Calling for 2018 CS Educator Grant applications

Google has long supported the Digital Technologies Curriculum in Australia to equip and inspire students. The Digital Technologies Curriculum focuses on computational thinking and computer science to provide students with the opportunity to develop skills needed for the jobs of the future.

Our annual CS educator professional development (PD) grant program (formerly known as CS4HS) is designed to increase access to CS education by funding computer science professional development programs for educators and support them in the curriculum implementation. More than 9,000 educators in Australia and New Zealand have benefited from training by expert PD providers dedicated to growing the confidence and skillset of new and future CS educators.

Today, we’re excited to announce our 2018 funding cycle is open to universities, schools and nonprofits in around Australia and New Zealand. Applications will close on the 2 March 2018. To learn more about the application process head to the website.

The impact of PD grants for educators

Emil Zankov, an educator at Pedare Christian College, sees his role as one to engage and build creative minds. In 2014 he set out to introduce computer science and computational thinking into classrooms around Adelaide through a Google funded CS educator PD grant.

Bringing together local educators for hands on workshops and talks mapped to the digital technologies curriculum, Emil was able to “express a range of skills developed over a number of years” and he found that “having colleagues sharing their practice and then providing them time for productive discussion was seen as important and a difference to traditional conferences.”

Having now run four CS PD workshops, Emil has grown his network and developed a community of passionate educators around Adelaide to empower students with STEM skills, which he believes will allow students to “create something impactful, creative and inspirational.”