Cornell Tech Team Bring Breakfast CS Virtual Computational Science Instruction To Roosevelt Island Families And Anyone Else Interested - Cornell Tech K-12 Director Diane Levitt Notes Coronavirus Exposes Educational Inequities For Students Without Tech And Wifi Broadband Access

Cornell Tech Senior Director of K-12 Education Diane Levitt reports:

On Roosevelt Island, Cornell Tech's Teacher-In-Residence partnership with PS/IS 217 has brought computer science teaching into every classroom in every grade. With schools closing due to the COVID-19 crisis and all instruction moving online, we wanted to give families on Roosevelt Island and beyond a way to learn and practice computational thinking and computer science at home. @Breakfast_CS (on twitter, soon to be on Facebook and LinkedIn) provides an engaging and accessible way for students to flex their computing muscles daily and it is an extension of Cornell Tech’s commitment to increase access to a rigorous, joyful CS education to all K-12 students in NYC."

Welcome to BreakfastCS! The @cornell_tech K-12 team wants you & your kids to understand computational thinking: the thought process behind programming. We use it to solve everyday problems in schools like @10X86. Each day, we’ll post a CT concept & a problem to solve. #CSforALL

— Breakfast_CS (@Breakfast_CS) March 19, 2020

Here's today's computational problem:

Using toothpicks, buttons, pennies, or any kind of counter you have around your home, try decomposing bigger numbers. Do some numbers break up into groups of equal numbers? Can you find any patterns when you decompose numbers? Have an awesome Monday, CT'ers, and WASH YOUR HANDS!

— Breakfast_CS (@Breakfast_CS) April 6, 2020

But unfortunately, this and other programs are not available for all. Ms Levitt notes the disruptive impact of Coronaviurs on education and it's exposure of inequities within the system for children who don't have access to technology and broadband wi-fi service.

Now more than ever, our K-12 initiative works for rigor and joy for all NYC students. Where you were born or who you were born as should not have anything to do with your understanding of the world you live in. Thanks, @TEDRadioHour @manoushz https://t.co/25CaxYwHSX https://t.co/QZCfJWULwb

— Diane Levitt (@diane_levitt) April 6, 2020

Check out @CSforAllNYC Equitable Practices Remote Teaching Guide! Clear, specific and actionable resources for teaching equitably during this time of crisis. https://t.co/rioFvLqngx #CSforALL #CSforALLNYC #EthicalCS @Breakfast_CS

— CSNYC (@csnyc) April 6, 2020