Headshot of Amy J. Ko

I will be recruiting an iSchool or CSE Ph.D. student during the Autumn 2026 admissions cycle, to start Autumn 2027. I'm excited to work with and fund students interested in critical, liberatory CS and AI education. Have questions that aren't answered here? Write me.

Amy J. Ko, Ph.D.

she/her Professor Associate Dean for Academics The Information School Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering [courtesy] University of Washington, Seattle - Editor-in-Chief, ACM TOCE - Co-Director, CS for All WA - Co-Director, Reciprocal Reviews
๐Ÿ“ง๏ธŽโ‹…๐Ÿ“๏ธŽโ‹…๐Ÿฆ‹๏ธŽโ‹…๐Ÿงต๏ธŽโ‹…๐Ÿ˜๏ธŽ

I will be recruiting an iSchool or CSE Ph.D. student during the Autumn 2026 admissions cycle, to start Autumn 2027. I'm excited to work with and fund students interested in critical, liberatory CS and AI education. Have questions that aren't answered here? Write me.

I blog๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ on my lab's Medium publication, Bits and Behavior๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ.

My beliefs change over time, because I love learning and changing. Don't assume something I wrote years ago reflects my beliefs now. Instead, think of this archive as a record of my reflection and growth.

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HCIK-12academiaaccessibilityadvisingargumentautomationbook summarycomputing educationdesigndiversityed techgendergrant reportindustryinformationpaperpersonalpolicyproductivityprogramming languagesreviewsciencesocietysoftware engineeringteachingtrip reporttutorial

2026 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Rows of K-12 CS teachers, arms locked, with a passionate teacher rallying the crowd on stage.
CSTA 2026: CS teaching 2.0
7/2026
trip reportcomputing education
An illustrated black and white pig in prison clothing peeing into a urinal.
A critical engagement with AI-assisted software development
7/2026
computing educationsoftware engineeringautomation
An orange and blue sunset against the Puget Sound.
An academic year aburst
6/2026
academiagendercomputing education
wood latices hanging from the ceiling of a beige foyer.
CHI 2026 trip report: ay ay AI
4/2026
trip reportHCI
Brick buildings on the left and right, a handful of students walking down a pathway, and blue skies.
A day at the University of Minnesota
3/2026
trip reportcomputing educationdiversityacademia
A tuxedo cat's symmetrically marked face stares intensely into the camera, with her tongue slightly out.
Winter wondering
3/2026
personalgendersocietyacademia
A brick, circular, windowed facade against a cloudy, sunny morning dawn.
SIGCSE 2026: Love and learning
2/2026
trip reportcomputing educationK-12diversity
Eight people standing and looking down at a desk with a very small battery powered robot; smiles abound, and a snack cart in the background.
Five years of justice-centered secondary CS teacher education
1/2026
grant reportcomputing educationK-12diversity
A messy brown overhead view with green tendrils and five capital F's at different orientations strewn about.
Five F-words for 2026
1/2026
personalgenderpolicysociety

2025 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

The university district in Seattle, with a post rain shower rainbow amidst a cloudy sky.
Pride and posting
12/2025
personalgendersociety
The rear view of the conference room, with 80 heads, partially obscured by the edge of a large wooden stump sculpture.
Koli Calling 2025: Alliances of the Artificial
11/2025
trip reportcomputing education
An outline of the U.S. border, repeated to the right four more times, but each time, rotated, smaller, and blurry.
Dagstuhl trip report: creativity, code, and generative AI
10/2025
trip reportprogramming languagessoftware engineeringHCI
An outline of the U.S. border, repeated to the right four more times, but each time, rotated, smaller, and blurry.
Will the U.S. collapse?
7/2025
policydiversityacademiasociety
Several x-rays of my broken ribs and a clavicles.
Fractured bones, fractured mind
7/2025
personalsociety
Pencil sketches of two 2mg estradiol pills.
Little blue pills
6/2025
personalgendersociety
Japanese calligraphy on a white background, with the words "CHI 2025" in black.
CHI 2025: Frayed edges
5/2025
trip reportHCI
A muted, fuzzy photo above the clouds, with the bright sun in the corner, possibly from an airplane window.
We are not bits: AI and dehumanization
3/2025
diversitysocietyautomation
A dark purple stage, a slide that says SIGCSE, and the organizing committee kicking things off.
SIGCSE 2025: Rumination, resistance
3/2025
computing educationtrip report
A thousand people sitting on Capitol building steps, and standing in the street, with grey clouds above us all.
A day at the state capitol
2/2025
societypolicypersonalgender
A stage with a Black woman and a keyboard in mics, surrounded in blue.
Horror, joy
1/2025
personalpolicygender

2024 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Mount St. Helens erupting in May, 1980
The Coming Storm
11/2024
gendersociety
A tweet by Associate Deans: 'My favorite time of the year! Time to cancel under-enrolled classes and reassign faculty to classes they aren't qualified to teach!
I am an Associate Dean for Academics
9/2024
academiacomputing educationdiversity
A tessellation of green triangles and wooden walls with ceiling mounted lights.
ICER 2024 trip report: winter in Melbourne
8/2024
computing educationtrip report
Amy in a white Nike "just do it" t-shirt in front of a boxy CRT and PC with keyboard, speakers, and floppy disks. A small desk lamp lights a corner of a wooden desk.
Pride and shame in hobbyist programming
8/2024
computing educationpersonal
A wide shot of seven rows of seating with more than 300 attendees.
CRA Snowbird 2024 trip report: computing contrasts
7/2024
computing educationpolicytrip report
A stadium full of Information School graduates and proud families in the stands.
CSTA 2024 trip report: mixed messages
7/2024
computing educationtrip report
A stadium full of Information School graduates and proud families in the stands.
Iโ€™m a proud professor parent
6/2024
computing educationacademia
Two imposing marble columns, a dimly lit hallway, and a hundred attendees swarming.
AERA 2024 trip report: blight and belief
4/2024
computing educationtrip report
A highly warped, up close photo of Boomy the tuxedo cat, with her nose so pink and large.
Trans day of chores
3/2024
genderpersonal
Photo of the cover of the book, reading "A SHORT HISTORY OF TRANS MISOGYNY" with an image of a dolled up woman behind.
SIGCSE 2024 trip report: always hallways
3/2024
trip reportcomputing education
A stick figure with long black hair in a bright red haze running away from a network of nodes and edges in cool blue haze.
Data dependency
1/2024
personalautomationdiversitysociety
A horrendous LA freeway interchange at dawn.
Cars are unjust
1/2024
personalpolicydesign
A sunrise, or possibly a sunset, over silhouettes of hills.
Things I hope for in 2024
1/2024
personaldiversitysociety

2023 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

A web page with a left, a right, and several footers. The left shows a text editor with colorful computer code, a yellow highlight, and a magenta highlight on top of it, indicating a selection of a "translate" statement that converts a list of symbols into a list of Phrases for display. The right shows a 5 by 5 grid of symbols, one of them fading in to the grid. The footers show a timeline, several file names, and navigation links and settings.
Wordplay: an accessible, language-inclusive programming language for all
10/2023
programming languagesaccessibilitydiversityK-12
An organic petal-like pattern of three dimensional shapes.
Programming is sculpting
10/2023
programming languagessoftware engineering
Amy holding her smartphone in front of a round mirror, with a print of a woman in sunglasses with red lipstick and colorful tiger wallpaper.
A quiet sabbatical
9/2023
academiapersonalgender
170+ ICER attendees looking toward the end of a dance hall, sitting at round tables.
ICER 2023 trip report
8/2023
academiatrip report
Two Japanese people hugging a human scale godzilla in black and white.
Faculty are Godzillas
8/2023
academia
A sad looking robot like face with a single eye in black and white
That time I wanted to be an AI researcher
7/2023
personalacademiagender
A bright blue sky above a small tree, with the light piercing through its small leaves.
Summer sabbatical update: focus, fleeting
7/2023
academiaproductivity
A slide showing "RESPECT conference" and Tamara Pearson at a podium speaking to the large room.
2023 IEEE RESPECT + NSF CISE EWF PI meeting trip report
6/2023
academiacomputing educationtrip reportaccessibilitydiversityK-12
A 10,000 foot view of a big and small cloud, hovering over Michigan, creating a shadow on the plains.
Visiting UMich Again
5/2023
academiadiversitytrip reportcomputing education
A top down view of Amy's feet, shrouded by flared jeans, and resting upon the wet asphalt of downtown Ann Arbor.
Foot frustrations
4/2023
personalgender
A street, a porch, an outdoor ottoman, and Amy's legs wearing black Birkenstocks. The sun shines and the first perspective suggests calm.
A tale of two cities: a sabbatical jaunt to Pittsburgh and Chicago
4/2023
personalacademiaK-12computing education
A sweeping arc of glowing yellow and blue in the center of an atrium.
SIGCSE 2023 Trip Report: A Chronicle of Ideas, Good and Bad
3/2023
K-12academiacomputing educationtrip reportdiversity
A rainbow watercolor planet earth.
Finding hope in trans diversity
3/2023
personalsocietygenderdiversity
Three child-like humanoid robots frolicking in a field of grass and bright flowers
Large language models will change programmingโ€ฆ a lot
2/2023
programming languagesproductivitysoftware engineeringteaching
A robot working on a computer writing something sloppily
Large language models will change programmingโ€ฆ a little
2/2023
programming languagesproductivitysoftware engineeringteaching
A pencil illustration, with a small cross-legged woman at the bottom left staring at a horizon, with a thought bubble, and a gentle sun in the top right, hovering above. The canvas is otherwise blank.
Six months unplugged
2/2023
personalacademia

2022 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

White water rapids below a blue sky, lined with trees.
Life off Twitter
11/2022
personalacademia
Amy in sunglasses, a sun cat, against a backdrop of sand, waves, and blue skies.
Autumn sabbatical update: Reconnecting, reinventing, recovering
9/2022
academiacomputing educationdiversityproductivity
A mountain top view of the northwest end of Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano tightly nested around it, with many larger mountain ranges in the hazy distance.
ICER 2022 trip report: Together again, as bits and atoms
8/2022
trip reportcomputing education
A group of researchers and two children standing on tiered steps facing the camera directly.
Dagstuhl trip report: Educational programming languages
8/2022
trip reportK-12teachingcomputing education
A stage with the CSTA logo and a rainbow city skyline.
CSTA 2022 trip report: teaching, equity, and a bit of professional healing
7/2022
trip reportK-12teachingcomputing education
A group photo of the Dagstuhl castle of every attendee in the workshop on a staircase.
Dagstuhl trip report: theories of programming
7/2022
trip reportprogramming languagessoftware engineeringHCIscience
A blue sky with clouds
Sabbatical #2
6/2022
academiapersonal
An illustration of a blue Twitter logo with a white bird and several stick figures climbing a top it into a human pyramid, some falling off, and two people on the other side of the illustration having a conversation.
I'm (mostly) leaving Twitter
6/2022
HCIinformation
A view of a stage, a large projector screen, and hundreds of people staring at them.
CHI 2022, ECEP 2022, equity oh my
5/2022
trip reportHCIcomputing education
A group of Google protesters outside a Google building, 'My outrage can't fit this sign.'
A guide to student activism in computing education
4/2022
academiadiversitycomputing education
Amy smiling at the camera with a backdrop of eclectic objects in a restaurant.
I'm a happy trans kid!
4/2022
personalgender
A 1980's photo of a women with curly hair in a recliner nursing a baby with a bottle and a small child holding a stuffed panda on the floor.
Life at the limit
3/2022
personalproductivity
A foggy illustration of a grey sky and a brow field of empty steel cages.
We will not be caged
3/2022
genderdiversitysociety
The SIGCSE 2022 registration booth.
SIGCSE 2022 Trip Report: Reunited
3/2022
trip reportcomputing education
A child assembling legos.
On pacing and programming pedagogy
2/2022
programming languagescomputing education
A photograph of the in-person Dagstuhl attendees with a screenshot of the virtual attendees in Zoom.
Dagstuhl trip report: People, programs, and programming errors
2/2022
programming languagescomputing education
A screenshot of a Commodore 64 program printing hello world.
Programming evolves, privilege reigns
1/2022
computing educationprogramming languages

2021 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

A silhouette of road signs set against a pink, orange, and blue sunset.
Finding hope in the year 2122
12/2021
societyautomationpolicy
A glass jar full of coins and a small baby plant growing out of it.
The price of a gender transition
11/2021
personalgender
Amy laying on white sheet, smiling at the camera.
Post-op peace
9/2021
personalgender
A screenshot of the ICER 2021 Clowdr landing page.
ICER 2021: A daily dose of digital discourse
8/2021
trip reportcomputing education
A screenshot of an Ohyay room showing several circular video feeds of student faces, several doodles, and a chat full of banter.
Research, advising, and vulnerability
6/2021
academiadiversitygenderproductivity
A screenshot of the RESPECT Whova landing page, showing navigation and overview text.
RESPECT 2021: Toward justice-focused computing education
5/2021
trip reportcomputing education
A dark grey human form on a light grey watercolor backdrop.
Dark thoughts in trans solitude
5/2021
genderpersonal
9 month old Amy smiling and crawling on a wooden deck.
Learning to love myself in photos
4/2021
personalgenderdiversity
A collage of all 18 chapters of the book, showing 90,000 words and dozens of images, arranged in a row with varying height columns of text.
I wrote a book about information!
4/2021
designdiversityinformationsocietyteaching
A three stick figures joyfully dancing on three grey face coverings.
The gender transition that wasn't
3/2021
personalgender
A screenshot of the Pathable platform landing page, showing the SIGSE 2021 logo.
2021 SIGCSE Technical Symposium: Virtual Diffusion
3/2021
trip reportcomputing education
A photograph of the Data Feminism jacket cover, showing the title "Data Feminism", authors Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, and a backdrop of hundreds of data visualizations.
Decoding Data Feminism
3/2021
book summarycomputing educationsociety
A screen shot of Zoom, showing Amy's screen in the top left and several gray rectangles with student names like 'student1', 'student2', and 'student3'.
Zoom is a vile teaching tool
3/2021
HCIteachinged tech
A blocky grey robot stands in front of a desk an inelegantly operates a mouse and keyboard.
My robotic pandemic productivity
2/2021
personalproductivity
A protester holds up their homemade sign on a box that says, 'Black Trans Lives Matter No Justice No Peace'
Anti-Black racism hurts us all
1/2021
diversitygendersociety

2020 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Two wavy horizontal watercolor lines, one purple, one green, woven together.
The shortest day
12/2020
personal
A feminine figure leaning over, head facing down, pushing against two walls grey walls of an enclosure.
What trans liberation means to me
12/2020
personalgendersociety
A Scratch program that, when clicked, redundantly updates a character's speech bubble to say 'editor!' 28 times.
Block-based what? Differentiating programming languages, environments, and editors
11/2020
K-12computing educationed techprogramming languagesteaching
A photograph of a display showing a slide titled "Critical Computing Education", with an iPad hovering above showing Zoom.
Encouraging more critical computing: A (virtual) trip report
11/2020
academiacomputing educationtrip report
Joe Biden holding the hands of Sarah McBride.
My trans rights wish list for the Biden administration
11/2020
personalgenderpolicysociety
A photo of a Black Lives Matter protest showing a row of police on the left and a row of protested on the right
Having hard classroom conversations
10/2020
computing educationsocietyteaching
An illustration of a Terminator robot with a thought bubble that says IF OBJ.IS_HUMAN DESTROY OBJ
The half life of computing education
10/2020
computing educationsocietyK-12
A sad, scared child hiding in a dark room with yellow light shining under the door frame.
Coming out (of hiding)
10/2020
personaldiversitygender
My daughter at age 2, asking to be held.
My parenting past and present
9/2020
personaldiversitygender
A figure showing four types of programming language knowledge
Studying programming language learning: a 3-year recap
9/2020
computing educationgrant reportprogramming languages
A screenshot of the ICER 2020 Discord, showing people introducing themselves.
ACM ICER 2020 trip report: virtual serendipity
8/2020
academiadiversitycomputing educationtrip report
A perspective drawing of a 2-lane track, with a racer on the right with 3 hurdles and a racer on the right with fifty.
Fifty trans hurdles
8/2020
personaldiversityacademiasociety
A woman in a bubble, staring out at three angry men yelling at her.
Taking refuge from the internet
7/2020
personaldiversityinformationsociety
An interpretation of Rodinโ€™s โ€œThe Thinkerโ€, a top Ruha Benjaminโ€™s stunning book.
Reflections on Ruha Benjaminโ€™s "Race After Technology"
7/2020
academiacomputing educationdiversitypersonalbook summary
A top row with a series of dots being filtered by narrow funnels, and a bottom row with a series of dots not being filtered.
Our undergraduate program is racist
6/2020
academiacomputing educationdiversity
Angry red white and blue squiggles.
What it feels like to lose civil rights
6/2020
personaldiversitysocietygender
Three grey-blue blobs, one vertical, one circular in slight motion, and one oblong, racing to the future.
My strained relationship with radicalism and pragmatism
6/2020
computing educationdiversitypersonalsocietypolicy
A red, green, and blue thread, squiggly and overlapping, terminating in a point on the right.
Ideas from the Code and Cognition Lab (2020 edition)
6/2020
computing educationdiversityprogramming languages
A beast on the left, squatting, and a woman on the right, sitting, with her arm around its back.
My slow escape from gendered self-loathing
5/2020
personaldiversitygender
A comic strip of a stick person pushing the world hello to another person, but it collapses, jumbled.
The motive is the message
4/2020
personalHCI
A photograph of Amy as an infant reaching for books on a bookshelf.
My new appreciation for history
4/2020
personaldiversitysociety
A blue sky with red fragments of digital devices being sucked into a grey cloud.
An autobiographical synopsis of Kentaro Toyama's "Geekย Heresy"
4/2020
computing educationpersonaldiversitysocietybook summary
40 small thumbnails of my research, teaching, and service statements and my CV.
I'm a Professor!
3/2020
academiapersonal
A grid of black rectangles with people inside each, doing different activities. In the center, a woman cross-legged.
Gender transition in a pandemic
3/2020
personalgender
A photograph of the Oregon Convention Center.
SIGCSE 2020 Trip report: viral edition
3/2020
academiacomputing educationtrip report
Several punctuation marks flying towards a stick figure protected by a blue orb.
Dealing with demands for change
3/2020
academiapersonal
A person being electrocuted by red tendrils, but those tendrils transform into straight lines after passing through.
Dealing with academic critcism
2/2020
academiapersonal
A watercolor sketch of Amy's face.
A profile in choosing beauty
2/2020
personalgender
An illustration of a stick figure's thought bubble, with a faded mirror of the bubble in grey.
The false dichotomy of teaching and research
2/2020
academiateachingscience
An illustration of a fuel gauge on empty.
The fuel of discovery
1/2020
academiapersonal
A pencil sketch of a rectangle fading from dark solid black to a diffuse fog.
What is the role of academia in a post-truth world?
1/2020
academiasociety
A photograph of adolescent Amy programming at her computer.
A autobiographical synopsis of Morgan Amesโ€™ โ€œThe Charisma Machineโ€œ
1/2020
computing educationdiversityK-12genderbook summary

2019 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

An erratic, sharply jumping plot of ups and downs, with watercolor backdrop.
Transition and overcommitment
12/2019
academiapersonalgender
A photograph of me presenting at Koli in front of my slide.
21st Century Grand Challenges for Computing Education
11/2019
computing educationacademiapolicydiversityscience
Blue tendrils interleaved with pink ones.
Finding my voice (literally)
11/2019
personalacademiagender
A photograph of Janet Gordon in front of a slide of CS definitions.
What counts as computer science in K-12 education?
11/2019
computing educationpolicytrip report
A photograph of the Spokane sunset.
Trip report: Bridging CS for All across western and eastern Washington
11/2019
academiacomputing educationpolicytrip report
An illustration showing a stick figure yelling the name 'Amy' at a wall, but it's bouncing off into a pile. A set of corporate logos behind the wall.
100 hours of name change labor
10/2019
academiapersonalinformationHCIgender
A photograph of Amy smiling at her desk.
What coming out as trans should look like
9/2019
academiapersonalgender
A fuzzy trans pride flag, with a small face peeking out of it.
I'm trans! Call me Amy.
9/2019
academiapersonalgender
A photograph of a ballroom of CSEdCon attendees.
CSEdCon 2019 trip report: a deep dive into CS education policy
9/2019
K-12policycomputing educationtrip report
A photograph of the standing 2019 graduating class of the MHCI+D program
A graduation speech on responsible design
8/2019
software engineeringsocietyHCIindustrydiversity
An illustration of a smiley face evolving from a shriveled raisin to a happy face.
Changes coming to the ACM ICER conference
8/2019
academiacomputing education
A photograph of the ACM Education Advisory Council meeting.
2019 ACM Education Advisory Council meeting: itโ€™s complicated!
8/2019
academiaK-12teachingcomputing educationtrip report
A photograph of my summer task grid on my whiteboard.
Managing overcommitment in academia
7/2019
academiaproductivity
A sketch of arrows aiming for targets and missing their mark.
The transfer problem in computing education
7/2019
computing educationacademia
A black and white photograph of attendees at the Dagstuhl having conversations.
Dagstuhl trip report: learning and teaching programming language semantics
7/2019
computing educationK-12trip reportprogramming languagesHCI
A panorama of the STEM pre-service teacher preparation workshop showing several faculty in conversation.
Preparing future STEM teachers for our computational future
6/2019
computing educationK-12trip report
Four yellow puzzle pieces with different changes, each altered in succession, with little stick figures inside playing.
Some amateur thoughts on change
6/2019
academiasociety
An illustration of Pac Man eating a series of research papers.
Finding time to read in academia
6/2019
academiaproductivity
A photograph from the ETH Zurich campus.
A visit to ETH Zurich Computer Science
5/2019
academiatrip reportcomputing educationK-12ed tech
A photograph of the CHI 2019 plenary showing a few attendees waiting for the keynote to start.
CHI 2019 trip report: the interlocking threats of HCI and learning
5/2019
academiatrip reported techcomputing educationautomationaccessibility
A stick figure person on the left sitting and reading a book while a group of three others talk.
On being an introvert in academia
4/2019
academiadiversitypersonal
A photograph of attendees of the teaching accessibility workshop sitting around circular tables.
Teaching accessibility in higher education computing courses
4/2019
accessibilityacademiacomputing education
A photograph of SIGCSE 2019's projected logo on the hotel wall.
SIGCSE 2019 Trip Report
3/2019
trip reportcomputing education
Two stick figures, one tall, angry, and spewing red onto one short, cowering, and afraid, with bloodied paper on the ground.
A critique of academic criticism
1/2019
academiaargument

2018 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

A purple silhouette of a mountain range below blue skies with black binary digits transformating into black strokes along the ridgeline.
Big ideas about information
12/2018
informationcomputing educationacademia
An illustration of four gold stars followed by a light bulb.
Credit versus discovery in academia
11/2018
academiaargument
An illustration of a paper that has been marked up and annotated.
My peer review wishlist
11/2018
academiaargumentscience
A photograph of Jane Prey leading a discussion.
2018 ACM Education Council meeting
8/2018
trip reportcomputing educationpolicy
Stock photograph of someone exploring some mountains.
Four years of studying exploratory programming
7/2018
academiasoftware engineeringcomputing educationgrant report
A photograph of the opening plenary of the ICSE 2018 conference.
ICSE 2018 trip report: 50 years of software engineering
6/2018
trip reportsoftware engineering
A photograph of me giving my invited talk at ICSE.
Ten years after the Whyline
6/2018
software engineeringautomationpersonal
A photograph of the crumbling Parthenon in Athens.
Defending truth, one dissertation at a time
5/2018
academiaadvisingscience
An ancient illustration of jugglers.
On academic split attention
4/2018
academiaargument
Stock photo of a silhouette of a mother holding a baby in the park.
A parenting guide to CS learning
3/2018
K-12computing education
A panoramic shot of the 2018 SIGCSE plenary showing hundreds of attendees in chairs.
SIGCSE 2018 trip report: CS for All!
2/2018
computing educationtrip report
A photograph of a TI graphing calculator.
How I learned to code
2/2018
computing educationpersonalK-12
A selfie of me about to give an invited talk at Stanford's HCI seminar.
A visit to Stanford HCI
1/2018
trip reportHCI
A clip art robot shooting laser eyes.
Why people shouldn't learn to code
1/2018
computing education

2017 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

The Fisher Price Think & Learn Code-a-Pillar.
On toys that teach coding
12/2017
computing educationK-12
ASCII art of an eye.
What makes software valuable?
11/2017
software engineeringargumentsociety
A photograph of Alan Blackwell's keynote slide, showing his head exploding.
VL/HCC 2017 trip report: programming and play
9/2017
trip reportsoftware engineeringHCI
Me and my advisor, Brad Myers, graduating with my Ph.D.
Most PhDs aren't professors
9/2017
academiaadvising
My selfie with the Upward Bound students on my last day of class in summer 2017
How Upward Bound guides bootstrapping U.S. teens into higher education
8/2017
K-12diversitycomputing educationacademia
Jackson Pollockโ€™s 'Untitled', a sea of brown splattered paint.
We need to learn how to teach machine learning
8/2017
trip reportcomputing education
Stock photo of a cover sheet saying 'syllabus'
How to design a class
7/2017
teachingtutorial
A photograph of a manufacturing robot making a car.
Automation, education, and the looming skills deficit
6/2017
automationsocietysoftware engineering
Two screenshots of Lightbot and Gidget.
Coding tutorials: the good, the bad, and the ugly
6/2017
computing educationpapered tech
A photograph of a bookshelf of technical books for learning to code.
Why learn to code?
6/2017
computing educationargument
Stock photo of teamwork.
Managing software teams in academia and industry
6/2017
software engineeringacademia
A photograph of my INFO 360 class, showing students working together.
How to be a great (CS) teacher
5/2017
computing educationteachingtutorial
A staged photograph of the team at AnswerDash making a design decision.
Nine factors that shape software evolution
5/2017
papersoftware engineering
A photograph of Jake Wobbrock, Parmit Chilana, and myself.
What five years of early career research funding buys the world
4/2017
academiasoftware engineeringHCIgrant report

2016 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Stock photo of a multiple choice test.
Assessment is a computing education grand challenge
12/2016
computing educationteaching
A screenshot fo the first slide of my keynote
My SPLASH 2016 keynote: A human view of programming languages
11/2016
programming languagessoftware engineeringargument
A cake of Gidget the robot.
What does $600K in NSF research funding buy?
10/2016
academiacomputing educationgrant report
Stock photo of a person staring at a lake.
A defense of sabbatical
9/2016
academia
A photograph of me with my Upward Bound students.
My sabbatical stretch goal: teaching high school CS
9/2016
computing educationK-12personal
A photograph of Dastyni Loksa giving his talk on self-regulation.
ICER 2016 trip report
9/2016
trip reportcomputing education
A panoramic shot of the Snowbird conference, showing the backs of many CS department chairs.
Snowbird trip report: automation, education, and academia
7/2016
trip reportcomputing education
Stock photo of a stack of old books.
Textbooks are awesome
7/2016
argumentteachinginformationHCI
What makes a great software engineer?
6/2016
papersoftware engineering
Software and globalism sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g
6/2016
automationsocietysoftware engineering
A panoramic shot of the capacity building workshop.
Why hire people with disabilities? The value of diversity in software teams
6/2016
software engineeringaccessibilitytrip report
My sabbatical research pivot
5/2016
academiacomputing education
Programming, power, and responsibility
5/2016
software engineeringsocietyautomation
If learning to code were like learning to write...
3/2016
computing educationargument
Coding bootcamps versus universities
3/2016
software engineeringcomputing educationacademiaargument
Fifty privileges
2/2016
diversity
The invisibility of failure in computing education
2/2016
computing educationargument
Making money versus making knowledge
2/2016
academiaindustry

2015 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

A black and white photo of homeless people in Pioneer Square.
Startup good and evil
12/2015
industrydiversity
Privilege and CS1
12/2015
diversityacademiacomputing education
The black hole of software engineering research
10/2015
software engineeringacademia
The Apple Watch on my wrist.
The watch
5/2015
reviewHCI

2014 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

I am tenured
10/2014
academia
The screen of the TI-82 graphing calculator.
Computer science, information science, and the TI-82
6/2014
computing educationed techK-12personal
Startup life versus faculty life
1/2014
academiaindustrypersonal

2013 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

My family driving into dusty Burning Man.
Off the grid
9/2013
personaltrip report
The economics of computing for all
4/2013
computing educationpolicyargument

2012 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Apple Maps
9/2012
informationHCIargumentreview
A data visualization of how much the public spent on my education: each person gave me 4 cents.
A personal note on public funding for education
8/2012
societyacademiadiversity
Ageism in academia
7/2012
diversityacademia
Computing, jobs, and lumps of labor
7/2012
societyautomationsoftware engineering
Machining is now coding
3/2012
computing educationsoftware engineeringautomationsociety
The double-edged sword of efficiency
1/2012
software engineeringsocietyautomation
What's in a frame?
1/2012
informationautomation

2011 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

What do professors do all day?
11/2011
productivityacademia
Abstraction appropriation
4/2011
societyautomation

2010 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Decision making in software engineering
12/2010
reviewsoftware engineering
What makes code different than other media?
11/2010
software engineeringsociety
Software quality and ideology
8/2010
software engineeringargumentargument
A photograph of a reception of nearly all men at the Mozilla summit.
Mozilla Summit 2010 and dev culture
7/2010
trip reportindustrysoftware engineering
Mozilla Summit 2010, day 0
7/2010
trip reportindustry
Spreadsheet error costs time and money, yet again
3/2010
software engineeringsociety

2009 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Managing time management
12/2009
productivity
What's surprising?
9/2009
academiascience
The semblance of objectivity in numbers
5/2009
informationscience
On Edward Tufte's flat teaching
4/2009
trip reportreview
Halfway home: The India Software Engineering Conference
2/2009
trip reportsoftware engineering
Halfway to India
2/2009
trip reportsoftware engineering
What up, blog?
1/2009
information

2008 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Sketching with words
12/2008
software engineering
Rhetorical devices
11/2008
academia
Grading rant
11/2008
teachingacademia
Bits (a poem)
1/2008
societyautomation

2007 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

Mediated living
1/2007
societyautomation

2006 ๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ

On the static versus dynamic typing debate
10/2006
programming languagesHCI

CC0 Last updated 7/20/2026. To the extent possible under law, Amy J. Ko has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the design and implementation of Amy's faculty site. This work is published from the United States. See this site's GitHub repository๐Ÿ”—๏ธŽ to view source and provide feedback.