Welcome to Michigan Technological University's CSOutreach Website
We're Bringing Computing to the U.P. and Beyond!
Learn More About Us

About

We are a group of Michigan Technological University professors and students who are passionate about spreading computer literacy throughout the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From teaching middle and high school students to code to helping senior citizens navigate the web, our computer science outreach programs empower local students, teachers, and senior citizens by teaching them how to use new technologies. Our programs depend on the dedicated undergraduate and graduate students at MTU and they are funded by grants from Google, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, as well as charitable donations from individuals. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to make a donation or volunteer your time.

Breaking Digital Barriers

A weekly program for senior citizens that teaches them how navigate digital technology through one-on-one instruction with volunteers from MTU’s computer science and humanities departments.

Learn More

Women in Computer Science

A week long immersion program for high school girls who are interested in learning how to code. Students program their own app, learn about different aspects of computing from big data to virtual reality, and participate in Q&A sessions with women who work in the industry.

Learn More

CS4All

A summer workshop for teachers across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who want to learn how to introduce computer science to their classrooms. Teachers are exposed to fundamental computer science concepts and learn how to program in Scratch, Processing, and Java.

Learn More

Copper Country Coders

A weekly Saturday program run by MTU computer science students that teaches local middle and high school students how to code. Students learn how to make games, art, and websites with the programming languages Scratch, Processing, and Java.

Learn More

Citizen Science

A collaboration between MTU students and scientists for creating apps that collect environmental data. These apps empower citizens and scientists with mobile tools that allow them to contribute to solving environmental problems and collaborate with scientists.

Learn More

NCWIT

Encouraging women college-students to pursue computing and technology degrees through meetings, social activities, and academic department outreach events.

Learn More

News

Scratch Coding Book Now Available for Purchase!

Posted on by csoutreach

Screen Shot 2016-05-18 at 6.10.05 PM

We have recently released The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Coding Using Scratch on Amazon. This book was co-written by Leo Ureel, a lecturer of computer science at MTU, and Nicole Yarroch, a computer science undergrad student at MTU. The paperback is available for $11, and an electronic Kindle version is available for $4.99. If you buy the paperback from Amazon, the Kindle version of the book is included for free. For those of you who used a beta version of the book during last summer’s CS4All workshop, thank you for your invaluable feedback!

A Little Bit About The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Coding Using Scratch

Do you want to learn to code but have no idea where to get started? The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Coding Using Scratch book was created after many years teaching middle and high-schoolers how to code and observing where they struggled to learn certain basic coding concepts. In this book, we introduce coding in easily digestible chunks so you do not feel overwhelmed or discouraged. It will guide you through writing your first program with carefully worded explanations and helpful pictures. At the same time, you will learn the fundamentals of coding, including repeat loops, variables, functions, if-statements, recursion, and lists.

All programs in the book are created with Scratch, a coding language developed specifically for beginner programmers by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Scratch is free and runs in an internet browser, so you do not have to buy or install any special software on your computer.