Vanessa Jones

Learning Experience Designer

Prior to joining Clarity, Vanessa was a Technology Design Coach for the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas where she supported educators and various stakeholders within and outside of the district. She is actively involved in the computer science education community, serving as a facilitator/trainer on several of Code.org's professional learning frameworks; as a CS for All Teachers Ambassador; and as a CSTA Equity Fellow. Vanessa facilitated and redesigned the Strategies for Effective and Inclusive Computer Science Teaching online course created by the Expanding Pathways in Computing (EPIC) at the University of Texas in Austin. Vanessa is also familiar with our work as one of the original master teachers and national senior trainers for the Intel Teach to the Future initiative; moderator on the Intel Engage online community; and recently as a contract writer for Clarity, contributing to several K-12 Blueprint toolkits and the Intel Education Parent's Guide to Remote Learning published shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vanessa was also one of the writers for the national K-12 Computer Science Framework. She has presented at numerous conferences and workshops over the years focusing on identity markers, equity, diversity and inclusion in computer science classrooms.

Education and Certifications

  • M.S. Computer Education and Cognitive Systems, University of North Texas University
  • TEKS Applications Certification K-8
  • New Methodologies in Education (Curriculum & Instruction), Illinois State University
  • B.A. Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
  • Code.org CS Discoveries Facilitator
  • Code.org CS Fundamentals Facilitator

Publications

Recognitions

  • Computer Science Teachers Association 2021-2022  Equity Fellowship 
  • CS For All Teachers Community Ambassador Spotlight, June 2021
  • Texas Computer Educator Association Technology Specialist of the Year 2017 Finalist
  • Intel Education-Global United States Member Spotlight, 2015
  • Recipient of 4 Dell Educational Foundation and 3 Intel Educational Foundation Grants
  • Article published in Tech & Learning, September 2015

Presentations

  • CSTA Conference: Strategies for Effective and Inclusive Teaching (2022)
  • CSTA Equity in Action Summit: Equity in CS PD Modules (2022)
  • Code.org Facilitator Summit- Connecting CS Equity Fellows to Code.org’s Work (2022)
  • WeTeachCS Summit: Strategies for Effective and Inclusive Teaching (2021)
  • Texas Computer Education Association Conference (2011-2019)
  • ISTE Conference (2011-2018, selected as "best of" in 2019)
  • SXSWEdu: CSforAll: Teaching Computer Science in Elementary Schools (2017)
  • Austin Independent School District eLearning Summit (2015)