Python in Australian Education seminar

This annual, one-day event brings together professional educators across primary and secondary levels, as well as Python community workshop organisers, professional Python instructors, and Python developers interested in better engaging with the Australian educational community. This multi-disciplinary approach allows representatives of these groups to share their personal experiences and interests in relation to the use of Python in Australian education, and to identify areas of potential collaboration with each other and with the broader Python community.

Python is a popular "first language" for programmers young and old, especially those making the transition from graphical programming environments like Scratch to text based development. Teaching with Python also offers many opportunities to connect with the wider technology community, as Python is also frequently adopted for real world software development, being cited by IEEE Spectrum magazine as one of the top 3 most widely used programming languages in industry.

"The inaugural version of this event in Brisbane provided a wonderful opportunity to help foster greater collaboration between Australian educators and the Australian open source community, so it's exciting to be bringing that opportunity to Melbourne in 2016," said event co-coordinator and Python Software Foundation board member, Nick Coghlan.

Those curious as to just what this seminar is about may want to take a look at the recorded presentations from the 2015 event.

Presentation schedule

We have an exciting presentation schedule planned for the seminar, covering both the practical realities of adopting Python in the context of Australia's migration to the new Digital Curriculum standards, as well as a range of tools, techniques and opportunities to help inspire student interest not only in computational literacy, but also in using programming to explore other subjects.

Topics covered include:

case studies on Python-based approaches to the new Digital curriculum (presented directly by teachers involved)
using Python to explore mathematical concepts including geometry, algebra, and more
approaches to empowering learners to control rich output environments like Minecraft, smartphones, and embedded hardware devices

For details of the Education seminar programme, see the Friday conference schedule.

Event Sponsor: Monash University

The seminar organisers would like to thank our event sponsor, Monash University:

The Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University has been using Python as its introductory programming language since 2013. As an expressive and versatile first language, Python has been instrumental in helping us prioritise algorithmic thinking and abstraction over the complex and rigid syntax of alternative novice languages. Monash continues to assess and investigate innovative ways to use Python across our different degrees.

Community Partner: Code Club Australia

The seminar organisers are also happy to welcome Code Club Australia as a community partner:

Code Club is Australia's largest network of coding clubs for kids. After school, kids work in clubs to unlock the potential of code. Through their grant from the Federal Dept of Education and Telstra Foundation, Code Club also trains Australian educators to understand where code belongs in the classroom. With over 100 hours of FREE mapped resources, including a growing bank of Python projects, Code Club is giving every child the skills, opportunity and confidence to shape their world with code. Volunteer with Code Club or become a part of their community!

Folks wanting to learn more about Code Club's Python curriculum can check it out here

Registering for PyCon Australia 2016

The Python in Australian Education seminar is being held on Friday 12th August at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre as part of Pycon Australia 2016. The main conference itself is held over the subsequent weekend to allow students and enthusiasts to attend without needing to take time off school or work. Registration for the main conference is now closed, but registration specifically for the Education Seminar is still possible by requesting a "miniconf-only" ticket as described on that page.

You will need to create an account in order to register.

Financial Assistance

Applications for financial assistance are now closed.

PyCon Australia offers a generous financial assistance programme, so that some attendees and speakers have some -- or in rare cases, all -- of their expenses such as flight, hotel and admission provided to them from the conference budget.

One form of assistance made available specifically to teachers is covering the expense of engaging a substitute teacher to allow practising educators to attend the Python in Education Seminar.

Questions? Comments?

Please use the contact details on the main contact page