Notables - November 14, 2018

By Craig Bamford

Girls Who Code comes to Canada

Welcome to Notables for November 14, 2018. This week, Notables focuses on STEM education and diversity.

First this week: Girls Who Code expands to Canada.

Girls Who Code, a U.S. non-profit working to expand diversity in the tech space by teaching young girls the basics of computer science, has announced that they're expanding into Canada. This will be Girls Who Code's first international expansion.

Girls Who Code is launching its well-known "Clubs" program in Canada with the aid of Morgan Stanley and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. Clubs are a free after-school program designed to teach girls 13-18 a wide variety of computer science skills using online coding tutorials, to build communities with interactive activities, to teach girls about inspiring role models in tech, and to show girls how to work together designing solutions for real-world problems relevant to their communities. Alumni of Girls Who Code are majoring in computer science and related fields at a rate of 15 times the U.S. national average.

Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, said that "Girls Who Code is a community dedicated to empowering girls with the confidence, support, network, and technical skills they need to change the world", and that "We're looking forward to complementing existing efforts to tackle the gender gap in technology in Canada."

STEM Teachers hold annual conference

Second: More on STEM teaching with Science Teachers of Ontario Convention Pics!

Teaching STEM is becoming more and more important as the economy changes, and it's science teachers that often provide youngsters' first exposure to science topics.  Last week, the Science Teachers of Ontario (STAO) came together for their annual "Science for All" conference. Over a thousand attendees, 261 presenters and 67 exhibitors came together to discuss the topic of science education from November 8th to November 10th, covering a wide variety of topics, techniques and technologies.

Topics ran the gamut. Leading off with a plenary discussion of Indigenous science, and the close connection between Indigenous traditions and science, the discussions went on from there to include digital literacy and professional learning, how to incorporate and emphasize engineering (the "E" in STEM"), a Perimeter Institute presentation on "how do scientists think?", how to use escape rooms to teach deductive and creative problem solving within the science classroom, the connection between art and technology, and (just as with Girls Who Code) resolving the gender gap in STEM education.

Twitter hosted an active and interesting hashtag on the conference, #STAO2018. It features videos, photos, and conversations by and between attendees. Check it out!

Global Enterpreneurship Week this week

Finally this week: It's Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Global Entrepreneurship Week has come around once again. This week, November 12-19, people are coming together across the country and across the planet to celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship. GEW is intended to "inspire people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators". It features large-scale competitions and events like Startup Open, intimate networking gatherings, and bootcamps like Startup Weekend, among many others.

Both researchers and policymakers have embraced GEW, recognizing that entrepreneurship is only becoming more important over time as the economy changes and the Fourth Industrial Revolution gathers steam. Just as with Girls Who Code, GEW is very diversity-focused this year; Prime Minister Trudeau said that this GEW "focuses on empowering women entrepreneurs and young graduates to start and build new businesses, and creating a more inclusive and collaborative community of entrepreneurs." He also pointed to Innovation Canada, the Intellectual Property Strategy, and the "Youth Can Do It!" event, which brought together young Canadian entrepreneurs with sectoral business experts.

For information on GEW events near you, check out their event page.

Notables is a weekly collection of interesting science, technology, investment and innovation reports, press releases and other news bytes from around the web. Notables are curated and written by Craig Bamford.

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The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of RE$EARCH MONEY.