be easy, no problem, and then they turn out to be extremely difficult to solve.

I think that's kind of an interesting place where we're in, right now, with AI. We have programs that can play chess better than any human who can ever live, but we have robots that still make simple decisions. Like, a year or two ago, there was a case of a security robot in a mall that didn't see a fountain in front of it, and just ran right into it and drowned itself. So, it's just sort of, super confusing, how we can have machines that are so powerful, on one hand, and so, kind of, confusing, on the other hand.

SEE: TechRepublic Premium editorial calendar: IT policies, checklists, toolkits, and research for download (TechRepublic Premium)

I think, in terms of the pandemic, specifically, I think that there's still a lot of interest in AI, as there was before, but the fact that we're doing most meetings online, now, and so much of our life has become virtual, I think, has just increased interest in AI, and in technology, in general.

Karen Roby: We hear a lot about the ethical use of AI. What does that mean to you? And where are we, when it comes to ethics and AI, and how people perceive this technology?

David Crandall: I've been working in AI for, maybe, 20 years, now, again, as a computer scientist. To me, speaking personally, it's a little surprising that, suddenly, we're having to deal with the ethical issues in AI. Because for some reason, for most of those 20 years, none of the technology, at least that I was involved in, really seemed to be working well enough to really impact actual people's lives. And I think, in the last few years, we've made substantial progress in AI. And that means, now, people are wanting to use it in regular products, in day-to-day life, and that means we really need to confront some of these issues. And so, it's kind of, there's good news, and there's also, sort of, things that we need to work on.

In terms of the research community that I'm involved in, I think the good news is that now ethics and AI are really at the forefront of people's minds. When you submit a paper to many conferences, these days, the top conferences in AI, they're now asking researchers to explicitly state what are sort of the potential ethical implications of a paper or work that you're doing. And your paper very well may be rejected if you can't make that argument.

SEE: AI and machine learning are making insurance more predictable (TechRepublic)

There's a lot of issues that I think computer scientists, and us, as a community, need to think about, in terms of AI. And I think they range from lots of things, from, say, how we deal with the fact that AI is not perfect, so it's going to make errors. Those errors are going to impact people's lives, or they could impact people's lives, if we're not careful. AI is not very good at explaining its reasoning, so even when it makes an error, it's sort of hard to figure out why it made that error.

There's concerns about bias. There's recent work, for example, showing that face recognition tends to work much better in white, middle-aged men, than it does in Black, older women, for example. That's a significant concern. And, just like any new technology, that ties into the concerns about how AI might increase inequality, how it might affect some types of jobs, how it might affect employment, or unemployment, in the future.

I think it also raises questions about how AI will influence ourselves. How are we going to let AI influence ourselves? Not in the sense that robots might gain sentience, and turn into killer agents, or something like that, but just, what does it look like in a world where, maybe, people are relying on AI to interact with one another, as we do by communicating on Facebook, right now, and other technologies like that?

Karen Roby: Expand a little bit on computer vision and what excites you about this.

David Crandall: I think the most exciting and interesting thing about computer vision is, it is vision, being able to see, seems like such a simple thing, to us, right? From a very early age, we're able to recognize faces, recognize the objects that we see around us. We can give names to objects, right? It's one of the very first things that we learn to do in the first few months and years of life. And yet, it has defied computer scientists, now, confounded computer scientists, now, for close to 60 years in how to be able to replicate that ability.

SEE: Hiring kit: Computer Vision Engineer (TechRepublic Premium)

As a person, I just look around and I see things, and there's no conscious effort to that. And then, I've spent 20 years, and others have spent many more decades, trying to program computers to do it. It's just such a difficult, really difficult, thing to do.

That's why it's exciting for me. I think it's a really interesting technical challenge. Also, as we confront that technical challenge, I think it also, potentially, helps us understand how people are able to solve this problem. And if we can do that, if we can understand how kids learn to see the world, maybe using computer vision as a lens, then, maybe, we can help kids who have learning deficiencies, for example, learning difficulties, figure out strategies around them, by sort of reverse-engineering what's going on, and figuring out how, maybe, to account for that.

In terms of a research problem in our community, I also like that it touches on so many different fields. Because, we have computer scientists, but it also touches on optics, and statistics, and cognitive science, and lots of different fields. So, it's a great thing for students or faculty who are sort of interested in many things, to bring them together in this relatively interdisciplinary field that's trying to solve a big challenge.

Karen Roby: 2020 has thrown a lot at us, in the education space, obviously, and in higher ed. How have things changed, besides the obvious? Do you think this pandemic, in the minds of some of your students, has really changed how they look at their future careers?

David Crandall: I think, in computer science, we're probably luckier than in other fields, like chemistry, and biology, and stuff. All of the work that we tend to do is portable on our laptops, and we can log into servers from wherever we are in the world. And the kinds of skills we're working on, like programming skills, are things that are very naturally adapted to the online world. So, in that way, we're lucky.

SEE: Artificial intelligence can take banks to the next level (TechRepublic)

As an educator, I feel like, and I've heard this from other colleagues, also, it's really been a mixed bag. Some things that we expected we would not enjoy about online teaching have actually been great. For example, I routinely, these days, get 20, 30 students coming to my online office hours. Whereas, there's no way I could have crammed 20 or 30 students into my office hours in the real world.

So, that's an example of, actually, where the technology is increasing the amount of engagement that we have, one-on-one. But, I think there's, in terms of computer scientists, I think the pandemic has, in some ways, been good for technology. And there still seems to be a pretty good job market in computer science, for example.

But, like everybody else, I worry about the long-term impact on students' health, and our own mental health, by just not having those social connections that I think are really important. The more that I work in AI, the more impressed I am with people because people have been able to do all of these things for thousands of years, and being able to interact with other people as social creatures is super important, that I don't think we should try to replace with AI anytime soon.

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AI is not yet perfect, but it's on the rise and getting better with computer vision - TechRepublic

This year for the first time, enrollment in computer science courses topped 10,000, the sixth straight year enrollment has increased, and today, Id like to talk about whats happening and whats down the road.

To be exact, the number of Arkansas high school students taking at least one computer science course is 10,450. That is an increase of 6 1/2 percent over the last school year and nearly 850 percent increase over the 1,100 students who were enrolled six years ago.

We showed improvement in other areas as well. For the first time in Arkansas, the percentage of African-American students who are taking a computer science class exceeds the percentage of all African-American students enrolled in Arkansas high schools. Also for the first time, the percentage of all minority students taking a high school computer science course exceeds the percentage of all minority students enrolled in our high schools.

In addition, we continue to show tremendous growth in the number of girls who are taking computer science. When we started this initiative, 223 girls were enrolled in a computer science class. This year, the Arkansas Department of Education reports that the number has jumped to 3,135. That is a 1,300 percent increase over 2014.

Many publications and tech organizations, such as Code.org, have recognized Arkansas as a leader in computer science education. But we cant rest on our success, which is why Im working with the Arkansas General Assembly to open up more opportunities for our young people.

Last year, I created the Computer Science and Cybersecurity Task Force, and one of its recommendations is to require a computer science course to be taken for graduation. I am grateful to Sen. Jane English for sponsoring this legislation and recognizing its importance. And, by the school year 2022-23, every high school in the state must employ at least one teacher who is certified to teach computer science.

When we became the first state in the nation to require all high schools to teach computer science, our goal was to increase enrollment to 7,500 by the 2019-20 school year. We surpassed that goal a year early. This year, even with COVID-19, we topped over 10,000. We have done that because educators and students embraced the initiative. We have enhanced our education system, strengthened our workforce, and we are continuing to set the pace.

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Asa Hutchinson: Setting the pace in computer science education - Searcy Daily Citizen

The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Benguerir, near Marrakech, has announced the launch of a School of Computer Science.

The recently-launched Benguerir Data Center will host the new school. Moroccos phosphate corporation OCP launched the data center in August in collaboration with the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.

Located at the Benguerir Tech Park, 75 kilometers from Marrakech, the high-tech building comprises more than 2,000 square meters of server rooms, along with other facilities.

The data centers well-equipped laboratories will allow the School of Computer Science to provide practical training for its students through innovation and experimentation.

According to a press release from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, the new school aims to address the digital needs of the 21st century and to work towards establishing Morocco as a digital nation in the future.

Starting in the 2021-2022 academic year, the school will offer a five-year training in computer engineering that combines theoretical knowledge and practical experiments.

Students will be able to enroll in the School of Computer Science right after they graduate high school and succeed in their baccalaureate exams.

The training will be divided into two sections: Two preparatory years and three years for specialization.

In their first two years, students will study computer engineering and digitization in a broad context. From the third year of training, students will be able to select a specialized field in computer engineering to deepen their knowledge. The specialized training includes artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and social networks.

According to the university, the teaching staff at the School of Computer Science includes renowned professors and aims to train future engineers who will be able to join the largest companies, create their own startups, or conduct high-level research.

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Mohammed VI University in Benguerir Launches School of Computer Science - Morocco World News