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February 16, 2014 03:00 am GMT
“I didn’t own my own laptop,” he said. That didn’t stop him from attending his first hackathon several weeks later at Hacka2thon, where he built his first website. The experience ignited his enthusiasm, and over the next two years, Fontenot would found and develop MHacks into one of the largest hackathons in the country, last month hosting more than 1,000 students from across the Midwest and the United States to Michigan for a weekend of coding. “#hellyeah,” as Fontenot puts it subtly. For the first time next semester, more than 10,000 students are expected to participate in one of 10 mega-hackathons, in a discipline that graduated just about 16,000 students in 2012. That could mean that a majority of CS students will have participated in a hackathon before graduation in just the next few semesters. Hackathons, though, are just one part of the coming transformation of computer science education. Once a theoretical subject to the chagrin of many undergraduates, computer science students are increasingly finding outlets like hackathons, open source projects, and startups to learn the applied skill sets desired by industry–and are getting the job offers to prove it. Yet, this rebuilding of the pipeline for new engineers poses deep questions about the future of educating software developers. What is the proper role of universities and degree programs? How should the maker culture, which exists at the heart of these projects, connect with the traditional education mores of research universities? And at a time when access, particularly for females and underrepresented minorities, remains a deeply salient issue, how can organizers ensure that programs lower rather than raise any barriers to new entrants? Changing The Culture One of the defining moments for Dave Fontenot was PennApps, the first and one of the largest student-run hackathons in the United States. He had heard that the organizers were paying students to attend from other schools, and so he worked to recruit his fellow Michigan friends to join him, eventually convincing around 25 of them to trek to Philadelphia. The environment and atmosphere were rousing. “We came back and half the people switched their majors to CS,” Fontenot recalls. Alexey Komissarouk, who founded the PennApps Hackathon in fall 2010, believes that part of that excitement is the ability to create using one’s own skills. “They learn to make, as opposed to doing homework,” he says of the students attending these events. There is
Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Lti1xFeuMQM/
With Hackathons Taking Center Stage, The Coming Transformation Of The Computer Scientist
“I didn’t own my own laptop,” he said. That didn’t stop him from attending his first hackathon several weeks later at Hacka2thon, where he built his first website. The experience ignited his enthusiasm, and over the next two years, Fontenot would found and develop MHacks into one of the largest hackathons in the country, last month hosting more than 1,000 students from across the Midwest and the United States to Michigan for a weekend of coding. “#hellyeah,” as Fontenot puts it subtly. For the first time next semester, more than 10,000 students are expected to participate in one of 10 mega-hackathons, in a discipline that graduated just about 16,000 students in 2012. That could mean that a majority of CS students will have participated in a hackathon before graduation in just the next few semesters. Hackathons, though, are just one part of the coming transformation of computer science education. Once a theoretical subject to the chagrin of many undergraduates, computer science students are increasingly finding outlets like hackathons, open source projects, and startups to learn the applied skill sets desired by industry–and are getting the job offers to prove it. Yet, this rebuilding of the pipeline for new engineers poses deep questions about the future of educating software developers. What is the proper role of universities and degree programs? How should the maker culture, which exists at the heart of these projects, connect with the traditional education mores of research universities? And at a time when access, particularly for females and underrepresented minorities, remains a deeply salient issue, how can organizers ensure that programs lower rather than raise any barriers to new entrants? Changing The Culture One of the defining moments for Dave Fontenot was PennApps, the first and one of the largest student-run hackathons in the United States. He had heard that the organizers were paying students to attend from other schools, and so he worked to recruit his fellow Michigan friends to join him, eventually convincing around 25 of them to trek to Philadelphia. The environment and atmosphere were rousing. “We came back and half the people switched their majors to CS,” Fontenot recalls. Alexey Komissarouk, who founded the PennApps Hackathon in fall 2010, believes that part of that excitement is the ability to create using one’s own skills. “They learn to make, as opposed to doing homework,” he says of the students attending these events. There isOriginal Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Lti1xFeuMQM/
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