Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Was once famously asked by American sci-fi novelist Philip K. Dick. And the answer appears to be, no, they don’t. Dog-headed knights atop horses, or camel-birds and pig-snails, and of Dali-esque mutated landscapes is what they dream of.
Continue reading… “Google’s AI has dreams that are amazing and disturbing”
Google released last week a research paper chronicling one of its latest forays into artificial intelligence. The researchers programmed an advance type of “chatbot” that can learn how to respond in conversations based on examples from a training set of dialog. Continue reading… “The purpose of living is ‘to live forever’, according to Google’s artificial-intelligence bot”
From the demise of lecture halls to the awesomeness of the patent system, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has thoughts on a lot of things. Continue reading… “Bill Gates’ thoughts on the future of education, programming and more”
Instructor Darby Frey teaching a beginner-level workshop at DaVinci Coders
Computer science is a booming industry in the US — and it pays extremely well. There’s always demand for sharp, talented engineers, which is why learning how to code can seem like an attractive option.
But, as is the case with any new skill, it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few steps you should take early on and programming languages that are best-suited for beginners.
Continue reading… “Where to Start Coding for Beginners”
The U.S. graduated proportionally fewer computer-science majors in 2011-12 than in 1985-86.
There has been a lot of talk from journalists, programmers, and educators about computer-science education in the U.S. on whether every should or should not learn how to code. The question comes up often in the digital-media circles. Tasneem Raja, interactive editor at Mother Jones made a thoughtful, nuanced contribution to that conversation last week.
Continue reading… “Computer science education – Is there a crisis?”
It’s a known fact that women are far less likely than men to get bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math(STEM). But what is the gender breakdown like in other fields?
Men outnumber women in Computer Science classes.
There is a glaring gender disparity in Computer Science classes. In any given Computer science class men usually outnumber women by as much as 8 to 2. In most other college majors women are outnumbering men an average of 3 to 2. Do other STEM majors suffer the same gender disparity?
Continue reading… “Percentage of college degrees conferred by women, by major”
Students work during a computer science class.
People in the tech industry have worked to persuade more young people in the U.S. to become interested in studying computer science for years. It now looks like they’ve finally gotten the message.
Continue reading… “Demand for computer science programs is booming at colleges across the U.S.”
Coding vs computer science
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about learning computer programming especially with the current wave of programs encouraging kids to learn to code. So it may be worthwhile to look at the difference between coding and computer science.
Continue reading… “Learning to code versus learning computer science”
The outlook for new grads is slightly better than 2012.
Engineering and computer science majors have the best shot at landing a high-paying position in this tough job climate. The outlook for new grads is slightly better than 2012, according to data from a nonprofit group, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), . For students that land a job, the average starting salary is $45,600 and salaries are 2.6 percent higher than in 2012.
Continue reading… “Engineers and computer science majors had top starting salaries in 2013”
Computer science is a booming industry in the US — and it pays extremely well. There’s always demand for sharp, talented engineers, which is why learning how to code can seem like an attractive option.
But, as is the case with any new skill, it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few steps you should take early on and programming languages that are best-suited for beginners.
Continue reading… “Where to Start in Learning How to Code”
In 2004, 30% of undergraduate computer science degrees awarded at Carnegie Mellon were to women.
Allan Fisher, the Associate Dean of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, realized there was a gender ratio problem in the department in 1995. Only 7% of freshman computer science majors were women. Along with Jane Margolis, a social scientist, Fisher tried to figure out what they could do to change the ratio. By 2000, 42% of the freshman class was made up of women.
