Archive for January 2012
Foolproof
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Chapter 12, Mostly Harmless, HHGTTG
Doubt everything
De omnibus dubitandum.
René Descartes (1596-1650)
While this was rumoured to be Karl Marx‘s favorite motto, it immediately brings to mind the motto of the Royal Society: Nullius in verba.
CAS at Koli Calling 2011
In November, as part of our work with Computing At School (CAS), Dr Sue Sentance (Anglia Ruskin University) and I submitted a paper for Koli Calling 2011, the 11th International Conference on Computing Education Research. Our paper, entitled Computing At School: Stimulating Computing Education in the UK, describes the rationale and motivation for CAS, presenting the current state of computer science education in the UK, as well as its range of initiatives to support teachers and drive curriculum and policy change.
As part of the Koli Calling 2011 programme (Sue had the pleasure of travelling to Koli National Park in Finland!), we had to produce a short video clip summarising our paper:
While some of our discussion has been supplanted by recent events, the paper is available to download for free via the ACM Author-ize service:
Koli Calling ’11 Proceedings of the 11th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, 2011
Best paper awards in computer science
Check out this excellent research resource: the Best Paper Awards in Computer Science, a collection of the best paper awards of some of the major computer science conferences since 1996 by Jeff Huang.
This listing contains a couple of the conferences that I’m interested in, especially PLDI; however, it’s a shame that it does not collate POPL‘s Most Influential Paper Award (presented annually to the authors of a paper presented at the POPL held 10 years prior to the award year).
It’s also of interest to see the institutions with the most “best papers”.
Mathematics is the language of nature
11:15, restate my assumptions:
1. Mathematics is the language of nature.
2. Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers.
3. If you graph these numbers, patterns emerge. Therefore: there are patterns everywhere in nature.Maximillian Cohen, π
Will 2012 be the Year of Computer Science?
2011 was a promising year for computer science in schools, with government ministers (even the Prime Minister) appearing to recognise its importance from both an educational and economic perspective; all in the midst of a uncertain large-scale education review in England. 2012 is shaping up to be just as promising, starting with the publication of the Royal Society’s 18 month study on computing in schools in a fortnight. Computing At School (CAS) have been busy on a number of fronts over the past year, but in particular advocacy at national policy level (along with the BCS Academy of Computing).
However, we have to remain grounded — there is still a huge amount of work to be done (and nothing is yet guaranteed). As well as continuing the policy work, one of the priorities for CAS is to further connect with and support the network of Computing and ICT teachers across the UK, as well as changing the wider public’s poor perception of computer science — into a rigorous, practical and intellectually useful academic discipline (and as a pathway to a wide range of careers). There are also a number of excellent initiatives to support that focus on developing the key skills of computational thinking and programming, as well as genuinely engaging young people with technology: Young Rewired State, Hack to the Future, Apps for Good, Codecademy et al.
After a recent conversation with @BringBackCS, it seemed an opportune time to coalesce Twitter discussions under a unifying hashtag:
Is this the time to properly introduce the Computer Science in 2012 hashtag? Yes — spread the message: #CSin2012 with @CompAtSch
— Dr Tom Crick (@DrTomCrick) December 31, 2011
I will be using this hashtag to promote Computer Science in 2012; please use and spread the message!
And why is 2012 especially important? It’s also the Turing Centenary, a celebration of the life and scientific influence of Alan Turing on the centenary of his birth on 23rd June 1912. A number of major events (such as the Computability in Europe 2012 conference) will be taking place throughout the year, with many linked to places with special significance in Turing’s life, including Cambridge, Manchester, Bletchley Park and Princeton. 2012: The Alan Turing Year and the Year of Computer Science.
We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.
Alan Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)
