Simon Peyton Jones

After 23 years at Microsoft Research it is time for me to move on. I shall be leaving MSR at the end of November. I do not yet know exactly what comes next. I’m sure I will continue my work with Haskell and GHC, and in computing education, but I’m also looking for new horizons.

@mrbartonmaths @caschat_uk @HelloEedi @rob_leeman @ArmEducation @TigWilliams Tell us more, Craig! Why is it the easiest? How do you go about it? (Esp: how do you persuade children and parents that this is formative, not high stress jump the bar testing)

@caschat_uk @HelloEedi @rob_leeman @ArmEducation @TigWilliams #Caschat This is one I do have a few things to say about... My initial worry was that formative assessment would be the hardest thing to replicate during remote teaching... But if anything, I think it is the easiest...

Q2. How are you ensuring that formative/summative assessment is still taking place as effectively with remote education?  Are there any tools that you/your school have utilised? #CASChat @HelloEedi , @mrbartonmaths , @rob_leeman, @ArmEducation , @TigWilliams

I'm delighted that Excel now supports first-class, lexically scoped lambda-expressions. Excel just became a Turing-complete programming language! microsoft.com/en-us/research…

Before this evening my ratio of followers to tweets was ~2000. (Not hard if you only have one tweet.) Now that ratio is much, much lower :-). #caschat

@teknoteacher It's been lots of fun -- thank you! #caschat

@simonpj0 Thank you so much for hosting #caschat tonight and for everything you do and have done for #Computing education in the UK. It'd be really lovely to see you here again at a future #caschat if we haven't driven you away! 😁

Textbooks anyone? Or is that so last century? Joking aside, I genuinely want to know if you find textbooks useful, and in what ways. #caschat

A4: try Project Quantum (a CAS project) community.computingatschool.org.uk/resources/4382… Using crowd-sourced MCQs (many written by CAS members) to reduce workload, improve learning. (I'm biased: I helped launch Quantum. But I think it could be *amazing*.) #caschat

@Mr_G_ICT @Vanderpere @caschat_uk "we still have a bias that "computing is easy"". Spot on. Art is not easy. Music is not easy. Physics is not easy. Fashion is not easy. That's why they are so rich, fascinating, multi-facted, creative -- so full of the glory of what human beings can do when they try hard.

@simonpj0 Q3. Earlier this year, we opened registration for the first ‘Gender Balance in Computing’ project. How do you advocate equal access to computing in your practice? #caschat

@Vanderpere @caschat_uk Interesing... can you say a bit more Katie? What do you mean by "properly academic subject with no gimmicks"? #caschat

@caschat_uk @simonpj0 2: Make computer science in your school a properly academic subject with no gimmicks. Exercise books, proper teaching, pedagogy, marking, assessment. I always ask the question: Would a history teacher do that? #caschat the number of CS girls in our school has grown and grown

@binarygenius Pedagogy -- yes! NCCE is, I think, about to release two online courses about pedagogy, one primary, one secondary

@simonpj0 Also have more courses focusing on pedagogy for existing CS teachers who already have the subject knowledge covered by the Accelerator course #caschat

Sub-Q1: how do can the Hubs reach out beyond the "early adopters"? Computing is for everyone, every child, every school. #caschat

Extra curricular... I had coffee today with Ed Cervantes-Watson of the amaxing First Tech Challenge firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc Inspiring! #caschat

A2: find genuinely clever CS ideas that do something amazing, and share them. Eg simulated annealing to solve the travelling salesman problem. So simple, so effective, so visual. (But then I’m a geek.) #caschat

A2: Enthusiasm expands minds. I’m not a teacher, but I’ve seen entire audiences open up to a speaker who conveys a genuine sense of passion and engagement. #caschat

@whaleygeek @MsBClarke I have often wondered that too. I think it's a super-helpful context to debate, discuss, support, share

Welcome to this #caschat. Do please introduce yourselves, and perhaps add what has been the biggest firework bang for you in your computing classroom this week. #caschat

@TeachAllAboutIT Less lonely now?

A1. The original CAS hubs were a real game changer when they were introduced. CS was quite lonely 10 years back! #caschat

PS by "local support" also talk about your interaction with IT professionals and companies. I am giving a talk to 350 sorftware developers on Thursday. Subject: how can *they* help *you*. codesync.global/speaker/simon-… #caschat

You guys are the stars of the show. I was so proud to present certificates at the NCCE graduation event recently. #caschat

I’m Twitter-illiterate, so I’m excited to tell you that this is my second tweet *ever*. #caschat