This is a one-stop shop for everything Indiana educators need to teach Computing Foundations for a Digital Age using Code.org. The course can be found in Code.org Code Studio here.
The Computing Foundations for a Digital Age (4565) course is one option for your students to meet the computer science (CS) graduation requirement passed during the 2024 Indiana legislative session. This requires all students graduating in the Class of 2029 or after to have (at least) one semester of computer science instruction for high school graduation. For more information on this course and its implementation, please see the Next Level Programs of Study page on the Commission for Higher Education’s website. Computing Foundations for a Digital Age: Indiana (a course from Code.org) introduces students to the core principles of computer science and the growing role of artificial intelligence in everyday life. Through hands-on programming, visual problem solving, and critical analysis, students explore how computing systems work, how data powers AI, and how intelligent tools make decisions. They learn to write Python programs, analyze the structure of the Internet, investigate cybersecurity risks, and interpret data through visualizations and models. Throughout the course, students examine how AI systems impact individuals and communities, and build the skills to use computing and AI to solve meaningful problems in their world.
CFDA: Indiana (also known as AI Foundations in other states) is designed for high school students at any level of computer science experience. It is accessible to beginners with no prior programming knowledge, and it also provides opportunities for students with some background in computing to deepen their understanding of key topics. In Indiana, this course maps to 4565: Computing Foundations for a Digital Age which is a high-school course that can be offered in middle school. To learn more, see the NLPS website here: https://www.in.gov/che/cte/career-pathways-programs-of-study/.To meet the Indiana graduation requirements, educators should one semester of the Computing Foundations for a Digital Age course, generally Units 1 – 6.
Nextech and Code.org have prepared everything you need to be successful teaching this course — from pacing guides, standard alignments, lesson plans, materials list, and wrap-around supports for the inevitable “survival mode” of teaching content for the first time.
To learn more about PD that we offer for this course, please reach out to us at teachers@nextech.org or see more here: https://nextech.org/pd/computing-foundations/
Start with this document first, it includes the following:
A collection of course resources that have been created (or modified) by Nextech to support your teaching and learning. If there is something that you need, reach out to us at teachers@nextech.org; we’d love to explore creating it since if you need, there are likely other teachers that need it as well.
There are both self-paced and live professional development options available. For live professional development, learn more at https://nextech.org/pd/computing-foundations/.