[Linux-aus] PyCon Australia 2015 Keynote Announcement: Carrie Anne Philbin

[Clinton Roy]

Following on from 2014's inspirational keynote advocating Python for Every
Child in Australia <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVv7fCwVbp4> as part of
the rollout of the Australian Digital Curriculum, this year sees PyCon
Australia playing host to its first ever Python in Education
<http://2015.pycon-au.org/media/news/35> Miniconf. As part of that event,
we are thrilled to announce our second PyCon Australia 2015 keynote
speaker: Carrie Anne Philbin, Education Pioneer at the Raspberry Pi
Foundation <https://www.raspberrypi.org/>, chair of the UK's Computing at
School's #include <http://casinclude.org.uk/> initiative, author of "Adventures
in Raspberry Pi"
<https://www.raspberrypi.org/carrie-anne-philbins-adventures-in-raspberry-pi>,
and a member of the Board of Directors for the Python Software Foundation
<https://www.python.org/psf/mission/>.

As an award winning secondary Computing & ICT teacher, Carrie Anne is a
vocal advocate for the merits of Python as an educational tool, and brings
to PyCon Australia a wealth of experience with the UK's search for a
suitable text based programming language to serve as a follow on from
self-contained visual programming environments like Scratch.

However, while Python is already a good tool for educational use, it's far
from perfect. During the main conference, Carrie Anne will discuss existing
barriers to Python becoming the premier language of choice for teaching
computer science, and some of the possible ways those barriers could be
lowered through improved tooling and further support from the Python
developer community.

In addition to her keynote presentation, as part of the Python in Education
Miniconf, Carrie Anne will be reviewing the Raspberry Pi Foundation's
experiences in creating and delivering the Picademy
<https://www.raspberrypi.org/picademy/> continuing professional development
workshops for teachers in the UK, as well as facilitating small group
“birds of a feather” sessions where teachers and interested developers can
explore ways to collaborate more effectively on both formal and informal
educational efforts.

Carrie Anne has a blended and open approach to teaching as can be seen by
her website ICT with Miss P <http://www.ictwithmissp.co.uk> that students
use to access their weekly lessons. She uses innovative web tools to help
support and extend the learning in her 21st century classroom which
resulted in becoming a Skype Moment Maker
<http://skypemoments.com/moment-makers/> and ambassador for technology in
2014. Carrie Anne often speaks at conferences like BETT
<http://www.bettshow.com/SeminarDetail.aspx?Semid=Reg14>, Raspberry Jamboree
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG3r_-anf1w&feature=share&list=UU_IWRSNY-l5yKrn7fI9e0Kw>,
YRS and PyconUK <http://www.pyconuk.org/>, and is the creator of a YouTube
video series for teenage girls called The Geek Gurl Diaries
<http://www.geekgurldiaries.co.uk>, which has won a Talk Talk Digital Hero
Award. The episodes include interviews with women working in technology and
hands on computer science based tutorials.

It's genuinely exciting to offer such a practical follow-up to 2014's Python
for Every Child in Australia <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVv7fCwVbp4>
as we help forge stronger connections between Australia's open source and
educational communities.

PyCon Australia has endeavoured to keep tickets as affordable as possible.
We are able to do so, thanks to our Sponsors and Contributors.
Registrations for PyCon Australia 2015 are now open, with prices starting
at AU$50 for students, and tickets for the general public starting at
AU$240 for the entire conference, or $100 specifically to attend the Friday
Miniconfs. All prices include GST, and more information can be found at
http://2015.pycon-au.org/register/prices

Thanks to the generous contributions of the Python Software Foundation and
Code Club Australia, targeted financial assistance is available for
qualified teachers wishing to attend PyCon Australia for either the entire
conference or specifically for the Python in Education Miniconf. Teachers
wishing to take advantage of this offer should apply through the
conference's financial assistance program <http://2015.pycon-au.org/grants>
and mention in their application that they're a qualified teacher.
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