2013/2/13 - Oracle Academy and Computer Science Teachers Association Team Up to Help Inspire Student Interest in Computer Science

News Facts

• The Oracle Academy and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) are working together to train teachers in the U.S. and Canada to teach the Oracle Academy's Introduction to Computer Science curriculum to help inspire student interest in computer science.
• The Oracle Academy's Introduction to Computer Science curriculum includes Database Design and Programming courses and a Java-specific curriculum consisting of four courses (Getting Started with Java Using Alice, Creating Java Programs with Greenfoot, Java Fundamentals, and Java Programming) that are aligned to Oracle certification and the US Advanced Placement Computer Science A exam. The Getting Started with Java Using Alice curriculum engages students with little or no programming experience to learn basic Java programming concepts using Carnegie Mellon University's Alice software environment.
• The Oracle Academy and CSTA will host 32 teacher training events and workshops and expect to train up to 600 teachers.
• The effort will involve 18 CSTA chapters from Canada and the U.S. and the events will run from February through August 2013.
• More details about the training schedule are available here.

The Oracle Academy and CSTA Collaboration

• The Oracle Academy and CSTA are both committed to promoting computer science and technology education to help support computer science teachers and inspire students to explore in-demand computer science careers. This collaboration will help further these goals, prepare students for computing careers and help provide a competitive edge as they enter the workforce.
• CSTA is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn.
• The Oracle Academy provides a complete portfolio of software, curriculum, hosted technology, faculty training, support, and certification resources to secondary and higher education institutions for teaching use. The Oracle Academy supports over 1.9 million students in 97 countries.

Supporting Quotes

• "Oracle works to advance education with state-of-the-art technology programs that awaken and deepen students' interest in computer science and engineering," said Alison Derbenwick Miller, Vice President, Oracle Academy. "We are pleased to work with CSTA to help promote and strengthen computer science education and train teachers across the U.S. and Canada on the Oracle Academy curriculum. These efforts will ultimately help expand the reach and depth of computer science education at the K-12 level, and encourage students to explore the power of computer programming and the opportunities made available via computer science education."
• "Computer science is a constantly changing field and teachers need access to quality professional development to help ensure exemplary teaching. This partnership between CSTA, the CSTA Chapters, and the Oracle Academy will help enable hundreds of teachers to learn new skills and build strong learning communities," said Chris Stephenson, CSTA executive director.
• "Our chapter members are very excited about this opportunity," said CSTA Boston-Area chapter leader Kelly Powers. "This joint project between Oracle and CSTA is uniquely attractive. Our chapter members are constantly looking for opportunities to keep their knowledge up to date and having this content taught by Oracle experts and also having the opportunity to pursue certification is what immensely excited us. This is an opportunity for us to grow both professionally and as a community of teachers."

Supporting Resources

• Oracle Academy
• Computer Science Teachers Association
• Alice
• Greenfoot

About Computer Science Teachers Association
The Computer Science Teachers Association is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn. To learn more, visit http://csta.acm.org/.

About Oracle
Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center. For more information about Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.

About the Oracle Academy
The Oracle Academy provides a complete portfolio of software, curriculum, hosted technology, faculty training, support, and certification resources to secondary and higher education institutions for teaching use. Faculty can insert these resources into computer science and business programs, ensuring that students gain industry-relevant skills prior to entering the workforce. The Oracle Academy supports over 1.9 million students in 97 countries. To learn more, visit http://oracle.com/academy.

Trademarks
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.