Outreach in the Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science at UNC-Chapel Hill hosts approximately 875 visitors each year for various outreach activities. Our main areas of outreach include demonstrations for school groups, enabling technology demonstrations, collaborative outreach, and conferences.

Our departmental research demonstrations, which allow students and teachers from public schools to experience and learn about different projects we are working on, have become very popular and encourage students, especially girls, to take higher-level math courses in high school.

Our enabling technologies, led by Professor Gary Bishop, have become enormously helpful and popular with students and teachers. Professor Bishop and his students have developed a range of educational software tools for children with disabilities, which is freely distributed, and designed to be accessible and affordable. Two of the most popular things to come from his work are "Tar Heel Reader" and "Maze Day," both of which are explained in more detail on the "About our Outreach Efforts" page.

In our collaborative outreach, we partner with other UNC departments and universities. In the past, we've participated in festivals, such as the "Collaborations: Humanities, Arts & Technology" (CHAT), and the statewide NC Science Festival.

This collaborative spirit has led us to participate in several conferences, a few of which have been held here in our department, and several more which will take place here in the future. These conferences are designed to bring researchers together to facilitate discussion and collaboration.

Click here for more information on our outreach.