Women university students studying computer science are now making the most of their media savvy to provide information and resources to other students interested in computing, and providing a cool new resource for computer science teachers.
Students at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania have created a series of computer science podcasts on topics such as genetic algorithms, zip code encoding, encryption, searching and sorting in MySpace, and my personal favorite, malware.
The podcasts are all part of the “Where is the Software” series, feature student-delivered mini-tutorials on interesting computer science concepts and run from about seven to fifteen minutes.
The production team of Sara Joseph, Charmagne McKinney, Logan Kennedy, Elizabeth Jones, Natasha Gunasekara and Tina Bledsoe who are part of the WiCS (Women in Computer Science) group at their university, originally envisioned the podcasts as a way to reach out to local high school girls to help them see computer science as both interesting and challenging.
These podcasts, however, also make great mini-tutorials that you can use in the classroom to highlight concepts that you may be covering in class or to give students a better idea of the breadth of the computing disciplines.
You can access the podcasts at:
http://whereisthesoftware.podshow.com
The students say that they are planning to produce a new podcast every month.
Chris Stephenson
Executive Director