Zak Kolar

Summa cum laude with highest honors

Phi Beta Kappa

Work with Math + C team (Paul Goldenberg, June Mark, Deb Spencer, Kristen Reed, Katie Chiappinelli, Kate Coleman, and Johannah Nikula) to develop microworlds in which elementary students use programming as a language to express mathematical ideas.

Pilot microworlds with students at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA in full classes and small group cognitive interviews.

Develop customizations to Snap ! programming language to simplify user interface in microworlds.

Work with Snap ! development team to incorporate microworld customizations into the main Snap ! language.

Collaborate with classroom teachers, specialists, and instructional coaches to design and co-teach lessons that integrate digital literacy and computer science into other content areas.

Coach educators to meaningfully integrate technology and digital literacy and computer science content into their practice.

Provide digital literacy and computer science professional development to other educators at the school, district, regional, and national level.

Co-chaired the inaugural Waltham Codes committee to unite Waltham’s diverse population of all K–12 students in Hour of Code activities. Created activities, distributed materials, produced promotional and take-home materials, and created a multilingual family engagement website. Hour of Code has continued yearly at each school.

Selected as one of ten ambassadors to provide professional development about the Digital Literacy and Computer Science standards throughout Massachusetts on behalf of DESE.

Collaborate with math coach to design and implement lessons and projects that integrate coding into the math curriculum in grades K–5.

Refine and add new projects each year to grow program over time without overwhelming classroom teachers.

Provide district and regional level PD with math coach to help other educators use our process to develop their own programs.

Created TechLit.tools, a growing collection of web apps, lesson materials, Google Apps Script automations, and other resources I've made to help teachers with digital literacy instruction.

Additional materials in the queue to be posted include:

• GeoRiddles Generator - a tool to generate math puzzles for students to program robots to draw mystery letters
• Typing Practice - a web app to help students practice typing a single word (such as their username) over and over
• Chromebook Olympics - competitions to learn and practice formatting tools, selecting text, copying/pasting, and other basic tech skills in a fun and engaging way
• Remaining resources on Zak.io

Create simulations to make abstract digital literacy concepts (e.g. data collection/privacy, digital footprint) concrete, approachable, and engaging for students.

Data Privacy

A web app and accompanying lesson that demonstrates ways apps collect data without user notice or consent. After experiencing surprising, undetectable data collection, students learn how these techniques work and ways they're used in real life. Can be followed up with subsequent lessons where students think about and discuss the impact of such data collection.

Anonymous Email Investigation

A customizable web app and lesson where students "investigate" their teachers' digital footprints to discover who has been spamming the school with anonymous emails. In the process, they learn about the traces they leave behind when they send emails, search the web, and use Google Drive.

Fairytale Digital Footprints

An activity in which students use fairytale characters' digital footprints to deduce the answers to questions. The questions help students see how our digital footprints paint pictures of our lives, impact others, and leave traces of things we've done.

The Case of the Missing Cow

An activity in which students investigate fairytale characters' digital footprints to determine who stole Jack's cow.

Wrote and received four grants from 2018-2023 totaling over $13,000 to purchase and implement STEM equipment for Waltham Public Schools.

Built grant strategy to introduce technology at one grade level and cascade it to lower grades as we received new equipment from subsequent grants.

Interactive demonstration by Zak Kolar and Judy Vizard

Presentation by Zak Kolar

Also presented at:

• MassCUE Spring Conference (2024)
• Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science Summit (2024)

Presentation by Zak Kolar, Kate Coleman, and Evelyn Gray

Also presented at:

• Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Massachusetts Spring Conference (2023)
• Snap!Con (2020, 2021, 2022)
• CSTA CS Across the Curriculum Summit (2022)
• MassCUE Fall Conference (2022)
• CSTA National Conference (2021)
• Connected Learning Summit (2021)
• CSTA New England Regional Conference (2020)

Conference proceedings by Paul Goldenberg, June Mark, Deborah Spencer, Kate Coleman, Katie Chiappinelli, Kristen Reed, and Zak Kolar

Presentation by Zak Kolar and Evelyn Gray

Presentation by Zak Kolar and Paul Goldenberg

Accompanying paper by Zak Kolar, Hannah Moser, and Paul Goldenberg

Presentation by Zak Kolar

Article by Deborah Spencer, June Mark, Kristen Reed, Paul Goldenberg, Kate Coleman, Kathryn Chiappinelli, and Zak Kolar

Three-part professional development series by Zak Kolar and Evelyn Gray

November 2022, January 2023, March 2023

Presentation by Zak Kolar

Presentation to Waltham Public Schools educators by Zak Kolar and Judy Vizard

Presentation by Zak Kolar

Honors Thesis by Zak Kolar and Professor Richard Alterman (advisor)