Students and teachers learned Swift mobile app development together.
It’s not just students who want to be on the leading edge of technology. Teachers kept their skills current this summer too, as DPI’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs hosted a new CS Educator Summer Intensives program, for in-service teachers interested in deepening their understanding of computer science-based instruction and pedagogy while concurrently learning alongside high school students.
A total of 30 teachers—primarily from Chicago but also from metropolitan suburbs—took sessions of either two or six weeks focused on iOS mobile app development, data science, or fundamentals of computer programming.
Why it matters
Teachers learned alongside 33 students—an excellent opportunity to connect with their students over shared lessons. For example, in the Swift Mobile app intensive, participating students and teachers learned to create apps with animation and sound in two weeks.
Oak Lawn Community High School teacher Jeanelle Hughes recommended the course “not just to learn more, but to network and build connections.”
A pilot program in AI
Three additional Chicago Public Schools teachers participated in a five-day pilot program: Discover Computing Ignite: Intro to Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), using human-centered design thinking and new AI-powered tools to create images, music, videos and more.
Thank you!
This pilot program was part of DPI’s year-round Discover Computing series, supported by Google, Apple, Chicago Public Schools, UIUC, and Swift.
Collaboration on data science projects eventually led up to presentations at the end of the session.
Instructors and program staff for DPI’s Swift mobile app intensive.
Author: Jeanie Chung