Get Started for FREE
Sign up with Facebook Sign up with X
I don't have a Facebook or a X account
 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
"As the cities that have hosted Code for America teams will tell you, the greatest contribution the young programmers bring isn't the software they write. It's the way they think. It's a principle called "computational thinking," and knowing all of the Java syntax in the world won't help if you can't think of good ways to apply it."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Should we be teaching coding to our students? What does computer literacy mean? And what is computational thinking? These are some of the questions addressed in this article from Mother Jones. Let's start with the question 'What is computational thinking?' Below is a quote from the article. "If you've ever improvised dinner, pat yourself on the back: You've engaged in some light CT...If seeing the culinary potential in raw ingredients is like computational thinking, you might think of a software algorithm as a kind of recipe: a step-by-step guide on how to take a bunch of random ingredients and start layering them together in certain quantities, for certain amounts of time, until they produce the outcome you had in mind." There are so many quotes I could pull from this article to share. Below are two more and I would urge you to take the time to click through and read the entire article (and it is quite long). Along with a information on the history of literacy (as in reading and writing as well as computer) you will find a video of individuals (some of whom you will recognize) talking about how they became involved in computational literacy as well as many graphs and images. On to the quotes... "Computational thinking involves solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior," she writes in a publication of the Association for Computing Machinery. Those are handy skills for everybody, not just computer scientists. And while many kids have mad skills in movie editing or Photoshopping, such talents can lull parents into thinking they're learning real computing. "We teach our kids how to be consumers of technology, not creators of technology," notes the NSF's Cuny. 
Scoop.it!
The Tynker Learning Platform, which uses its own visual programming language, is focused on bringing better STEM education tools into classrooms
Beth Dichter's insight:
Tynker is another new coding program designed for children that is free. Their philosophy is "that elementary school-aged children should understand the basics of how computers work and how they’re programmed." They have designed their own programming language which is "focused on bringing better STEM education tools into classrooms and is hence geared toward teachers." All the tools are free to use and include lesson plans and interactive tutorials as well as management tools. Projects are geared to student interests, such as buiding games, robots and creating comics.
Cath Parker's curator insight,
April 21, 2013 2:34 AM
The modular tools used for programming here look very similar to those developed by MIT for their programme, "Scatch". It am looking for award to trying Tynker out with my Year 2 students as they really enjoyed working with Scratch to create their own games. 
Monica S Mcfeeters's curator insight,
May 10, 2013 8:43 PM
This is another coding platform that is free for now. This is designed for children to learn to code.
Scoop.it!
Mitch Resnik, the creator of the super-simple Scratch programming language and head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, gave a TEDx talk about the value of coding and computer literacy in early education.
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you have not checked out Scratch, a free programming language from the MIT Media Lab, take the time to listen to this talk by the creator, and then check out the program at the Scratch site, http://scratch.mit.edu/. You may download the program, join an educator's community, check out projects, watch tutorials and much more. One question that is being discussed more and more is if we should teach students programming. We are also told we need to have our students be creators of materials. Scratch may be a program that will help us meet both these goals.
Scoop.it!
The lowdown on the nifty new device, and what it's designed to accomplish.
|
Scoop.it!
Beth Dichter's insight:
EdSurge had put together a great guide, Teaching Kids to Code, that provides 14 posts that look at coding from a variety of perspectives and a table that lists 40 tools for learning online programming. The table is divided into sections which include learning coding with: * apps * hardware * visual blocks * formal coding language Many of the suggested tools are free. There are many who suggest that all students should learn to code. If you are interested in helping students learn to code or would like to learn about a variety of resources check out this post.
JessikaJake's comment,
May 23, 2013 1:37 AM
I followed the link through to https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-05-13-heading-off-to-summer-coding-camp and was happy to see that iD Tech Camps was on the list! We love them. Jade went 2 years in a row and learned Flash, C+, Video Editing and more.
Scoop.it!
From
gigaom
Rather than making young people wade through incomprehensible strings of words and numbers, writing code in Hopscotch consists of dragging and dropping different cute characters and running scripts on them.
Beth Dichter's insight:
This free app for the iPad will help students learn how to code! It is geared to students between the ages of 8 and 12. Using drag and drop students should be able to create games and animations. A ongoing debate in education is around the issue of teaching programming to students. This app may provide opportunities for students to begin to explore the concept of programming easily.
Monica S Mcfeeters's curator insight,
May 10, 2013 8:41 PM
Here's something we need most even more than algebra. Girls and Boys that can code are in high demand for awhile.
Scoop.it!
Hopscotch is a development environment focused on teaching kids to program. They currently have an online app called Puppy Draw, which uses Coffeescript.js (a form of Javascript). If you have never programmed give this a try...you may find yourself asking for hints! You can sign up on this page, or go directly to Puppy Draw at this link: http://www.hopscotchkits.com/
Scoop.it!
With the huge number of sites and products dedicated to programming for kids, there has never been a better time to get your class coding.
|
Is Coding the New Literacy?