Accessibility shorts ...

OK, so not much explicit news today about accessibility, but a few quick items, if you are so inclined (well, not all today, I just found them today :-) -- JD

• Court Says Dollar Design Discriminates Against Blind
• AT&T unrolls new iPhone plan for people with disabilities
• Microsoft grows DAISY for blind computer users; Adobe wilts
• Socially relevant computing: Undergraduates create practical solutions for real-world problems

ITiCSE 2008 registration opens

If you enjoyed SIGCSE 2008 (or past ones), then consider attending ITiCSE 2008 (and future ones too), this year in Madrid, Spain -- Cary Laxer invites all to register and attend what is loosely described as a smaller European conference on computing and education, with neat opportunities like working groups -- sponsored by SIGCSE, I have always heard great things (and enjoyed my ITiCSE trip!).

I personally cannot attend as I am hosting CSESI 2008, an outreach project here at Haverford, funded by HHMI, to provide a forum to explore computing in K-12 education. Unless you have a good reason like this, I strongly urge you to get to Spain, oh what you'll gain :-)

OLPC and MS for (more) accessibility ...

Hey, there's a Microsoft deal that is more relevant than the popular one involving Yahoo! (though who knows how that will play out) -- no, I am referring to the announcement of the Microsoft and One Laptop Per Child program to put Windows on the XO -- this will add a few bucks to the final cost, but low cost is one of the driving forces for this project (cost can be a barrier to access, and thus to potential diversity) -- from a quick read of the NY Times article, it seems again that politics and culture (and "profit") are all involved (understandably so) and it appears that OLPC may have learned from other experiences -- stay tuned.

So, What Is It About Girls and IT?

The title of this post is taken directly from an article in the Financial Times that describes the known gap in gender and IT -- specifically, that women use IT, and that girls feel IT is "cool" somewhere in the 90% range (the details are in the article, do not trust my memory only) -- so, why?

Shame they missed SIGCSE 2008, maybe they could have come down with us in the trenches of teaching computing and see some of the realities we all see. Another shame is that women may be adding a set of skills presently underrepresented, and needed (see Mark Guzdial's blog post about "computing + X").

I still think it is about access in the most general (perhaps most ideal) sense of the word -- looking at the research in so many other fields about the differences between men and women, we need to think differently, think about flexibility, adaptability, all the good HCI stuff -- do that for a decade or two, and perhaps things will change a bit (I will certainly be changed in that I will be looking to use those retirement funds :-).

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Also, I just wanted to send out thanks to the Sisters Rodger -- Sandra for taking so many photos of SIGCSE 2008, and Susan for putting the photo albums online for all to see -- if you missed the Symposium, you can venture to the albums, but be warned, it will just remind you of what a great conference it was -- and perhaps motivate you to work on your SIGCSE 2009 research/writing earlier, get funding and make travel/lodgings plans ASAP.

Last Lecture Number 1 ..

Hey, I realize he didn't even show up for his award ;-), but I still think it is OK for me to note how cool it is that Randy Pausch continues to make CS and computing education "cool." I just saw that the audio book of his "Last Lecture" is number one on iTunes today, as well as at amazon.com -- I saw the lecture, but have yet to read the book.

Not sure where is best to purchase, but here Randy's page with some links, as well as video of his testimony before Congress (i.e., where he was in lieu of SIGCSE 2008, so he was busy, and rarely do I get a video absence note :-).

Wed, Apr 9, 2008, 10 pm EDT, ...

... please do not even try to call or email, I rarely turn off the mobile phone (ask Susan Rodger :-), but this coming WED you're just wasting your time -- I was "there" (watching the webcast, thanks CMU) for the original lecture, the one that I was preparing to joke was really not the last lecture since Randy would be speaking at SIGCSE 2008, which really has been the last lecture since Randy was unable to attend and receive the 2008 SIGCSE Award and the deserved applause and compliments from Susan Rodger and me and ....

From Vicki Alstrum, to the SIGCSE community and beyond, we'll be together again this Wednesday, if only to see what Randy comes up with this time -- JD

I noticed a promotion just a moment ago about a Diane Sawyer special on ABC that will be of special interest to our community. This hour-long special, "The Last Lecture: A Love Lecture for Your Life", is about Randy Pausch, who won this year's SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education.

It airs in this Wednesday, April 9, at 10pm EDT, 9pm CDT. I did a quick search and found two links that preview the special:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3633945&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture/

-- Vicki

Anne Applin added that Randy is schedule the following morning on GMA -- JD

PS: and welcome to Mary Alessini of Intel who I met at SIGCSE 2008, and has jumped right into the community with a blog at Intel SW College, with a nice post about Randy's special this WED also.

Autism/Asperger's and Us ...

Yes, SIGCSE 2008 is over, but I do want to continue this conversations, especially about diversity and accessibility in computing education -- which bring me to this recent CW article on Asperger's Syndrome in the IT industry, an interesting piece that does a decent job interviewing a few representatives in industry, and few experts (including Temple Grandin, a name I recognize as I read one of her books on Thinking in Pictures).

Again, most people I have met would like to "do the right thing," but the right thing is often hard and sometimes not as profitable. Still, there appears to be some evidence that doing the right thing for people in IT with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger's Syndrome (Asp) might be quite profitable and the right thing. For example, one could envision an effective manager who recognizes and accommodates a person with HFA/Asp and assigns important work where that person is proficient, as well as a non-HFA/Asp buddy or other accommodation(s) to help with social interactions, feedback and meetings. If anything, I see a risk of exploitation of the person with HFA/Asp, isolating in the name of "helping." Maybe I am an alarmist here, but I am OK with that label until persuaded otherwise :-).

I am happy that there was one note that HFA/Asp may be more difference that disability; consider that people with HFA/Asp tend to need clear guidance and respond to direct feedback, work well independently (sometimes only alone), and are "honest to a fault" which is really an oxymoron if you think about it. As a manager (and I am more professor than executive), I would embrace the trade-off of honesty and clarity for someone who does not get irony or jokes; heck, there are plenty of people from all walks of life who do not understand my humor.

So, how does this inform education in computing? I think there are three areas to start:

1. recognizing and providing effective accommodation for students with HFA/Asp, like all students with learning issues -- hopefully SIGCSE 2008 started or continued some discussion in this area
2. cultivating the required capabilities of the "other students" (i.e., non-HFA/Asp) to recognize, communicate with and interact effectively with people with HFA/Asp
3. providing the needed supports for educators by administration, by professional societies (like SIGCSE, SIGACCESS, others ...) and by the "community at large"

I want to conclude that accommodations can be both the right thing and the most effective thing to do -- they are just not always the easiest or cheapest in the short-term -- but hopefully readers of this blog understand that greedy solutions are sometimes the exact wrong thing to do :-).

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I do want to explicitly note that Mark Guzdial (photo right) has risen to the challenge of not only running SIGCSE 2009 (with Sue Fitzgerald), but to continue with a SIGCSE 2009 Blog to discuss issues relating to the conference and computing education -- or, as their theme implies, "engaging computer science education" -- I have already subscribed to that blog, it's another resource to help me get the most out of SIGCSE.

The Second Best Reason to Not Attend SIGCSE 2008

OK, it's been some time since the Symposium came to a close, and my family and I returned to the East Coast -- but there is still many miles before I sleep. Still, I sleep the sleep of the just, since SIGCSE 2008 was just great. Too many people to thank here.

Instead, I turn to the second best reason I heard from a SIGCSE colleague who did not attend SIGCSE 2008 -- if you have been paying attention, you'll recall the story of me as Brian Cashman, Yankee Stadium, and a marriage proposal (if not, click here). As you can now see from the beautiful photo right, Jen and Jeff did get married, but not in Portland; instead, they chose Easter Island.

We'll look to sharing stories of receptions, meetings, dancing and other events at SIGCSE 2009 in Chattanooga next spring!

* BTW, Click here for the best reason I heard to miss SIGCSE 2008

A Big Brick Wall ...

Well, today it became official, after some speculation after the recent "Games Cruise in CS Education" sponsored by Microsoft ... many who have read here before know the story of Randy Pausch and his "encounter" with a brick wall called cancer (visit here to get Randy's thoughts about this encounter) -- after many weeks of decent news, the brick wall made its presence known; Randy will not be able to deliver his keynote (and SIGCSE Award speech) next Thursday in Portland as we all hoped. I will not even try to guess what it must be like, but suggest you check Randy's Last Lecture for some clues.

However, I would like to think about the brick wall that has been now discovered for SIGCSE 2008 (Note: this is by no means a comparison to the situation for Randy and his family, but I do think Randy would be OK with me viewing this as a wall). Some great people are handling this dynamic situation directly and indirectly, and I feel strongly that this will just be another time for the SIGCSE community to shine.

I have very little experience with brick walls in the direct sense, but even the little experience I do have has demonstrated to me the opportunity for a group to come together, to galvanize bonds and forge news ones. I once heard that adversity does not promote character as much as expose it. I suppose we'll see.

Also, below is the message sent out to the SIGCSE list today, with the news and other information that may be useful to SIGCSE 2008 attendees. Further bulletins will also be posted here and the SIGCSE 2008 Symposium web site, so stay tuned.

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Here are just a few last minute updates and reminders for SIGCSE 2008 in Portland, Oregon next week. Up to the minute news will be added to the website and blog.

1) Our Keynote Speaker Randy Pausch is unable to travel cross-country to Portland, due to health issues. Dennis Cosgrove, Project Scientist, and Wanda Dann, Director of the Alice Project, will give a Keynote address on Thursday morning highlighting Randy's contributions to Computer Science Education, including rare footage videos of Randy's work.

2) Getting between the Hilton and other downtown hotels and the Oregon Convention Center.

From the Hilton, walk two blocks to Pioneer Square and take the MAX Rail RED or BLUE eastbound to the Convention Center. MAX drops you off right in front of the convention center.

3) Online registration is closed. You can still register onsite. Registration is at the Oregon Convention Center. Hours are:

• Wed. Mar 12 3pm-9:30pm
• Thu. Mar 13 7:30am-4pm
• Fri. Mar 14 7:30am-5pm
• Sat. Mar 15 8am-3:30pm

4) The program is available online here:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/attendees.html

There are many extra events listed on our web page that are not part of the program:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/colocated.html

5) CD Proceedings are included with your registration. There will be a few paper proceedings available at on-site registration for $35 each if you have not prepaid for one.

6) You can still sign up on-site for one of the 35 workshops being offered.

7) There will be free wireless at the convention center Wednesday-Saturday during the conference and extra conference events. Information on how to access the wireless will be in your registration packet. **

We look forward to greeting you in sunny* Portland, Oregon next week.

Susan Rodger and J.D. Dougherty
SIGCSE 2008 Symposium Chairs
rodger@cs.duke.edu, jd@cs.haverford.edu

* We did put in an order for sunny weather, but I think ACM forgot to pay that bill... maybe they will still pay it in time....

** JD Note: wireless in the OCC is included in your registration fee; Portland does have wireless through most of the city, I have had decent experience with it downtown (near Hilton), weather permitting.

YAEA: Yet Another Extra Activity ...

In keeping with the theme of the Symposium, we are happy to provide a venue for people interested in accessible computing for developing countries (like OLPC, see below) to a FRI meeting at lunchtime -- again, hopefully diversity is one of the results of these projects (there are other, see ClassmatePC) -- JD

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We invite folks curious about the XO computer and the One Laptop Per Child initiative to join several of us next week at SIGCSE. This is an opportunity for SIGCSE Technical Symposium attendees with projects currently underway on the XO platform to make connections and share stories.

XO/OLPC Shared Experiences
Friday, March 14
Room B111
12-1:30pm

The One Laptop Per Child initiative (http://www.laptop.org/) has created an exciting buzz following its introduction in 2007. In this special event, folks will share experiences with the XO computer thus far. We expect to have at least one XO computer on hand. Among the folks who plan to participate:

• Suzanne Buchele, a Fullbright Scholar and Lecturer at Ashesi University in Ghana, who can share first-hand accounts of OLPC on the ground in that country. Suzanne is on both the implementation team and advisory team for OLPC Ghana.
• Jill Dimond, a PhD student at Georgia Tech, who is using the XO as the context (i.e., target platform and audience) for Girl Scouts at summer camp to build IM clients. The work is being done using Revolution (http://www.runrev.com) to create an authoring tool for the Girl Scouts; Revolution can produce OLPC executables.
• Joe Bergin of Pace University has been porting Karel (python version) to the OLPC and has a running, although not very successful, version.
• Vicki Almstrum of The University of Texas at Austin is supervising a distributed team of senior capstone students (5 in Austin, 5 at Amrita University in India) who are creating two projects that target the OLPC. She is also advising GirlStart, a non-profit organization
• in Austin, TX, in their IT Girls project, where high school girls are using python to develop educational games for the XO platform.