The inaugural PyCon SG Education Summit will be held on June 17th from 9am to 6pm. The event is organized by educators for educators with support from Python User Group Singapore with the aim to bring together all computer science (CS) teachers and educators, to start building a more connected and collaborative CS education community in Singapore, and to promote computational literacy in schools in general as advocated by our Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore's Smart Nation vision:
I think that we must get our children in schools exposed to IT, exposed to programming. It is a long way for us, but in some countries, all kids are required to learn to code, at least the basics, so you understand what it is about, even though you may not write the next Windows operating system. We may not go that far, but I think we must expose our kids and we must enable the most talented and interested ones to be able to go far and develop their talent in IT in schools and pursue that, whether in university, whether after that, to set up a start-up or to join a company, or work with the Government and make a Smart Nation.
Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Smart Nation launch on 24 November 2014
A special highlight of this year's summit will be a talk by Mr. Praveen Patil titled "Python in my Physics classroom" about infusing CS into existing science subjects using ExpEYES ‐ a PHOENIX project of Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi. It is a hardware and software framework for developing science experiments, demonstrations and projects without getting into the details of electronics or computer programming. It converts your PC into a science laboratory.
We will also have audience led open space format discussion with representatives from Dunman High School, Raffles Institution, Pioneer Junior College, <insert your school>. There will also be a showcase of students' projects done with Python technologies.
| 08:00 | Registration |
| 09:00 | Opening address |
| 09:20 | Computing Landscape in our Schools. Dr. Mooi Lee Choo, Senior Curriculum Specialist, MOE |
| 09:45 | Getting Every Infocomm Club Member to Code. Mr. Joseph Tan Infocomm Clubs Programme Manager, IDA |
| 10:10 | Tea break, Student projects showcase |
| 10:40 | RP’s Experience with Teaching Introductory Programming using Problem-Based Learning and Cognitive Apprenticeship. Dr. Liew Beng Keat Deputy Director, School of Infocomm, Republic Polytechnic |
| 11:05 | Teaching Programming Methodology with Python and Gamification at NUS. Prof. Ben Leong Associate Professor, NUS School of Computing, Experimental Systems & Technology Laboratory, MOE |
| 11:30 | The Digital World: A Freshmore Course for Computational Thinking at SUTD. Mr. Oka Kurniawan, Lecturer, SUTD |
| 11:55 | Lunch, Networking, Student projects showcase |
| 13:15 | Lightning talks (3 - 5 min each) |
| 13:40 | Making the Most out of Classroom Diversity. Prof. Chris Boesch Associate Professor, School of Information Systems, SMU |
| 14:05 | Python in my Physics classroom. Praveen Patil, GSS College, Tilakwadi Belgaum, India. ExpEYES project |
| 14:30 | Open discussion |
| 15:20 | Tea break, Networking, Student projects showcase |
| 15:50 | Open discussion |
| 16:40 | Panel discussion |
| 17:30 | Closing, Photo-taking |
Registration is now open at http://tinyurl.com/pyedusg. A nominal $10 registration fee to cover lunch will be collected onsite. There will be illuminating door gifts for all participants and attractive lucky prizes.
Come join us in the first and biggest event to connect with the Singapore CS education community!
The organizers would like to thank MOE and Python Software Foundation for supporting this event.
