Global Awareness for Computing Educators and Scholars: (Abstract Only).

SIGCSE members are part of a worldwide community of computing educators and professionals. This discussion provides participants an opportunity to share global differences in vocabulary and interpretation of idioms and assumptions that pervade teachers and researchers. Lack of cultural knowledge can hinder understanding meaning of terms; communication among colleagues can be confusing. Lack of understanding also inhibits the leveraging of scholarly work and cooperation among colleagues from different cultures. E.g., information technology in Australia means the field of computing, and the baccalaureate degree "Computer Science and Technology" in China is equivalent to a degree in computer engineering. Terminology that Americans use such as AP for Advance Placement or K-12 for pre-undergraduate education is meaningless in many parts of the world. This discussion is an outgrowth of an ad hoc subcommittee formed by the ACM Education Council on global issues. Serving as a reference for the discussion is the seminal article by Clear, A. et al. "What's in a Name?: International Interpretations of Computing Education Terminology," in The Proceedings of the 2015 ITiCSE on Working Group Reports. Attending this BOF should heighten awareness of what changes might lead to a truly global computing education community. In addition to Owens, Alison Clear from New Zealand, Ming Zhang from China, and John Impagliazzo from the USA have agreed to help lead the discussion.