Posted by CSTA on Nov 14, 2019
Interested in the new Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science license? Anne DeMallie, who works for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as the Digital Literacy and Computer Science Support Lead, walked educators through the process of applying for the new license and provided an update on the state's current K-12 computer science initiatives.

Anne outlined the twelve subject-matter knowledge requirements for the license (see below) and the different ways to cover/satisfy and document successful completion of each requirement.

 

Computing and Society

1.     Understand safety and security concepts, security and recovery strategies, and how to deal with cyberbullying and peer pressure in a social computing setting. (Standards: 6-8.CAS.a and 9-12.CAS.a)

2.     Understand, analyze impact and intent of, and apply technology laws, license agreements and permissions. (Standards: 6-8.CAS.b and 9-12.CAS.b)

3.     Recognize, analyze, and evaluate the impact of technology, assistive technology, technology proficiencies, and cybercrime in people's lives, commerce, and society. (Standards: 6-8.CAS.c and 9-12.CAS.c)

 

Digital Tools & Collaboration and Computing Systems

4.     Selection and use of digital tools or resources and computing devices to create an artifact, solve a problem, communicate, publish online or accomplish a real-world task. (Standards: 6-8.DTC.a, 9-12.DTC.a, 6-8.DTC.b, 9-12.DTC.b, 6-8.CS.a and 9-12.CS.a)

5.     Use of advance research skills including advanced searches, digital source evaluation, synthesis of information and appropriate digital citation. (Standards: 6-8.DTC.c and 9-12.DTC.c)

6.     Understand how computing device components work. Use of troubleshooting strategies to solve routine hardware and software problems. (Standards: 6-8.CS.a, 9-12.CS.a, 6-8.CS.b, and 9-12.CS.b)

7.     Understand how networks communicate, their vulnerabilities and issues that may impact their functionality. Evaluate the benefits of using a service with respect to function and quality. (Standards: 6-8.CS.c, 9-12.CS.c, 6-8.CS.d, and 9-12.CS.d)

 

Computational Thinking

8.     Creation of new representations, through generalization and decomposition. Write and debug algorithms in a structured language. (Standards: 6-8.CT.a, 9-12.CT.a, 6-8.CT.b, and 9-12.CT.b)

9.     Understand how different data representation affects storage and quality. Create, modify, and manipulate data structures, data sets, and data visualizations. (Standards: 6-8.CT.c and 9-12.CT.c)

10.  Decompose tasks/problems into sub-problems to plan solutions.  (Standards: 6-8.CT.d and 9-12.CT.d)

11.  Creation of programs using an iterative design process to create an artifact or solve a problem. (Standards: 6-8.CT.d and 9-12.CT.d)

12.  Creation of models and simulations to formulate, test, analyze, and refine a hypothesis. (Standards: 6-8.CT.e and 9-12.CT.e)

In addition to the new license, Anne is leading several other K-12 computer science initiatives in Massachusetts:

  • Digital Literacy and Computer Science Convening
  • DLCS District Implementation Planning Workshops
  • High School Computation Science Pathway Project
  • Digital Now Grant Program

For more information on any of these initiatives, please see Anne's presentation at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4W7CJ-1czH5a2o4cGM1OEdrOVpyenQ5STNHMGowYTl5N2ZZ/view.