#CASChat returns: new year, new conversations

With the return of #CASChat taking place on Tuesday 10 September at 8pm, Steve Clarke explains more about the weekly chat forum, and why you should get involved this year.

What is #CASChat?#CASChat is a rapid hour of sharing ideas related to computing education, hosted on Twitter. It runs every Tuesday night from 8-9pm, and is a great forum for members to share their expertise and practical advice, centred around a different topic each week.

To kick off #CASChat for this academic year, Steve Clarke and Paul Thornton from STEM Learning will be hosting. You can find them on Twitter: @stevi_e_c and @StemThornton. #CASChat has its own Twitter handle: @caschat_uk and you can also get involved in the conversation by tagging @WeAreComputing.

Why should I take part?

Many teachers cite #CASChat as some of the most useful professional development they have had. Computing teachers of all levels of experience regularly take part. It is a supportive and friendly environment where you can share ideas and resources and make new contacts.

If you don’t want to Tweet anything you don’t have to, you can simply follow the discussion. The hash symbol is a way of grouping tweets and will appear as a hyperlink wherever it is used so you can either search #CASChat in Twitter or click on the link in any Tweet in which it appears.

Back to school

There is a ‘back to school’ theme for this #CASChat and we will be reflecting on what went well last academic year and what you want to improve this year.

This week’s questions:

Q1: What are your ‘go to’ activities to get pupils excited about computing early in the academic year?

Q2: What key aspects from your teaching practice last year worked particularly well and what will you drop/change?

Q3: The NCCE's new Computing Hubs will be delivering CPD by January. What are your key priorities for computing CPD this year?

Q4: The Hubs will loan schools physical kit (micro:bit, Crumble and Raspberry Pi). What tips do you have for managing physical devices in the classroom and what projects would you recommend?

Q5: Many people will be teaching computing/computer science for the first time – what advice could you give to them?