Last year, the Zarb School of Business began working with The Progressive School in Long Island to create The Next Generation Computer Programming Academy. The program helps to teach teach computer coding to third- to eighth-grade students. Graduate students and upperclassmen in the Hofstra Information Technology Association work with the students using tiny, low-cost portable computers, called Raspberry Pi, to teach basic programming skills.
The partnership between Zarb and The Progressive School is funded by a grant from OpenLink, a Uniondale financial software company. The grant helped to purchase 30 new computer monitors for the school and also helps to fund stipends for the Hofstra student instructors.
The partnership also helps to build the resumes of the Hofstra student instructors while building the computer skills of the children they teach. Parents purchase the Raspberry Pi devices and the children use them in school to learn the coding basics and can take the devices home to practice. The program’s success at The Progressive School has led to several student-teachers conducting similar classes for Hofstra Continuing Education’s Saturday Classes for Young People.
The Hofstra Information Technology Association is a club in the IT/QM Department in Hofstra University. The club works to promote Information Technology and to provide all students interested in the IT field to become acquainted with emerging IT opportunities, as well as to contribute to the Hofstra community. Students interested in the organization do not have to be in the Zarb School of Business to join the club and participate in the Progressive School partnership program.