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Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

  • 1.  Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-15-2023 11:20

    Does your state have standards for Game Dev?

    Does it have a dedicated Teaching Credential for Game Dev?

    How does one get it in your state?

    Just curious to see what the lay of the land is on this.

    ___________

    Here in California Game Dev is covered in Section D of the Arts, Media and Entertainment section of the state CTE standards.

    AME it's own domain in a CTE credential and it is usually acquired through Industry Experience and Teaching Coursework.



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    BrianBautistabbautista@rjuhsd.usCA
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  • 2.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-15-2023 12:08
    Montana does not have a Game Dev certification.  The number of high schools that teach any kind of Game Dev is maybe 5 in the whole state.  I may be the only teacher that offers more than 2 semesters of game dev.  Actually, I really do not know if any other schools in the state offer any game dev.  CS teachers do not communicate very well in this state.  CS cert is bad also.  There are 2 ways of getting a CS cert in Montana.  Get a Business Ed degree (no CS required) or get a CS degree then get an Ed degree ($$$ and time).  A CS Ed degree exists in a couple of the universities but to my knowledge no one gets it.  The effort is simply not worth the teacher salary.

    Montana's lay of the land is pretty much a desert when it comes to CS and Game Dev.  We are so far behind other states that it is almost criminal.  The few hs CS programs I know of in the state are canned things like Project Lead The Way and Code.org taught by non-CS teachers.

    --
    Garth Flint
    Computer Science Teacher
    Loyola Sacred Heart High School
    406-531-7497





  • 3.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-15-2023 12:13

    California has not had actual adopted standards for that long actually. It was a sort of wild west scenario, where everything was paid for with site-budgets and school districts would say things like "I don't think our students would be interested in that stuff."

    Yeah we are pretty bad as a field about communicating with each other, which is why we push this so hard. I steal my best stuff from you guys!



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    BrianBautistabbautista@rjuhsd.usCA
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  • 4.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-15-2023 20:02

    Utah has standards, called Strands and Standards, for a Game Development Fundamentals 1 and a Game Development Fundamentals 2 course which are available off the Utah State Board of Education website.

    Utah has several endorsements in CSIT including an Intro to Computer Science and Programming and Software Development specific to Computer Science, and each endorsement has specific classes that an individual can teach with lots of redundancy in classes. These can also be found in the USBE website.



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    Ed Mondragon k12teacher
    Taylorsville UT
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  • 5.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 09:19
    Ed,  I don't suppose there is a "how to teach this stuff" or a resources document to go with the Game Dev Fund 2 document?  For us poor ignorant math teachers and teachers that have been teaching how to use Unity, most of this is Greek, especially Strand 1..  

    --
    Garth Flint
    Computer Science Teacher
    Loyola Sacred Heart High School
    406-531-7497





  • 6.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 18:07

    Garth,

    Unfortunately, there isn't a 'how to teach' tutorial for any of our classes, but districts, the state ACTE IT Division, and/or the state office of education provide PD within the districts or conferences although they don't necessarily prepare teachers how to teach it.

    Rather, the state board of education has teacher endorsement requirements in order to teach each of these courses. Obviously, the highest level CS endorsement is needed to teach the Game Development courses, so teachers generally have experience teaching CS before they teach these two courses. Additionally, the state office of education provides Methodology courses for every CTE CS endorsement which does provide insight into how to teach a CS course.



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    Ed Mondragon k12teacher
    Taylorsville UT
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  • 7.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 18:09
    Sounds like Utah has a good system.  In Montana we are on our own.

    --
    Garth Flint
    Computer Science Teacher
    Loyola Sacred Heart High School
    406-531-7497





  • 8.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-17-2023 08:54

    Utah does have a system in place for all CTE programs/clusters/pathways, and I welcome visiting with you further, if interested. I am a District CTE Coordinator and not a Utah State Board of Education employee, but I work well with our state specialist.

    we have had teachers from surrounding states (ID, WY) attend our conferences in the past. 



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    Ed Mondragon k12teacher
    Taylorsville UT
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  • 9.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-17-2023 10:31
    Ed, I have given up dealing with the State and University system in Montana.  Our state Dept of Ed considers a major part of CS as learning Microsoft Office.  I was involved in writing the Standards a few years ago. I think there were 2 K-12 teachers and 10 bureaucrats.  It was not pretty and the result was an impossible dream.  You would pretty much need a Masters in CS to teach the curriculum.

    As far as CS Ed in the Montana universities are concerned, there is nothing practical.  Get a CS degree then get an Ed degree.  There is a movement to get CS Ed down to a level where an inservice teacher can afford it $ and time-wise but the movement is glacial and is meeting a lot of resistance in the university bureaucracy.  

    There is NO inservice for CS teachers in Montana.  Occasionally some CS professors find a grant and offer something but most teachers are not interested in dedicating a week in the summer away from home for something that does not end in a certification.

    Of course a CS cert in Montana does not mean much.  Very few schools offer CS.  It is not a very marketable cert for a teacher.  This is one of the rationals by the universities for not getting a CS Ed program into the mainstream.  

    Right now most high schools teach a 100 year old curriculum.  To implement CS on a practical scale would involve losing something out of that curriculum.  It can be done.  It just requires effort on the part of the State and school administrations.  

    --
    Garth Flint
    Computer Science Teacher
    Loyola Sacred Heart High School
    406-531-7497





  • 10.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-21-2023 06:13

    Garth,

    The Montana CS landscape as described is unfortunate for all stakeholders: students, parents, schools, districts, communities, post-secondary, business/industry, and the nation. There are so many opportunities across the nation (and globally) that would be great for Montana students to have the opportunity to consider.

    As far as a teacher goes, there are free CS curriculum and resources that might be of interest to you, including PD. I will mention a few that work for MS and HS, for the most part, and one that has ES resources. 

    • Code.org (ES-MS-HS)

    Learn computer science. Change the world.

    Code.org remove preview
    Learn computer science. Change the world.
    Every student in every school deserves the opportunity to study computer science.
    View this on Code.org >


    • Microsoft MakeCode (MS-HS) - free online tutorials

    Microsoft MakeCode Computer Science Education

    Microsoft MakeCode remove preview
    Microsoft MakeCode Computer Science Education
    MakeCode brings computer science to life for all students with fun projects, immediate results, and both block and text editors for learners at different levels.
    View this on Microsoft MakeCode >


    • Minecraft Coding (ES-MS-HS)

    Homepage

    education.minecraft.net remove preview
    Homepage
    Get Minecraft Education for your classroom. Find out how using this game will take your students' learning to the next level.
    View this on education.minecraft.net >


    • CMU CS Academy (MS-HS) - free PD

    CMU CS Academy

    Cmu remove preview
    CMU CS Academy
    CMU CS Academy is an online, graphics-based computer science curriculum taught in Python provided by Carnegie Mellon University.
    View this on Cmu >

    I suggest starting with the Hour of Code to give students a chance to try it, and then you can gauge the engagement and excitement therefrom.

    https://hour of code.com/us

    https://arcade.MakeCode.com/hour-of-code-all

    Minecraft Hour of Code

    Code.org remove preview
    Minecraft Hour of Code
    Minecraft is back for the Hour of Code, and you're the hero! Write code to journey through Minecraft biomes.
    View this on Code.org >

    CMU CS Academy

    Cmu remove preview
    CMU CS Academy
    CMU CS Academy is an online, graphics-based computer science curriculum taught in Python provided by Carnegie Mellon University.
    View this on Cmu >



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    Ed Mondragon k12teacher
    Taylorsville UT
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  • 11.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-18-2023 10:11

    IF anyone needs "turn-key" resources that will help you teach Game Design/Development 1 and/or Game Design/Development 2, please contact me and I may be able to help. GD1 identifies and prepares students for Unity User: Programmer and Unity User: Artist and GD 2 prepares students for Unity Associate: Programmer and Unity Associate: Game Developer.

    You can reach me at 520-982-6411 or jillranucci13@gmail.com



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    Jill Ranucci, Ph.D.
    CTE Consultant
    ACTE Esports Area of Interest Lead (ETED Division)
    ACTE Academic Integration Lead (NRS Division)
    jillranucci13@gmail.com
    520-982-6411
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 09:12
    Pretty sure I'm one of a small handful of Game Dvelooment teachers in Alaska. No standards. I loosely utilize CSTA standards. 





  • 13.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 12:23

    So with Situations like yours and Garth's, where does the funding come from?

    Are you able to get the Perkin's grant and stuff like that?



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    BrianBautistabbautista@rjuhsd.usCA
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  • 14.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-16-2023 12:44
    Our Perkins funding is low, and requires more hoops to jump through than I'm willing to take on. I don't need funding for software as I primarily use my classroom funds or free, open-source content. 

    We are in need of a renewal/replacement for our computers, but I plan on applying for a grant to help offset the cost (once I find one). The less bureaucratic paperwork I must do, the better. I'm a bit of a rebel in the district dancing with my students at the beat of our own drum. 





  • 15.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-17-2023 10:04
    What funding?  We are a small private Catholic school.  No government funding.  We are also a poor private school.  Everything I do has to be free or very low budget.  We are BYOD for the students and most of the teachers bring their own laptops.  If they cannot afford one I get free recycled laptops from a Montana State recycle warehouse.  A 10 year old laptop works fine for most tasks.  My gaming computers I buy in pieces on Amazon then build them.  Saves about 30% in cost.  Occasional grants and donations pay for these.  A lot of my equipment is out of my pocket.  I own 5 Oculus headsets.

    --
    Garth Flint
    Computer Science Teacher
    Loyola Sacred Heart High School
    406-531-7497





  • 16.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-17-2023 10:08

    I believe that Private Schools are eligible for Perkins, might be worth looking into if you have a big capital purchase, there are some hoops to jump through for sure.



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    BrianBautistabbautista@rjuhsd.usCA
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  • 17.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 11-26-2023 09:42

    Iowa doesn't have specific game development standards, although students can hit standards in "Algorithms & Programming" while developing games.



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    Rebecca Herman k12teacher
    Keystone IA
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  • 18.  RE: Wednesday Discussion - Standards/Credentialing

    Posted 12-04-2023 14:33

    My Game Design classes are using the standards listed in Information and Communication Technologies Pathway Standards Section D. Games and Simulation Pathway. Just noting for those interested in options.



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    Melanie Honeycutt k12teacher
    Lompoc CA
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