Here’s a letter we shared out to teachers who use CodeHS
At CodeHS, we like to say: “Read, Write, Code.” We think computer science is a foundational skill, and an essential part of a well-rounded education.
Our mission is to empower students to shape the future. However, we know that teaching CS doesn’t exist in a vacuum. That’s why we have lessons and units on digital citizenship, and how computer science impacts the real world.
With the election coming up next Tuesday, we’ve also created a lesson on voting, elections, and computing that you can use in your class. It teaches students how to register to vote and gives some starting points for discussions around elections and computing. Rather than just providing answers, we hope it can spark a worthwhile discussion. We believe that learning about voting and civic engagement goes hand-in-hand with digital citizenship.
Voter turnout among young people is low — less than 20% of 18–24 year olds voted in 2014. You can see the Census data here. If people start voting when they are younger, they are more likely to vote later on. As CS teachers, engaging with digital citizenship is vitally important and we hope to provide you some high-quality resources to do so.
Also, many of you work with students who are 18 and can vote for the first time — and many states let you register up until election day.
🗳Go vote! 🗳
Thanks,
Jeremy
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Want to explore this more? The Census visualization link above is a great way to explore data + computing. Could your class build a related data visualization? If you do share it with us!