Center for Computer Science Education & Outreach

Thanks to our corporate sponsors for enabling us to serve low income neighborhoods in Greater Dallas area with FREE coding clubs & discounts for low income families:

About K-12 Outreach

Mission

Introduce the magical world of Computer Programming in enjoyable manner to every school student in greater Dallas area & beyond.

Activities

Summer Camps, Workshops during School Breaks/Holidays, Weekend Clubs, Online Clubs, Programming Contests, Custom Workshops & campus tour for schools, custom camps/workshops off-site for schools/groups, weekly after-school clubs in nearby schools, Teaching Training workshops, Career day presentations, FREE workshops to the community on MLK day of service, hands-on workshops for UTD students and professional development workshops for adults.

People

Director: Dr. Jey Veerasamy, jeyv@utdallas.edu
Associate Director: Prof. John Cole, john.cole@utdallas.edu
and an army of UT Dallas students!

Contact

Email (preferred): csk12@utdallas.edu (information, clarifications, cancellation requests, etc.)
Phone: 214-924-2148
We will get back to you within a day (within few hours most of the time). If you do not get a reply within a day, please send another email or call this number again. Please do NOT call or email anyone else in UT Dallas regarding our events. No one will be able to assist you – it will only frustrate them and you. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Facebook

Facebook: UTDCSOR (great way to keep up-to-date with our events!)

Email List

csoutreach in SYMPA email server (We send out periodic updates – once every 2 weeks or so. Email to sympa@lists.utdallas.edu with subject line sub csoutreach to get onto our email list)

Why Programming?

Latest surveys and news reports indicate that the US will continue to see a serious shortage of software professionals for the foreseeable future. So, computer programming is expected to be a high-paying & marketable skill for years to come. Even if you decide to pursue a career in another field, it is very likely that you will use a computer on the job! Basic programming skills can enable you to be more efficient in your job & try something new!! Almost every one can learn to program if they are willing to think and try. Yet, we see significant % of middle & high school students making career choices, without knowing the meaning of the term “computer programming!” Ok, how can you assess your interest level? How to check whether you have the mindset to enjoy programming? There is one simple way to find out – Jump in there, write a few programs and see for yourself!

We are passionate about programming & problem solving techniques! We strongly believe that it is possible to introduce Computer Programming to all school students in an enjoyable way and enable them to consider higher education & career in STEM fields. There are several age-appropriate FREE tools out there that can help to learn programming at almost any age! We believe, with wonderful tools like Logo and Scratch, a typical 3rd grader should be able to start the journey!

Our Workshops

We have been conducting several workshops in various programming languages (Alice, JavaScript, Java, C++, and Python) in various school breaks from 2012. Additionally, we conduct programming competitions every semester and several summer camps too. While our workshops & camps have been primarily geared towards middle & high school students, we expanded our workshops to cover everyone (Kindergarten to working professionals) in 2013! Here is the suggested sequence for all.

Suggested Sequence	Level	Workshop	Topic
1	Level 0: Early starters (grades 1-2)	Explore Coding Tools	Drag & drop programming (touch-screen)
2	Level 1: Starting point for grades 3-5	2D Animations & Games Using Scratch	Drag & drop programming (simple concepts)
3	Level 2: Level 1 graduates; middle and high school students	3D Animations & Games Using Alice	Drag & drop programming (complex concepts)
4	Level 2: Level 1 graduates; middle and high school students	Fancy Drawing Using KhanAcademy JavaScript	Free-form typing & dealing with syntax errors
5	Level 3: Level 2 graduates	C++, Java, Python and More….Serious Stuff	Gain proficiency with popular languages
6	Level 4: Level 3 graduates	Apps, Games, Contests and More	College-level advanced programming

Review all the tabs in this page to see the upcoming events. If you live far away & you want us to come to your location (school, workplace, coaching center, etc.) and conduct one day workshop or week-long summer camp? Write about your needs to csk12@utdallas.edu & we will work with you to make it happen! Also, let us know if you want a faculty to come and do a few presentations – we will be happy to do it!!

Why do we run these events?

• We want the school students, teachers and community to realize that learning to program can be enjoyable! We hope a lot of school students will become passionate about programming and select STEM fields for college degrees and careers. Since school students start to gravitate towards specific careers as early as middle school, we want to expose them to Computer Programming early and enable them to make “informed” choices.
• We want to strengthen the programming skills of UTD students so that they can excel in their programming projects in their coursework and beyond. We also want to help them become industry-ready & enable them to get internships during school years and better jobs when they graduate.
• We want working professionals to use us as a resource to update their skill sets so that they can do their jobs more efficiently and progress in their careers.

Summer camps

Summer camps are primarily targeted towards school students, even though every one including college students, school teachers and parents are welcome to register and attend! Based on the recent years’ experience, we have decided to limit each session 1 to 1.5 hours in duration – now most of our camps run for 2 weeks & advanced level camps run for 4 weeks – UTD does offer lots of camps in Summer: Visit the summer camps page to see the full line-up!

Each camp will be jointly run by well-trained & experienced UTD students with guidance from UTD faculty. You can expect the difficulty level to vary a lot from one camp to another. Review the camp description carefully before your register. If you are not sure, send an email to csk12@utdallas.edu to get clarifications. Please do not rush the school students through advanced camps – we do not want them to get overwhelmed and loose interest in programming. We want them to enjoy the learning process and progress in their own pace.

Directions

Visit the directions page for detailed instructions and map to reach ECS South (ECSS) building where most events are held.

Discounts for Camps/Workshops/Clubs/Courses

All discounted registrations are subject to audit & further proof may need to be submitted upon request. Improper use of these promotional codes or insufficient responses will result in cancellations.

• 50% discount for families that qualify reduced rate meals at schools: You need to submit a copy of documentation from school to csk12@utdallas.edu (Families without such documentation should refer to income guidelines posted on the Federal Poverty Level webpage – you can send the first page of previous year’s tax return – you can erase/blacken/hide the SSN before sending us a copy).
• 90% discount for school teachers: This discount is only for teachers’ professional development. It CANNOT be used for their kids or students. School teachers should email a copy of school ID badge or another school document to csk12@utdallas.edu. School email address should be used to register.

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