CSEd Week Special with Lauren Tyler and Jamal Boyce

We'd like to introduce our special guests Lauren Tyler, who is the Curriculum Program Specialist in Ed Tech, and Jamal Boyce, who is the Chief Technology Officer for Colton Joint Unified School District. They're here to share with us their current CS initiatives and their plans for CSEd Week, which begins on December 5

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Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

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Sonal  00:03

Welcome to the SBCSS Digital Learning Bits and Bytes podcast inspired by our dedication for equitable and inclusive educational technology and computer science. Today's digital learning team hosts are Sonal Patel and Dr. Sharisa Chan. Hello, everyone. I'm Sharisa Chan. And Hi everyone. I'm Sonal Patel.  We'd like to begin by introducing our special guests Lauren Tyler, who is the curriculum program specialist in Ed Tech, and also Jamal Boyce, who is the Chief Technology Officer for Colton Joint Unified School District. They're here to share with us their current CES initiatives and their plans for CSEd Week, which begins on December 5. Hello, everyone.

Jamal  00:47

Hello. 

Lauren  00:49

Hi, how are you? 

Sharisa  00:51

Okay, well, we're doing okay, we're excited. Because CSEd week is coming up. But before we jump into that, let's get started with a bit of fun. If you would think about really quickly, one bit or bite, that people may be intrigued to learn about you. And Lauren, we'll go ahead and start with you. 

Lauren  01:12

All right. Some people might know that not know that I am an induction coach in my district, and that I mentor new teachers. I've been doing it for about eight years now. And it's one of my favorite things to do ever. I feel like veteran and new teachers have so much to learn from each other, and that I've grown just as much from these mentoring relationships as my candidates. I just love it.

Sharisa  01:39

That's awesome. I love that so much. Okay, Jamal, same question.

Jamal  01:43

For me. I was trying to think of something cool. In my lineage, I'm like a descendant. So Malcolm X is my great, great uncle. I think so his name Malcolm Little. So like, he's, I'm basically related to Malcolm X. So. So that's a cool, fun fact th at people didn't know. So

Sharisa  02:05

It is a cool fun fact?

Sonal  02:06

That is amazing.

Sharisa  02:08

Did you know that Sonal I didn't know that.

Sonal  02:09

I didn't. Wow. Wow, that's awesome. Both of you. Thank you for sharing that little bit of personal about you. I definitely can't beat Malcolm X. And I thank you. So I'm gonna just start with a personal question. How did you personally begin your computer science journey? And why is computer science important to you? So let's go with Jamal  this time, and then we'll move to Lauren.

Jamal  02:35

For me. I was interested in video games. When I was younger, I didn't want to go in my mind, like business just seemed like you go. Because my dad was in business, I would just seem like you, you go in front of people. And because you'd like at the movies, and you see them speak with a board next. And I'm like, I'm not a good speaker. So I don't see that just seems scary to me. And I like video games. So I'm like how to video games work. So I went to school. But I didn't know how what courses I needed. So I just went, but I took computer engineering, which of course had computer science, electrical engineering, and computer engineering courses. And yeah, I went to a university Villanova, which the population is 2%, black. So and 90% of those black people are athletes or in sports or some so it was not a Yeah, it was not a huge representation of myself and those like me in the space. And I know we're touching on other topics as far as women, the same with women so and just and I just felt like I, I felt I was like, behind in waves because I didn't feel like I got the exposure, it seemed like the other kids had in high school. So it was like, it was all new to me, just the learning C plus, plus just the framework and everything I just felt if I had more exposure in high school, because I think at the time, we only had like typing in the games or like Oregon Trail and stuff like that. So nothing like really substantial that I was exposed to earlier on early on in school. So understanding that that's part of reason I want our kids to be exposed because I know, like any kind of language like even speaking language, it's better to learn at a younger age as opposed to later in life. So So that's portion of how I basically got into computer science.

Sonal  04:37

Absolutely. Thank you. Why, Sharisa, why do we not have Jamal on one of our CS snack interviews? Or career interviews? We're definitely definitely going to have to have him talk about that story. That particular story because I think you could be such a great role model to our inland empire students. He's wondering

Sharisa  04:57

Yeah. SRCS snacks are just a little bite sized video clips that we share out with students and teachers about people in computer science career field. And we're particularly looking for people in our area. But it'd be cool if you could show them even what Oregon Trail is, cuz I remember playing that.

Jamal  05:16

I guess I could assist in that endever.

Sonal  05:19

Thank you. I've signed you up for something else and Lauren. Lauren with the same question, how did you begin your journey, Lauren? And why is computer science important to you?

Lauren  05:34

So I don't have near the background that Jamal does. But I was a mean Oregon Trail player, so and the lemonade stand for sure. I was just I was a poli sci major and turned history teacher who loved ed tech. So I'm very new to my computer science journey. And for me, it really only started a couple of years ago, when I started to read data about the inequities in computer science. And I come from a district with very underrepresented groups and students in it. And when you look at the data of computer science, jobs being a very competitive field, and a growing industry, our students deserve access to those occupations just as much as other students do. So I really started to see the importance of bringing computer science to our students. And I just think, like, personally, I just think computer science is really cool. It's about problem solving, right. And students who are using computer science and people who go into the fields, I think they have a really cool opportunity to solve challenging problems and unique and innovative ways. Because computing is just a part of just about everything that we do now. And so it's really exciting. But it's missing from a lot of our curriculum and a lot of our schools. And I just believe from the bottom of my heart, that it's a part of a well rounded education at this point, and that we need to do whatever we can to bring it to our students,

Sonal  07:11

And get them ready for the future. Thank you so much, Lauren, that was perfectly stated.

Sharisa  07:16

Absolutely. Well, that actually is a great segue into our next question for you, which is what actions have you taken so far to grow your your district or your schools CS capacity. But I'd like to add a little bit more to that even your own? Because I know you mentioned you're doing some research around it and learning about it. So how are you building capacity of the different stakeholders, including yourself where you work?

Lauren  07:38

Right? So it started a couple of years ago for me when I started to look into the computer science standards for California. And I spent a lot of time really delving into it reading the document. So I could start imagining what computer science might look like in our district, like, what does California think our students should know. So I spent a lot of time with that document. And, and then I just tried to self learn, I've attended, you know, microbits workshops, and, and this year, recently, I had the opportunity to be on a team with Jamal and some of my other district members, with CS for all a workshop where we got a chance to really look at our district and where we are in computer science right now, figure out where we are. So we know how we can get where we need to go. So I've had that opportunity this year. And now I'm working with just recently Sonal. And the amazing Dr. M, to work together to find ways that I can integrate computer science into some of our core content classes in secondary next semester. And so I'm kind of planning and creating lessons that I'm going to bring the students next semester. So I'm really excited about it, I'm going to find some teachers that will let me be my guinea pigs, if they'll let me.

Sharisa  09:02

That's great. I can't wait to hear about the outcome and what those teachers find from you know, what they're doing while implementing.

Sonal  09:09

And I totally remember Lauren, when we did that presentation at Technology Leadership Network meeting with the computer science standards, and you were totally geeking out on those standards. You were like, I'm gonna take this home. I'm gonna think about this.

Lauren  09:21

I love a good framework.

Sonal  09:25

So I just really appreciate all that you've done since then, since we first talked about expanding this. I know it's been very important to you right, right from the beginning.

09:35

Yeah, and for me. So I think I've been at Colton in about nine or 10 months. I came in late February and so coming in you're, you're coming in eyes open and then you have the same questions. What are we doing? Because this is the space that I'm in, like, what are the programs? Or did the kids engaged in what are the what is the curriculum is there Um, is it a standard district wide? Or are they operating in silos and so a lot of that is I'm doing a lot of fight fact finding. And, and I know we have teams and members or staff that are, they're highly interested and they want to pour into our kids because it is lacking there is no like, framework as of yet. Like so working with Lauren and Nyeri. And you Sonal as we, I have a passion, like I said before, like this, the kids need to be exposed at early ages, like I have young ones, five and an eight year old right now. And I'm trying to give them anything that fun and engaging resources because it was, it was disheartening, I think, visiting one of my campus or one of our sites, and they have actually technology in their their name. And they want to get rid of that because they feel they're like afraid and apprehensive. So there's like certain perceptions that folks have of technology. And like Lauren stated earlier, like technology is in everything, you don't have to be specifically a coder, you can be I don't know, it can be project manager, it can be sales, you can have different knowledge, it doesn't have to be specifically in one lane, but just it's fear. And I My goal is to present and promote technology, not only to our students, but I think sometimes even the staff have a perception or even a negative connotation of certain technology, whether it's eSports, or where there's like, Oh, they're just playing games and don't understand people learn and receive things differently. So, so it's been helpful just being in these cohorts, or groups, professional learning networks, and feeding off each other and going to my network. Directors and How're you guys doing this at your district? How did you guys implement this? And what? And seeing the engage the level of engagement as a result of implementing computer science, because if you don't know, you don't know. So when they see somebody that looks like them, or if they get exposed to certain content, and then they realize, Oh, I really liked this or that, like a lot of stuff, even like with graphic design, and art and stuff, like I learned and picked up just, you know, my younger brother, who was the artist, and he was using Photoshop and use this. And then I really got into multimedia like, oh, like start light bulbs start clicking off. And I think the same can happen to our kids when we're exposed and have those resources and those outlets, basically, to go to those pathways. 

Sharisa  12:45

The  The drive that the both of you have is amazing and your perspective on you know how to move things forward and taking a look at what's real, like what's really happening. They're not just like, oh, it's, you know, it's okay, we'll just not worry about that. We're just gonna push it anyways, knowing where your teachers are and your staff is that is so important. And understanding that there may be some barriers, like fears of technology, or just the unknown, like you said, they don't know what they don't know. So I think it's important that you're doing this work, and that, you know, you're willing to call those things out, before you just jump in. Because then you'll be able to address it in a way that's most meaningful to the people that you're working with. So that's great. Thank you.

Sonal  13:30

I definitely have to agree. I mean, I really appreciate that, you know, all the points that you mentioned. And both you and Lauren touched on this on the piece for the next question, which is about equity, right equity in computer science? And how do we truly broaden access, especially to our students that have been underrepresented, underrepresented in CS, such as our students who identify as female and our students of color, specifically, our black and Latin X population? You've already talked about, you know, some of the things that you're doing, is there anything else you want to add in terms of how you're trying to provide access and greater opportunities to all students, specifically students who are underrepresented in CS?

Jamal  14:09

Well, I'll just quickly say a lot of it has to do with collaboration or communication. So in order to know who's underrepresented, you have to talk to those various communities or even the leaders from those communities because we don't see everything from everybody's lenses. And it's good to have a diverse group of people providing input and like, Oh, I'd never considered that. So I, I will share that's what I've been doing. I know a number of our staff have have been doing that as well. And I just wanted to be brief because I know Lauren wanted to hop in.

Lauren  14:44

Jamal you can talk long as you want. For me personally, it was just because I'm a secondary teacher and I work with the secondary schools and we really get siloed into our subject areas. And so I am trying to To embrace the Computer Science for All and how do we reach all students, we can't just say we have an AP computer science course. Because that's not access and equity that's access and equity for that's a very tiny group that takes that course. So it's my mission. I'm not saying I'm there yet. But it's my mission to find ways that we can bring computer science to all of our students, I think that we need to do it through integration in the core content areas. And really, eventually having a K through 12 plan to make sure that students are hitting all of those standards that they lead to, and what would be considered like a standard, you know, k 12. Schedule.

Sonal  15:42

Awesome. And I know Jamal, touched on this earlier on when he said it should also start early, right? You talked about only seeing a small population of students participating in AP computer science classes, we don't even know I mean, like, and we look at the demographics. And that tells a story in itself. Right? So if we started very early on, and got students interested and engaged in in computer science, then they you know, there's a greater likelihood of them choosing that pathway. What are you going to add to Jamal?

Jamal  16:11

I'll just call one of the sessions you had as a participant I think, is it Tonya coats, when she's crib, it's just, yeah, she's also saying excitement and what her kids were doing that like triggered, it got me excited and wanted me to expose my kids because I was like, how early? Did you work with them? She said, you can start kindergarten first grade around like, oh, yeah, I got to kindergarten first grade. So let me start getting that stuff and exposing that to him so that they can just have that excitement and enjoy. Like, yeah, you want to make it fun, like at that age, when they had fun and not forcing it upon them, like they desire and they want to do that. And like, that's how though, a lot of stuff gets out by word of mouth. So if they're enjoying themselves, they're gonna communicate to their friends about it. But like, if it's something mundane, and some, and that's the same with the teachers, you have to make it engaging for them and palatable to them where they're like, Okay, I can do it. It's this is not as bad as I assume. So we just had to find out ways and methods to engage both students and staff.

Lauren  17:14

Jamal, if I could add to that about the young kids, they're also naturals. Just like you, I have a five year old, and I stick them on Scratch and didn't even show him anything. And he's better at it than me right, like, they're just, they're not afraid to try things. They're not afraid of breaking the computer. And so I think we have a lot to learn from young people who are experimenting with these things. It's really exciting to see what our young students are capable of. Yes. Okay.

Sonal  17:44

And they're risk takers as well. Right? And we need, I think we need all of our educators to now take those risks, because it'll be worth it in the end.

Sharisa  17:52

Absolutely, definitely. Yeah, I'm thinking as you're both speaking, I actually have a two year old and she's playing around with physical coding already. It's all color based. But she's playing with it and figuring it out. And I'm just like, Wow, it's so amazing. I haven't done anything, I just kind of let her do her thing and see what she'll come up with. And she's like, look, Mama, it does this, or it does that. So it's also helping her speaking skills, you know, but she's taking in what her physical computing device can do. While she's moving it from color tile to color tile. So it's, it's just amazing. I feel like they're born just, you know, we're all born being curious and wanting to know about how things work. And you know, she doesn't have that fear. Like you mentioned, there's no fear of what's what she's gonna break, or she doesn't care. Like she didn't even know it could break probably. So anyway, yeah, but thanks for sharing that. So CS EdWeek is, is coming up next week. Do you have anything special happening in your district or anything that you want to share that you're sharing out there with your your staff, or admin?

Lauren  18:59

So I know that many of our elementary schools are going to participate in hour of code. So that's exciting. And then I just had my personal way that I'm celebrating Computer Science Week, and that is, I am going to advertise my services next semester. I'm going to find teachers that are going to commit to letting me in their classroom so I can start integrating CS.

Jamal  19:24

Yeah, I think right now is pretty wide for us. We're just promoting and acknowledging it is the week but I think in the upcoming years, we want to be more proactive and then more engaging, where they're, I don't know what it's more than just talk but actually actions and then they're actually implementing and engaging and creating stuff during the week as well. So

Sonal  19:46

exactly. And I do have to give him a couple of shoutouts here for Colton Joint Unified because I've recently talked to one of your principals Ligia Puraci so I just I spoke to her and she has a major plans for expanding computer science out at her school sites, and for next week, right, really getting everybody to participate in the Hour of Code activities, and so forth. So that's what inspired me to want to put this podcast together. Because I'm like, wow, you know, it's really great that you've got some, you know, your elementary schools are doing this work. The other shout out, I want to give it to the micro bit PLN. So we've got some people from Colton Joint Unified, including Yvette and Maria de Machi. And I forget what schools are, yes, yeah. And Sandra Rodriguez right there. They're in the microbit PLN. And they've got plans definitely to do things for, for CS EdWeek, as well. Sharisa, do you want to add anything more with that?

Sharisa  20:41

No, it's I'm just excited to see what what's being done. You know, actually, I do have a little bit of something I want to say. I know that you mentioned that. It's not like, it's not something that's huge yet, but you're taking the steps that are necessary to get things started. And there is not going to happen unless you do that. So I'm just, I'm just excited that that's happening. And that there's support beyond, you know, just that one teacher on campus who's who's doing computer science activities in their, their class secretly or maybe not secretly, but they're the only one who's willing to try things out. So just knowing that there's extra support, district wide is is really special. And I'm, I'm happy you're doing that.

Sonal  21:23

Yeah. And the fact that you, you know, you came to the Computer Science for All workshop and really, you know, worked work together to think about what this looks like for the entire district, what kind of goals we're going to create, and specifically making that about broadening access. You said it earlier, Lauren about how do we get computer science to all let's not just focus on after school clubs anymore. Let's just not focus on AP computer science classes anymore. Let's expand access to as many students as possible. So just really appreciate that. Is there anything else that you can just want to share to share with schools and districts as it relates to increasing opportunities and access to computer science education for all of our students?

Lauren  22:04

Yeah, so for me, it's that you should speak up and mention computer science, every chance you get to the people who make decisions. I think my boss could is probably sick of me saying the words computer science. I know he thinks it's important. But it's easy to push things off your plate, when those decision makers and districts are responsible for so many things. So you know, for several years now, I just keep mentioning computer science, this is important. This is going to be a focus. And people need to hear things a lot of times before they will move forward. So this year when he's starting to hear the words computer science and his own network meetings, he's like, oh, yeah, I remember Lauren Tyler's been talking about that for a couple of years now. So it's just speak up and talk about it as much as you can. So that people will be ready to make the change when it's time.

Jamal  23:04

Yeah, I agree with that. I think we do a lot just by making it present, making it known and just promoting what we have a passion for, because people don't know who don't have a passion for and they'll just like you mentioned, just brush it off. But if you have a heart and a passion, and you're speaking for the un, I tell my team, I speak up for them. And I advocate them, I have a seat at the table. And I my passion ultimately is always to speak for those who are underrepresented in or don't have voices to speak.

Sonal  23:35

We really appreciate all the advice that you're able to offer. And I know that you'll always be available to help support others that are starting this work. So thank you for that. And, you know, I just I mean, I'm just amazed by all that you're doing.

Lauren  23:50

Thank you so much. I'm so happy that we got to join you today. And I'm grateful for the support that you are providing for us as well. I think that we have a really good partnership with the county and I look forward to continuing that.

Sonal  24:03

Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure speaking to the both of you. And for those of you listening, please be sure to follow these superstars. And when I say superstars, Lauren and Jamal, they're, they're really wonderful. And they are speakers and they have done some incredible things out there in the Ed Tech and computer science space. So really appreciate you follow them on Twitter @Ms. Lauren Tyler, and @Jamal_fade.  I've got to ask you more about fades in the future. Thank you so much for being here.

Jamal  24:39

Thanks for having us.

Sharisa  24:41

Thanks so much for being here. And also I just want to add to our listeners out there, be sure to tune in to CS EdWeek Opportunities This week that you can find out winter of cs.org

Sonal  24:51

One more thing, not just winter of cs.org, but also CS Ed Week, as well. So just if you go to CSedweek.org you'll see a bunch of different activities. There's a CS heroes activity that we absolutely love. And we're gonna get you, Jamal and Lauren posters this week for sure. Thank you. So join us next time for more bits and bytes of digital learning and computer science. And remember, if you're hungry for more, you can simply text dls news to  22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech.