Harvard University’s CS50x Indonesia program made a comeback to Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) on Thursday, March 7.
The program featured an in-person visit by David J. Malan, a renowned Harvard University Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Computer Science and a leading expert in the field.
His engagement, which included classroom interactions and a presentation, came as part of a two-day CS50x Indonesia conference hosted by JIS at its Cilandak campus in South Jakarta.
“We were thrilled to welcome back Professor Malan after the resounding success of the CS50x event we hosted last year,” said JIS Head of School Maya Nelson. “Our students and teachers were especially eager to connect with him and tap into his vast knowledge of computer science education.”
Professor Malan engaged with JIS Middle School and High School students in self-contained lessons covering topics such as game theory, recursion, and video game coding. His classroom visits were followed by a talk on “AI and the Future of Secondary Education” that was open to the entire JIS community.
“We live in an increasingly digitally competitive world, and JIS is committed to ensuring that our students have the tools they need to thrive as self-driven individuals,” Ms. Nelson said. “So, it’s important for us, as a school that emphasizes STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] education, to provide a diverse range of relevant, real-world opportunities with experts in the field. Such hands-on experiences are invaluable; we thank Harvard University and Professor Malan for their contribution and involvement.”
Aimed at strengthening the digital skills of local educators, CS50x Indonesia is a microcredential program offered by Harvard University in collaboration with Indonesia’s Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry. It is currently in its second iteration, starting in October 2023 with a series of online seminars on algorithmic thinking and problem-solving, and how to use programming languages such as C, Python, SQL, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
All 288 participants — representing state middle schools, high schools, and vocational high schools from across Indonesia — will gather at JIS on March 8-9 for a culminating, face-to-face conference led by Professor Malan himself.
Professor Malan teaches the Practice of Computer Science at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and is a member of the Faculty of Education in the Ivy League institution’s Graduate School of Education. He developed and teaches one of Harvard’s largest courses, Computer Science 50 (CS50), which has also been offered at Yale and is currently available on edX.