CSTA New England Regional Conference

Register now for this year’s CSTA New England Conference! The main event is on November 12th, 2022 and this year we are hosted by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst College of Education. A book club will lead up to the big event with social activities the evening of November 11th, 2022. The main conference will begin with vendor exhibits at 9am on Saturday, November 12th, followed by our keynote speaker at 10am and a variety of workshops that will run throughout the afternoon. Our theme is CS for Social Good. Registration is $50 for Saturday only, $55 if you plan to attend the Friday events as well. CSTA-Plus members will receive a special gift on arrival!

Venue

The conference will be held at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst College of Education, located at 813 North Pleasant St. in Amherst, MA. If your GPS doesn't send you to the right place, try entering "Furcolo Hall" or "University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education."

Please use Lot 66 Marks Meadow School to park your vehicle; parking will be free on Saturday. No need to feed the meters! Just don’t park in a state vehicle spot or handicap spot. Enter Furcolo Hall (the College of Education building) via the side entrance and look for signs directing you to the registration desk, located on the first floor of the building. We have attached a picture that shows where to park and enter.

Schedule

Friday, November 11th

Late morning-early afternoon: Take a Flight, sponsored by the Civil Air Patrol

5:00 - 6:00 pm Amherst Scavenger Hunt, sponsored by CoderZ

6:00 - 8:00 pm Social, sponsored by Teq

Kick off the excitement and comradery of the CSTA New England Regional Conference by joining your fellow attendees for the CSTANE/CoderZ Scavenger Hunt! Explore Amherst while you decipher clues and hunt down the objects leading you to your final destination, a social at Hangar Pub & Grill/Amherst Brewery. Pre-registration required. Click on this form if you are interested in flying on Friday before the scavenger hunt and social.

Saturday, November 12th

8:30 - 10:00 Check In & Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 Exhibit Hall

10:00 - 10:50 Introduction & Keynote

11:00 - 11:50 Session 1

12:00 - 1:15 Lunch, Networking & Exhibit Hall

1:15 - 1:45 New England State Panel

1:55 - 2:45 Session 2

3:00 - 3:50 Session 3

4:00 - 4:50 Session 4

5:00 - 5:30 Plenary, Awards Ceremony & Prizes

Here is an overview of the schedule in grid form. Click on the image to go to a page that will allow you to sort, filter and search the schedule by time, audience, title and author.

Keynote

We are excited to announce that Dr. Cheryl A. Swanier will be this year's keynote speaker. Dr. Swanier is a Senior Teaching Faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She conducts research in Human Computer Interaction and is a leader in broadening participation in computing and getting students interested in STEM disciplines and future technology careers.

Dr. Swanier's talk will focus on "Changing the Face of Technology for Social Good." Synopsis from Dr. Swanier:

According to Will Kenton (2022), “social good is something that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way, such as clean air, clean water, healthcare, and literacy.” A majority of my career has been spent advocating for the minoritized communities and increasing the number of girls and women in computing. Computing is ubiquitous; however, everyone does not have access to computing. Yet, our society is not totally reflective of computing as being accessible to everyone. We have a tech problem and it is imperative that the face of technology changes for the common good.

Accommodations

The Howard Johnson Amherst Hadley and Courtyard Hadley Amherst are now full. The Red Roof Inn in Deerfield still had rooms available as of November 7th.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for making this event possible! Please visit the vendor hall the day of the conference to learn more about the products and services they offer.

Milestone C, Shaping Future STEM Leaders (Silver Sponsor)

CoderZ, So Much More Than Coding (Silver Sponsor and Friday Scavenger Hunt Sponsor)

TEALS Program, Equip All Students for the Future with CS (Silver Sponsor)

Teq, Get the PBL You Need With New iBlocks (Silver Sponsor and Friday Social Sponsor)

Bird Brain Technologies, Inspire Deep and Joyful Hands-on Learning (Bronze Sponsor)

Coding Rooms, Create and Deliver All Levels of Coding Education (Bronze Sponsor)

LEGO Education, Rethink STEM Learning and Spark Joy in the Classroom (Bronze Sponsor)

National Center for Computer Science Education, Equitable Computer Science Education for K16 (Bronze Sponsor)

KinderLab Robotics, Kibo the Screen-Free STEAM Coding Robot (Bronze Sponsor)

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (Bronze Sponsor)

National Center for Women in Technology, Aspiration Award for High School Students (Bronze Sponsor)

Microsoft Education, Technology Solutions for Schools (Bronze Sponsor)

Prize Donations

COVID-19 Policies

The 2022 CSTA New England Regional Conference will follow University of Massachusetts at Amherst COVID-19 guidelines. Currently, indoor and outdoor campus spaces at UMass Amherst are open to the public; masks are welcome but not required. The university encourages everyone to respect the choices that individuals make about their own masking. Please click here for more information. If the university’s policies change we will let you know. If you are feeling ill or show any flu-like symptoms, such as a fever or cough, we ask you to stay home.