#MakerSpace, #makered, STEMed and #csed folks, here's a super-fun challenge lesson I use in class: Build a Baby Groot who talks when his plant is touched. Uses #Adafruit #CircuitPython a Circuit Playground, a 3D printed planter, laser-cut box, but lots of options abound. https://youtu.be/gEmyZ7ZWMIo

SIGCSE Virtual, the semi-annual online conference of the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, will be held Nov. 12-15, 2026.

https://sigcse.org/events/virtual/

Please boost for reach.

#acm #ComputerScience #education #conference #teaching #pedagogy #CSEd #SIGCSE #SIGCSEVirtual

New playlist to build the #SwiftUI "DungeonDice" app for multi-dice D&D / RPG rolling sessions. Fully updated for iOS26. Lots of detailed explanations that new students & #CSed teachers may find useful. Already the 6th week of the semester. Enjoy! https://bit.ly/dungeon-dice-app

Racket birthday party and meet-up: Saturday, 7 February 2026 at 18:00 UTC

EVERYONE WELCOME 😁

Announcement, Jitsi Meet link & discussion at https://racket.discourse.group/t/racket-birthday-party-and-meet-up-saturday-7-february-2026-at-18-00-utc/4085
#lisp #scheme #metaprogramming #csed #cs

Are you teaching SwiftUI w/Xcode & GitHub Classroom? Here is the lesson I share w/my students. My class receives a GitHub Classroom submission link via Canvas, everything else should be the same. Hope that helps! https://youtu.be/LzA7e73axRY #CSed #Swift #SwiftUI #Xcode #GitHub

Some of my @bostoncollege.bsky.social Physical Computing students delivering their #CircuitPython based assistive tech projects to their clients in the BC Campus School. I’m so lucky to work with such wonderful young people. https://www.instagram.com/p/DTljI53jW9h/?img_index=9&igsh=MWFkZ21xdDB2c215Yg== #csed #assistivetech

New #CircuitPython School lesson introduces key concepts: variable naming conventions, print & input for maker / electronics debugging, & AI code completion in PyCharm w/helpful & incorrect results. Also: Using AI for CircuitPython code explanations w/prompting examples. https://youtu.be/-wIqy7drCN8 #CSed

Good luck #CSed faculty prepping for next semester. Show me your maker closets! Here's the cart with many (although not all) of the parts I use for PhysicalComputing: Art, Robotics, and Tech for Good - the #CircuitPython course I teach accessible from new-to-code through advanced CS students.

About halfway through the Agentic AI for Python course from @talkpython. Thoughts:

As a CS educator, I can't ignore this.

Useful practice: restart the chat often to save computation/money/energy/carbon/water.

Repos will be flooded with LLM-built code, some skillfully supervised, some not.

How important is talking to the LLM in clear, complete sentences? What of all the people who are highly skilled software engineers but have limited English skills?

#ai #coding #ComputerScience #CSEd

Review of Moral Codes: Designing Alternatives to AI by Alan Blackwell https://read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/article/doi/10.1215/2834703X-12096054/406212/Moral-Codes-Designing-Alternatives-to-AI
"This is a crisis of human attention...being human is grounded in “being attending and attentive beings, paying attention” (11). Platform AI is designed to consume our attention and harvest our data. It will continue to damage human agency, attention, and intelligence, Blackwell insists, unless at least two things happen." #AI #CSEd #AIEd

Yesterday I was talking to a bunch of computer science teachers about how proud I was that my best programmer in y12 was a girl and one of the middle aged men said quite sagely that he tells his boys that they should look forward to working with girls because they're a different style of programmer and they may not be as good or as fast but they are excellent *communicators*.
He saw no irony in saying that to me when I could program him into a corner with my hands tied behind my back. Snort
#csed

I really want to ask this on 10 years ago twitter because there were teachers there but here goes.

My main attempt to counter cheats in my coding class has been to have a keystroke logger. Last night I watched the keystrokes of a student who has difficulty with for loops in class write a whole working stock tracking app in 3 hours. This is not possible. I cannot prove anything. What can I do in the future that avoids this possibility for other students? Or is it all over and I just need exams?
#csed

Here's a link to today's CircuitPython exam: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BeWUK_b5BKbo_GEi4BZVstnwV_1LJY5QNgVuA7ZbpdE/mobilepresent?slide=id.p
Students had to complete 8 builds in 2.5 hrs. Themes: "Magic-8 Ball Yoda", "Diwali Musical Chairs", An anti-cat distance-activated Turkey, & "Yip Yip Yip" martians from Sesame Street. Solution folder in the open course Google Drive at Gallaugher.com. #csed #maker #circuitpython

Wonder what our CircuitPython exam is like? #CSed folks looking for new challenges for your own classes? See the Week 9 Keynote slides (.pdf also available) in the open Google Drive for the PhysicalComputing course at gallaugher.com. 7 fun challenges for a Raspberry Pi Pico and CircuitPlayground. Keynote slides have a video showing a proper build.

The latest lesson for my PhysicalComputing course: Create an easy IoT dashboard for your Raspberry Pi Pico W / 2W with CircuitPython and free AdafruitIO. We'll toggle NeoPixel LEDs on/off, change light color, play sounds remotely, and move a servo using a slider. #csed
https://youtu.be/fjysAa3N2OI?si=mMn6cJOWNhgpA500

I also had inspiring meetings with Lauri Malmi and Juho Leinonen from the Learning & Technology research group at Aalto University. We talked about current challenges such as students adapting to LLMs capable of generating accurate source code from natural-language problem descriptions and even historical ideas of automating assessments.

🔬 Have a look at the LeTech research group!
👉 https://research.cs.aalto.fi/LeTech/

#cseducation #CSEd #ccl

Use a Raspberry Pi Pico W (orig. or 2W) and setup a web page with a toggle to turn NeoPixel lights on and off. MQTT has never been easier to use. CircuitPython and free Adafruit.io makes it happen! An updated lesson I use in my PhysicalComputing course. Hack on! #csed
https://youtu.be/iFwvvEJ_UwA

Are you an educator who has to write the same things many times when giving feedback to students? Bandolier is quite handy.

#education #teaching #pedagogy #CSEd #python

https://github.com/PeterDrake/bandolier

In this week's CircuitPlayground CircuitPython challenges: control the "Google Dino Game" w/vegetables. Veggies are plugged to cap-touch pads, which receive input & map these to keyboard characters using HID. Fun, but will be useful in their assistive tech projects. Lesson: https://youtu.be/5VkYCk3spv8?si=NgRU_YzpR7_OkDEr #CSed

#CSed #teachers & anyone wanting to learn #Maker Electronics, your chance to follow along for a Semester of #CircuitPython is now in sesh. You can find dozens of notes & challenge slides in the open Google Drive at https://gallaugher.com and all the high quality video lessons at https://bit.ly/circuitpython-school. You are most welcome to use in your own classes. Let me know so I can gaige impact.