-- In this paper we report on first insights from interviews with teachers and students on using social robots in computer science class in sixth grade. Our focus is on learning about requirements and potential applications. We are particularly interested in getting both perspectives, the teachers' and the learners' view on how robots could be used and what features they should or should not have. Results show that teachers as well as students are very open to robots in the classroom. However, requirements are partially quite heterogeneous among the groups. This leads to complex design challenges which we discuss at the end of this paper . I. INTRODUCTION Robots have diverse applications across domains such as healthcare, industry, and education.

To that end, the college now encompasses multiple existing labs and centers, including the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and multiple academic units, including the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. At the same time, the college has embarked on a plan to hire 50 new faculty members, half of whom will have shared appointments in other departments across all five schools to create a true Institute-wide entity. Those faculty members--two-thirds of whom have already been hired--will conduct research at the boundaries of advanced computing and AI. "We want to do two things: ensure that MIT stays at the forefront of computer science, AI research, and education and infuse the forefront of computing into disciplines across MIT." The new faculty members have already begun helping the college respond to an undeniable reality facing many students: They've been overwhelmingly drawn to advanced computing tools, yet computer science classes are often too technical for nonmajors who want to apply those tools in other disciplines.

If you're not in the know, artificial intelligence and data science may sound like especially nerdy subsets of the already pocket-protector infused field of computer science. But anyone who is serious about expanding computer science education--a list that includes Fortune 500 company CEOs and policymakers on both sides of the aisle --should be thinking carefully about emphasizing AI, in which machines are trained to perform tasks that simulate some of what the human brain can do, and data science, in which students learn to record, store, and analyze data. That means making sure kids have access to well-designed resources to learn those subjects, bolstering professional development for those who teach them, exposing career counselors to information about how to help students pursue jobs in those fields, and much more. That imperative is at the heart of a list of recommendations by CSforALL, an education advocacy group presented last month at the International Society for Technology in Education's annual conference. Leigh Ann DeLyser, CSforALL's co-founder and executive director, spoke with Education Week about some big picture ideas around the push for a greater focus on AI and data science within computer science education.

Or so Hesme, aged 15, believed when she switched schools in 10th grade. "I thought I'd be terrible at it", she says. When she moved to Curro Heritage House High School, STEM classes were a regular part of the curriculum. She was nervous about that – but when her brother dared her to take a computer science class, she accepted the challenge to prove him wrong. Hesme loved her computer science class.

The only exposure Yancarlos Diaz had to computer science during his high school years in New York City was when he used a computer to write essays. When it came time to apply to college, Diaz, who says he was good in math, "blindly signed up" for the computer science program at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), figuring it was a major that would help him easily find a job when he graduated. That decision already is paying off. Now a fourth-year student at RIT, Diaz expects to graduate in 2021 with dual bachelor and master of science degrees in computer science (CS). He then plans to work in the private sector as a software engineer "mainly to pay the loans," he says.

Tyson Navarro, 10, of Fremont, Calif., learns to build code using an iPad at a youth workshop at the Apple store in 2013. Code.org said a record number of female and under-represented minority students took AP computer science classes in 2018. SAN FRANCISCO -- Female, black and Latino students took Advanced Placement computer science courses in record numbers, and rural student participation surged this year, as the College Board attracted more students to an introductory course designed to expand who has access to sought-after tech skills. This year, 135,992 students took advanced placement (AP) computer science exams, a 31 percent increase from last year, according to data from the College Board, the organization that administers standardized tests that help determine college entrances as well as AP courses. Females and under-represented minorities were among the fastest growing groups.

SAN FRANCISCO -- New research from Google shows that black students are less likely to have computer science classes in school and are less likely to use computers at home even though they are 1.5 times more interested in studying computer science than their white peers. The findings are part a report released Tuesday by Google in partnership with Gallup that puts the spotlight on the racial and gender gap in K-12 computer science education. Google says its aim with the research, which surveyed thousands of students, parents, teachers, principals and superintendents, is to increase the numbers of women, blacks and Latinos in computer science. Computer science classes are popping up in K-12 schools around the country. The growing effort is coming from many quarters -- the National Science Foundation, the College Board, Freada Kapor's SMASH Academy, Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code, Code.org and major tech companies such as Google -- all searching for the best way to put computers and computer know-how in the hands of kids from all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Sabrina Knight's second-grade students at a Brooklyn public school receive lessons in coding. Some school districts in the United States are attempting to expand computer science education while the Obama administration is pushing to bring the subject to every public school in the nation. On a recent Friday afternoon at a Brooklyn public school, the children of Sabrina Knight's second-grade class listened intently as she used a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to talk about algorithms. Moments later, a student volunteer walked back and forth across the room to demonstrate looping, a technical term used in the field of computer programming. "Thumbs up if you got it," Knight said, as a flurry of 7- and 8-year-old hands and thumbs shot up in the air.