Welcome

As editor-in-chief of ACM Inroads, ACM’s computing education magazine, it is my pleasure to say:  Welcome to the Inroads website!  Welcome to the Inroads blog!

We are now entering a new era for developing an exciting relationship between the print version of ACM Inroads, the new Inroads website, and the e-version of the publication. ACM designed the website as a hub for computing educators worldwide to share their experiences and expertise.

The web site is an extension of the print and the newly launched Digital Edition.  Here, readers have a forum to discuss and debate ideas and opinions on articles presented in the magazine.

The blog associated with this website should generate much discussion regarding the articles in ACM Inroads. We expect to find excerpts from published essays that incorporate some recent online reader comments. We expect bloggers to write valuable posts and disseminate useful information toward advancing computing education. The anticipated interactions and clarifications of blog posts and other site content should create an opportunity for continuous discussion. For bloggers, this is a rare opportunity to reach a global audience. Over time, these blogs should form different, and hopefully extensive, categories of discussion and should prove a valuable reference point for teachers, students, and professionals.

I take this opportunity to clarify some apparent misconceptions of ACM Inroads as follows.

• ACM Inroads is a magazine. It is not an ACM journal; nor is it a newsletter. ACM Inroads is one of eight magazines published by the Association. For example, Communications of the ACM, the flagship publication of ACM, is another such magazine.
• ACM Inroads publishes articles, not research papers.  As a magazine, articles should be concise, interesting, informative, yet substantive. Authors should write articles in a more informal, general-interest style with an appropriate number of colorful diagrams, images, and figures. If you are not yet a subscriber to the magazine, the articles and columns featured on the homepage are open to the public, and are great examples of the editorial available in each issue.
• ACM Inroads is a computing education publication. Its focus includes all areas of computing such as information systems, computer engineering, computer science, information technology, software engineering, and other related fields.  Its focus is not just computer science. The magazine encourages and seeks education-related articles from all computing areas.
• ACM Inroads submissions undergo a strict review process via Scholar One’s Manuscript Central.  Most articles such as Bits & Bytes, Standard, and Comprehensive types must pass a double blind, formal peer review scrutiny before publication.
• ACM Inroads is an ACM publication; it is not a SIG publication. The magazine is under the jurisdiction of the ACM Publications Board even though the publication derived its roots from the SIGCSE community. SIGCSE helps support the publication and it provides the magazine as a benefit to its members.

Please form discussions within the context presented above.

I take this opportunity to introduce to you Amber Settle, Blog Administrator and Administrator of the ACM Inroads website, who will be the contact person for Inroads bloggers.  We are very appreciative that Amber has taken the lead in this area.

In summary, I welcome you to the ACM Inroads website and its associated blog. Amber and I look forward to exciting comments and discussions from a global audience. We encourage potential bloggers to set the direction on a myriad of topics related to computing education in a manner that only the flexibility of an interactive website can offer. This initial post, therefore, officially launches the beginning of a productive relationship between the magazine and its online outlets for expression.

John Impagliazzo

Editor-in-Chief, ACM Inroads

acminroads@gmail.com