Description

This course of study is designed to allow students to explore a variety of computer science topics, such as Web design, human computer interactions, programming, and problem solving. Optional topics include mobile applications, robotics, and digital animation. Students will develop critical thinking, logic, and problem solving skills relevant to today’s technology.

South Carolina Course Standards for Exploring Computer Science #5023

Exploring Computer Science Organization

Exploring Computer Science Organization Curriculum Resources, particularly Version 4.0, were used extensively in the development of the standards for South Carolina's Exploring Computer Science course.

Sample Syllabus for South Carolina ECS Course (.DOC or .PDF) is provided as a starting point for teacher use.

Computer Science Teachers Association is an active supporter of this course being taught in high schools.

Free Software and Resources

20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web

 

It-oLogy list of teacher resources, many are free (ex. software, competitions, educational initiatives).  

 

Carnegie Mellon's Alice is a widely used, 3D animation, programming environment for middle and high school students to learn programming concepts. Version 2.x is recommended for use in the SC ECS course (Version 3.x is designed for high school seniors in AP courses and college freshman).

MIT's Scratch is also used to teach basic programming concepts.

Oracle's Application Express is a free download to be used with SQL to create and use databases.

Notepad++ is a free code editor for HTML and other computer languages.

W3Schools provides free tutorials for HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQL, etc.

Gimp is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring.

Computer Science Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons, and lots of running around.

Code.org is a non-profit foundation dedicated to growing computer programming education.

 

Codecademy.org is a another web site with lots of free, basic programming training.

 

BlueJ, Eclipse, and Netbeans are Integrated Development Environments for creating Java programs.