A screenshot of the home page of the Illinois Computer Science Teacher Toolkit.
Teaching computer science can be a lonely experience, especially if you’re the only CS teacher at your school.
Enter the Illinois Computer Science Teacher Toolkit, an online resource connecting computer science teachers across the state. On the site, teachers can share ideas and job openings, and learn about the latest news in the field.
A hub of information …
Developed by teachers and staff from DPI’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs (PTTL), the Illinois Computer Science Toolkit is a hub of information, aiming to provide CS teachers with valuable classroom resources.
- A resource page searchable by grade level, CS course category, software compatibility, format (e.g., game, lesson plan, video), and Illinois Learning Standards, among other criteria. Any registered user can upload a resource.
- A news and newsletter section, including current and previous issues of DPI’s Comp Sci Educator
- Job listings
- An events calendar including deadlines for student opportunities (scholarships, classes, contests)
… that also builds community
CS teachers can feel like they’re on an island, especially those without colleagues in their school or even in their area. To help address that isolation, the toolkit also features community message boards grouped by topic. The initial boards feature spaces for elementary, middle, and high school educators, as well as topic-focused boards on AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, and robotics. Registered users can create new boards as the need arises.
Supporting tomorrow’s tech workforce
DPI and PTTL created the website as an investment in tomorrow’s tech workforce. Well aware of the challenges for CS educators, the site aims to be a one-stop shop for teachers to collaborate, build community, and learn about the latest news in CS education.
“The site does a good job at offering resources in one space – teachers often forget what resources are where,” said Stephanie Liverant, an AP Statistics teacher at Grayslake North High School who will teach a data science class this fall. She also noted that many other sites with teacher resources are paywalled, making the toolkit’s open access even more crucial.
Marsuelle Marasas, a computer science teacher at Chicago’s Tilden High School called the toolkit “a wonderful resource” not just for teachers, but for school counselors and post-secondary counselors to connect students to resources and careers in technology.
Dive in!
You can visit the site at Csteachertoolkit.org.
Author: Jeanie Chung