NEWSHOUR SHARES - Computer Science Immersion Program

"Learning computer coding opens up ‘endless world’ for these kids" PBS NewsHour 4/10/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In our NewsHour Shares moment of the day, a nationwide computer science immersion program sets up shop at a couple Virginia elementary schools.  The NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs has the story.

EDUCATION - Girls Coding Video Games

"Teaching girls to write the rules at video game coding camp" PBS NewsHour 9/15/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Video games are still largely aimed at a male audiences, which is no surprise since women make up a small portion of game designers and programmers.  But that doesn't mean that girls aren't interested in playing and creating.  Girls-only computer camps aim to balance the gender gap in the next generation of coders.  Special correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.

SANDRA HUGHES (NewsHour):  It’s no secret that video gaming is aimed at a male audience.  From creation to design to playing the games, the mostly violent first-person shooter games target boys, not girls.

No wonder.  In 2013, women accounted for just 11 percent of computer game designers and only 3 percent of programmers.  Ten-year old Scarlett Thompson isn’t too young to understand there’s a gender gap.

SCARLETT THOMPSON, Alexa Cafe Participant:  I love video games.

SANDRA HUGHES:  Do you really?

SCARLETT THOMPSON:  Yes.  So, I mean, there’s really…

SANDRA HUGHES:  So, what’s it like — what’s it like for a girl who likes video games?  Is it a tough world to be in?

SCARLETT THOMPSON:  Kind of, because then, like, you have to compete with people, and it’s just — sometimes it’s really hard, like, online.  It’s not as fair and, like, I — like, oh, no I have a girl on my team.  What am I going to do?

SANDRA HUGHES:  These girls want to be more than just on the team.  They want to create the game.  They spent their summer break, along with thousands of others, at girls-only computer coding camps like the Alexa Cafe and Code Like a Girl.

These camps aim to balance the gender gap in the next generation of coders by supporting an early interest in technology from girls.

TECHNOLOGY - Diverse Tech Workforce

"Cracking the code to a more diverse tech workforce" PBS NewsHour 8/2/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The giants of Silicon Valley -- Google, Twitter, Facebook -- report that just three to four percent of their workforce is black or Hispanic, and men outnumber women by more than two to one.  Now, tech companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to address the imbalance.  In New York, one camp is training such a new generation of software coders.  NewsHour Special Correspondent Karla Murthy reports.

KARLA MURTHY (NewsHour):  Remember the classic arcade game “Space Invaders?”  These high school kids are building their own version from scratch using “Python,” a computer language they’re learning at coding camp.

These boys are in the middle of a six-week summer program run by “All Star Code,” a non-profit group in New York City that prepares young men of color to work in the tech industry.

17-year-old De Andre King lives in Queens.  He did well in his 10th grade computer class, so his high school counselor encouraged him to apply.

DE ANDRE KING, student:  I didn’t get in the first time.  I did the application again, and when I got the email that morning, I was excited.

KARLA MURTHY:  How has it been so far?

DE ANDRE KING:  It’s been excellent.  It’s kind of, like, I’m doing something every day that I enjoy.  It’s kind of, like, I’m already having my job.

KARLA MURTHY:  A job, even a career, is precisely King’s goal.

DE ANDRE KING:  If I already am well-versed in HTML, CSS, Java, Javascript, Python, then I can now build something and bring it to the table.  That gives me kinda the upper head over my- over, you know, other applicants.

KARLA MURTHY:  Philanthropist Christina Lewis Halpern launched All Star Code two years ago to address the tech industry’s lack of diversity.

She saw organizations dedicated to getting more girls interested in “STEM” — Science, Technology, and Math — but nothing comparable for boys of color.

CHRISTINA LEWIS HALPERN:  People kept on expecting me to come in and talking about girls.   I had to do so much explaining of making the case that boys of color are underrepresented as well.