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Coding/Computer ScienceSpecial Needs

Reasons to Incorporate Coding into K–12 GT Programs

by Josh Keir, Guest Author
written by Josh Keir, Guest Author

Students in our gifted and talented program (GT) have a lot of different tracks to choose from. Some of the most popular are animation, video game coding, video special effects, podcasting, and robotics — all of which help prepare students for success in higher education and the workforce. 

Because our GT students learn at a quick pace, they can usually handle more than just the core curriculum content. Wanting to expose more of them to computer coding opportunities, we incorporated CoderZ competitions into our GT program after I learned about it from the high school CTE director. 

Putting Coding into the GT Program

Here’s how we’re using robotics and coding to help young students get an early footing in the workforce of the future. Our students took to CoderZ quickly and we actually won the Midwest Regionals in the 2019 coding and robotics competition. Here are five more reasons why coding is a good addition to a GT program:

1. You can apply it to other subjects (outside of science). I’m technically an ELA teacher, but we use coding, robotics, and other advanced concepts as extensions for writing. Because so much about the coding is very similar to sentence structure and choosing the right words to communicate ideas, we’re able to blend it into everything we do here. 

2. It cultivates future leaders. The top group of students who signed up for our virtual robotics class through CoderZ finished all of the modules within a week and were hungry for more. They instinctively shared ideas and organized their efforts to get the best result. By getting them to think as a group and figure things out, we can effectively prepare future leaders for success.  

3. You can be more relatable with code. If I’m teaching poetry or fiction and trying to get students to relate to a specific piece of work, having a virtual/digital world that includes code allows them to put their brain into that space. They can assess how a character would respond or react in that environment to determine how they could characterize or develop setting or description. By letting them dabble in the electronic world, their writing starts to improve. 

4. It encourages teamwork. My seventh and eighth grade students are at the point now where teamwork is in their blood. When they start a new project, they’re immediately asking questions like, “Okay, who’s going to do what job?” “How do we tackle this task?” and “How do we get from target to target?” It becomes so embedded that they can apply this groupthink mentality — which is always faster and more efficient — to just about any problem.

5. Girls like the creative aspects of the program. Our coding and robotics classes are usually popular with boys, but we found that one way to get girls more interested is by infusing more creativity (e.g., photography, special effects, etc.) into the opportunity. Where they may see a robot as being very technical, for example, they’ll gravitate toward classes that give them a chance to think beyond just using tools to build something, and to really stretch their imaginations. 

A Great Experience

We have about 20 students signed up for this year’s CoderZ League competition, which has two tracks: Junior and Pro. We’re using both the CyberRobotics 101 and 102 courses to develop their skills, and several of the students have taken on the Amazon challenge. The fact that the coding applies to the same autonomous machinery used at Amazon was a big motivator to accept the challenge since it has real world application. It has been a great experience so far.

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

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Hour of Code
Coding/Computer ScienceDigital Literacy

Plan Now for Hour of Code

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

According to Code.org, 93% of Texas parents want their child’s school to offer computer science, but only 40% of Texas schools teach it. Maybe the reason for their interest is because there are 44,972 computing jobs open in the state of Texas in which the average salary is $93,518. The Hour of Code is a perfect event to help drum up support for computer science in your school, district, and community to help meet the demand of your parents and the job market. 

code

The Basics

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science to demonstrate that anyone can learn the basics of coding. The effort was designed to demystify computer coding and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. The official Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2018 Computer Science Education Week will be December 3-9, but for all practical purposes, you can host an Hour of Code all year round.

Organizing an Hour of Code event at your school or in your community is easy. Their website provides step-by-step instructions on how to pull off the event, complete with activities your participants can use to learn to code in an hour.  They also provide ideas to get your community involved and a FAQ page that will answer almost every question you have about hosting an Hour of Code.

Five Easy Steps to Host a Hour of Code

Code.org has made is easy for you to host an hour of code. Here are the things they suggest you need to consider to make your event a success.

1. Logistics

The first thing you need to decide is where are you going to host the event. They have coding activities that you can use for any device, but you need to decide which devices you’ll use and what you’ll need to make sure they have the necessary bandwidth and power. Code.org even has activities to teach computational thinking skills without using a computer so your event can take place anywhere, even a public park! Just make sure you have reviewed what materials you’ll need for these types of “unplugged” activities.

2. Pick a Tutorial

You may be thinking, “This sounds great, but I don’t know how to code, so how could I help teach someone else?” All the codeactivities are self-guided so you don’t have to know how. You can learn to code at the same time as your participants! All you have to do is select a tutorial to use in your Hour of Code. All teachers can participate because Code.org has tutorials that are related to math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts, and computer science. You can sort by subject area, grade level, and by the coding abilities of your participants.

3. Promote the Event

Now that you are all jazzed about hosting an Hour of Code, you want to make sure others know about it. Hour of Code has all types of promotional materials for you to use. They have handouts, videos, posters, social media, and different tools you can use to reach certain people in your community, including your elected officials.

 

4. Host an Hour of Code

Once you have taken care of all the pre-event details, it is now time to host the event. Have your participants go to code.org/learn and choose the tutorial you picked out. If any of your participants finish early, have them either help someone else or find another tutorial to complete.

5. Celebrate Your Success

When your participants complete the hour, be sure and celebrate. You might want to create a photo booth where they could take selfies and post their photos on their favorite social media site using #HourOfCode as your hashtag. You could also create a certificate to be given out at the end of the hour.

Hour of Code events are full of energy and excitement. It is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that everyone can code. Who knows, you may spark an interest in coding for the next Steve Jobs! What are you waiting for? Get busy planning your event!

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make thinking physical
Coding/Computer ScienceSTEM/STEAM

Make Thinking Physical: Coding Your Creations

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

At the recent Elementary Technology Conference, one of my Code Building with Minecraft: Education Edition session participants asked, “Have you heard of CoSpaces?” I confessed that I had not. “It’s a way to introduce students to 3D printing design using block coding,” she responded. Intrigued, I made a mental note to explore this fascinating way to introduce students to coding and 3D printing design. In this blog entry, we’ll explore two tools, including one just released, that empower you and/or your students to use visual programming (a.k.a. “block code”) to create a 3D print design for printing.

Rapid Prototyping

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, Design Thinking Learning, presenting students with problems can introduce them to block coding. What’s more, it can serve as a way to make a real-life connection. Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D printing are two more exciting ways to create rapid prototypes of solutions to human-centered problems.

“Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design data.” Wikipedia

Check out this image (3D Innovations) which highlights rapid prototyping in the K-12 Classroom:

Image Source: 3D Innovations

Learn more about design thinking. Read this short overview.

Tool #1: Prototyping in AR/VR Space

Are you ready to code creations that manifest themselves in augmented reality or virtual reality space? Check out CoSpaces; get an overview in this PDF document. Browser-based CoSpaces works online, so no special software is required. You are able to create in 3D, using block coding to add animations. Enroll in their free online course to learn how to create in CoSpaces.

Watch this quick video:

UQkB92VQSliyTDaU7r3S_CoSpaced%20Sample.mp4

Want to learn more about what’s possible with CoSpaces in the classroom? Read this TCEA blog entry.

Tool #2: TinkerCAD CodeBlocks

You may already know about TinkerCAD as an amazing way to introduce students to 3D print design. Students are able to design in 3D using a beginner tool before they move on to something like Photoshop, SketchUp Pro, etc. This means students can design and fine0tune their designs in digital space before they hit the “PRINT” button. 3D printing has long been a rapid prototyping tool. But what about creating 3D print design using visual programming code?

Released in June, 2018, TinkerCAD CodeBlocks describes itself as “a cool new way to build things in Tinkercad, using blocks of code to bring your imagination to life.”

 

Image Source: TinkerCAD CodeBlocks

Once students have created their code, they can export their creation as a 3D-printable file.

Isn’t that incredible? The interface, when you first jump into the beta CodeBlocker, looks like this:

codeblocker

You can do more than just export your code-based 3D printing designs. You can also share them with others using the handy SHARE button.

Make Thinking Physical: Coding Your Creations

Whether students are coding to create in virtual/augmented reality or design in 3D, they are making important connections. One connection sure to engage them is that students see how code translates into physical creations. The coding process makes thinking visible. The visible creation (e.g. 3D printed design) strengthens student understanding that what’s digital can be made physical. Or, to put it another way, thinking made physical.

 

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SBOE
AdvocacyCoding/Computer ScienceCTO/CIO

Texas SBOE Moves CS Policy Forward

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Texas teachers and districts have been asking for more options for students who want to take computer science courses, as well as asking the state to establish some interoperability standards for digital instructional materials. The Texas State Board of Education responded to these requests at their April 2018 board meeting.

Substitute Computer Programming for LOTE

sboe

Donna Bahorich, SBOE Board Chair, Champion of CS.

In 2013, the Texas Legislature enacted HB 5 which provided a new graduation requirement option of substituting two credits in computer programming languages for two Language Other Than English (LOTE) credits. In January 2014, the SBOE designated Computer Science I, II, and III as the courses that could satisfy this new option. At the April board meeting, the SBOE broadened this list to include AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A, IB Computer Science Standard Level, and IB Computer Science Higher Level (19 TAC, Subchapter 74.12, b, 5, ii). In addition, the board approved a provision that allows a student who successfully completes AP Computer Science A or IB Computer Science Higher Level to satisfy both one advanced mathematics requirement AND a LOTE requirement for graduation (19 TAC, Subchapter 74.11, k). The student would not earn two credits, but could use one of these two computer science courses to satisfy two graduation requirements.

SBOEThese changes will give more options to districts as they decide which courses they can staff. Many districts offer Computer Science I, Computer Science II, and AP Computer Science A. However, because many districts only have one teacher who is certified to teach computer science courses, some districts must choose whether to offer Computer Science II or AP Computer Science. Since AP CS was not on the list of courses that a student could take to satisfy the LOTE graduation requirements, students at these schools were precluded from substituting a computer programming course for a LOTE graduation requirement. This change will eliminate that barrier.

Hal Speed, the past-president of TA/CS-SIG (Technology Applications/Computer Science Special Interest Group), advocated on behalf of TCEA to make this change. It has taken several years to gather the necessary support for it. However, his hard work has resulted in additional options for students. This is an excellent example of the difference one  individual can have in changing policy.

Recommended Prerequisites for AP CS

In addition to these changes, the SBOE changed the recommended prerequisites for AP Computer Science A from Computer Science I and Algebra II to only recommending Algebra I. The board enacted these changes upon the advice of the College Board (19 TAC, Subchapter 126.62, a).

Interoperability Standards

The SBOE also took some positive steps toward adopting interoperability standards for digital products. TEA has worked with school districts to create standards for machine-readable TEKS. The board adopted rules on April 13 that will require companies that submit digital instructional materials for Proclamation 2020 to use these new standards. This will make it much easier for districts to import the TEKS into their LMS. Over time, the TEA-created machine-readable TEKS will also be incorporated into digital products purchased by the district, which again will aid a district’s implementation of instructional materials.

sboeIn addition, the SBOE is requiring publishers who submit digital instructional materials for Proclamation 2019 to complete The Report on Interoperability and Ease of Use. This report will provide the SBOE with valuable information about what standards the different companies are using, which will help them decide which standards are the most common. This will aid in deciding which interoperability standards they should adopt and require for future proclamations. This has been a huge headache for districts. They have invested countless hours uploading and downloading student information. Each company uses different file formats for inserting and changing student data. Therefore, when students enroll or leave a district, someone has to upload and download many different files just to ensure that the date is accurate. Districts have been clamoring for this type of action for several years. The state is one step closer to adopting interoperability standards, which, I’m sure, will be greeted with much applause.

TCEA applauds the Board on the changes they made at the April meeting. The elimination of these barriers will enable districts to offer students more opportunities, both in the field of computer science, but also in the ease of use of digital materials.

Photo of man on the floor typing on a computer taken by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash. Photo of two laptops on table taken by Marten Bjork on Unsplash.

 

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Hour of Code
Coding/Computer Science

How to Host an Hour of Code

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science to demonstrate that anyone can learn the basics of coding. The effort was also designed to demystify computer coding and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. The official Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2017 Computer Science Education Week will be December 4-10, but for all practical purposes, you can host an Hour of Code all year round.

Organizing an Hour of Code event at your school or in your community is easy. Their website provides step-by-step instructions on how to pull off the event, complete with activities your participants can use to learn to code in an hour.  They also provide ideas to get your community involved and a FAQ page that will answer almost every question you have about hosting an Hour of Code.

To assist you in your efforts, I reached out to several school districts who have participated in the event in the past to discover the best practices to follow when hosting an Hour of Code. 

Strategies to Increase Participation

Students engaging in Hour of Code

Photo courtesy of K.W. Barrett via Flickr.

Spring Branch ISD sends emails to district and campus leadership, posts planned Hour of Code activities on their website, and encourages community members to be “code buddies” with their students. They also use the #SBHourofCode hashtag to promote their efforts. To create some extra excitement, Karen Justl of SBISD, dresses up during the week as a Storm Trooper and visits several sites handing out stickers. How cool is that?!

Seguin ISD incorporates coding activities into all of their elementary and middle school technology application classes. And while students engage in coding lessons all year, there is a special emphasis during Computer Science Education Week.

Strategies to Involve the Community

Randy Rogers, Director of Digital Learning Services at Seguin ISD, invites numerous district and community leaders to come to campuses and participate in coding activities with their students. To facilitate this, elementary campuses submit a schedule of times that visitors can join students, and the dignitaries are assigned to various schools based upon their availability. In the past two years, SISD has had their state representative, mayor, city council members, county judge, chamber of commerce president, school board members, and more participate in an Hour of Code with one of Seguin’s students. What a great way to educate your elected officials about the need for more computer science! 

How the Hour of Code Highlights Your District

Students engaging in Hour of Code

Photo courtesy of K.W. Barrett via Flickr.

Spring Branch ISD includes pictures and stories about their Hour of Code activities on their district’s blog. Seguin sees the Hour of Code as an opportunity to have community members see and experience what their students are learning and a valuable opportunity to build relationships within the community. Rogers made clear the value he places in the Hour of Code when he said, “Our students are our best advertisement, and the interactions as our kids teach our community leaders how to use Scratch or Code Combat or Code.org is priceless!”

Computer science is foundational. It is changing every industry, which means every student should have the opportunity to learn how to create technology, not just use it. Participating in the Hour of Code will enable your students to experience the fun of creating a simple computer program and possibly encourage them to want to learn more. The sky is the limit!

 

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Scratch Day
Coding/Computer ScienceRoboticsSTEM/STEAM

Celebrate Scratch Day and a Decade of Fun, Free Coding

by Susan Meyer
written by Susan Meyer

This month, it’s time to gather together to celebrate your favorite coding language: Scratch! (And if it isn’t already your favorite, you’ll definitely want to read further and discover what you and your students could be gaining from this fantastic, free programming language). Every May, people around the world hold Scratch Day events. These are free events that anyone can join (or even host their own) to learn and share the exciting possibilities with Scratch.

Why Scratch?

The ability to code is quickly becoming a required part of modern digital literacy. When students learn how to code, they are also learning problem-solving strategies and critical thinking, as well as how to creatively communicate their ideas.

Scratch is a great first programming language. It’s completely free to use. It’s also a visual programming language, making it easy to grasp for first time coders. In Scratch, you move and snap together colored blocks to create the code. The organization of these blocks provides instructions to control characters called sprites. Young children can begin to understand the basic principles of coding without having to remember and write out lines of code. They can see immediate results and discover how adjustments in their code can change the resulting outcome. For more information on getting started with Scratch, check out this blog.

Scratch is specifically designed for learners ages 8 to 16. However, it is used and enjoyed by millions of people of all ages. Scratch isn’t just fun for new coders, but more experienced coders, too. As students gain more confidence in their coding skills, they can create more in-depth interactive stories and complex games and bring them to life through animation. They can also collaborate with others and share their creations in an online community. In fact, the Scratch community has over 21 million projects shared. These are great resources for programmers to get ideas, be inspired, and see the incredible range of what can be created using Scratch.

A Quick History of Scratch

I believe that the best way to help people understand the world is to provide them with opportunities to actively explore, experiment, and express themselves. 
–Mitchel Resnick, Creator of Scratch

This year isn’t just any Scratch Day time; it’s also the 10-year anniversary of Scratch. That marks a whole decade of millions of children and adults learning to code in a fresh new way.

Scratch was created by Mitchel Resnick through a group called Lifelong Kindergarten in the MIT Media Lab. The mission of Lifelong Kindergarten is to encourage learning through active discovery. Their philosophy is that people of all ages learn best when they are engaged with designing, creating, and inventing things, a premise that TCEA and all of our members strongly agree with and practice.

Resnick developed the earliest versions of Scratch while working with the students and staff at Computer Clubhouse. This is a network of after-school learning centers where students from low-income communities can use technology to express themselves. The name “Scratch” comes from the idea of collaboration and building off the work of others to create something new. “Scratching” in computer science means to reuse and re-purpose code and share it with others so that they can do the same.

Lifelong Kindergarten continues to grow and improve Scratch to match new technology. The first edition of Scratch was intended for people to download and use on their home computer. Scratch 2.0 allowed coders to design and share their projects directly in their web browsers. Scratch 3.0, which is expected to be released in 2017, will allow students to code on mobile devices and even integrate with Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Get Scratching

Scratch Day is a global network of events that celebrate all things Scratch. There are already over 400 projects planned this year. These events are designed to allow members of the Scratch community to come together in real time to share projects and ideas and learn from each other.

To find a project or event near you, go to the Scratch Day website. You can search by your city, town, or zip code to see what events are nearby. Don’t see an event near you? You can always host your own! The Scratch Day organizers provide resources for how to host a Scratch Day event including a planning checklist, sample agendas, and tips for effective facilitation.

Are you attending or planning to host a Scratch Day event this May? If so, we’d love to hear what you have in store in the comments section below.

 

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Android
AndroidCoding/Computer ScienceGoogle Tips and Tricks

Getting Serious with Android (Part 2)

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

As an Android developer, you may find that having a place to ask questions and getting ideas from other developers is a tremendous time-saver. To that extent, we’ll focus on forums and YouTube playlists for Android developers in this post. If you haven’t already, you may want to check out Part 1 of this series for great blogs and newsletters to help you enhance your Android development skills.

Forums

Android Developers Google Group

This public forum is great for anyone troubleshooting apps, seeking advice on implementation, and improving your app for speed or user experience. Search through almost 90,000 topics to find answers to your question if someone has already asked it or join the group and post to have other developers share with you.

AdndroidDev

With over 60,000 readers subscribed to this Reddit group, you are sure to find helpful information on all things Android. If you are just getting started, begin with their wiki which includes a helpful Q&A, resources, and app ideas (for developers and non-developers). Use the different tabs for the forum (hot, new, rising, top, etc.) to help in your searching.

AndroidForums

AndroidForums has done an excellent job of segregating their subforums to help you ask/find the information you need. They include featured forums, Android discussions, Android phones, Android tablets, wearable devices, other devices, and more!

AndroidPIT

AndroidPIT has a robust forum, tutorials, and code snippets to help you. And if you are developing to a particular phone, check out the forum for that specific device.

XDADevelopers

If you are part of the xda development community, head over to this forum. Threads are nicely segmented to help you quickly find the help you need. The site is very user-friendly and addresses all aspects of the development process.

YouTube Playlists

Android App Development for Beginners

Consisting of 77 videos, you’ll find this playlist a great find if you are just getting started. These videos are well-done screencasts designed for people who have not developed Android apps before. You’ll build from the ground up and develop confidence as you follow along. Bucky leads you on a Windows machine. You’ll begin by downloading JDK (Java Developer Kit) and Android Studio.

Android Development for Absolute Beginners

You’ll feel like someone is holding your hand as you go through these well-articulated videos that start with downloading the software you’ll need and building from there. Travis demos via screencast on his Mac using Eclipse ADT and Android SDK.

 Android Developers

There are many playlists to choose from here at the Android Developers YouTube site. Besides finding playlists to help with programming, let me recommend the Tips for Success on Google Play playlist for easy-to-understand tips and ideas.

What would you add?

Have you come across an other forums or YouTube playlists that you have found valuable regarding Android development? If so, share what they are below in the comments.

Watch for Part 3 in this series where we will focus on sharing podcasts and Google Communities to add to your toolbox as you grow as an Android developer.

 

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Laptop with code displayed on screen
Coding/Computer ScienceSTEM/STEAM

Made with Code

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In the near future, there will be 1.4 million programming jobs available. But only about 400,000 people to fill them. Let’s help our students and children get ready for the future. One way to do that is Hour of Code. If you don’t know about the Hour of Code yet, you are missing out on a global experience that prepares students to engage in computational thinking. Tutorials and hands-on activities focus on a visual programming environment, programming language, app programming, and “unplugged” activities. Best of all, there is little work you have to do as a teacher to impact students!

When Will It Take Place?

The Hour of Code is December 5-11, 2016. You can schedule an hour of activities during class time, after school (perhaps as part of a club/organization), or encourage students to use free time at home.

Who Sponsors Hour of Code?

Hour of Code, launched in 2013, is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science, as well as increasing participation by women (Watch video and See Made with Code) and under-represented students of color. The vision is that every student in school should have the opportunity to to be exposed to computer science skills. Hour of Code founders also support the idea that that computer science and programming should be part of the core curriculum in education, alongside other STEM courses.

Why Try an Hour of Code?

This activity helps demystify coding, programming, and computer science, helping each student learn the basics. Watch the Anyone Can Learn (60 seconds) video. Some may not realize that coding is applied mathematics, enabling students to learn new math concepts through programming. Introducing students to programming environments helps them represent math concepts visually and allows them to experiment on the representation. It also enables students to develop problem-solving skills, which translate well into the math classroom.

How Do You Get the Hour of Code Going District-wide?

Be sure to get buy in and help. You can do this by reaching out to campus principals, teachers, and/or organizational leaders. Schedule date(s) and time(s), organize instructors and helpers, as well as provide an agenda for each Hour of Code event. Publicize the event through flyers, blog entries, social media, and more. Record video/audio interviews with coders, young and old, and share them. Check out how NorthEast ISD has organized their Hour of Code event.

Apps and Programs by Grade Level

  • Grades PreK-2
  • Grades 3-8
    • Code.org: Write your first computer program featuring Angry Birds
    • Touch Develop: Combine this with Microsoft’s Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA) curriculum for a rich variety of coding on the go.
    • Scratch: Create a holiday card
    • Tynker: Build your own game.
    • Robomind Academy: Program a virtual robot.
    • Hopscotch: Code on your iPad and explore math concepts like units of measure, degrees, angles, coordinate planes.
  • Grades 6-12

More Resources

Find more resources online at the web sites below:

Remember, you don’t have to be a genius to do math, to read, to write, or code. Get started now and in a year, your students will be coding!

 

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coding
Coding/Computer ScienceMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

Touch the Future with Free Coding Resources

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

By 2020, the Internet of Things will include approximately two billion objects. Each of those devices will need to be told what to do through programming. Who better to do the job than our own Texas students?

The educational focus for the future must be to introduce non-programming teachers to the freely available grade 6-8 curriculum that they can use to support learners who tackle coding for mobile devices. One course is Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA), provided by Microsoft.

Coding, and computational thinking in general, is one of the most in-demand skills in today’s job market. But not so long ago, learning to code was mostly out of reach for late-middle school and secondary students. Coding wasn’t taught in the typical classroom, and educators – unless they had a computer science background – weren’t equipped to teach it. After all, coding can seem difficult to the beginner. But Microsoft has changed all of that.

Rich Curriculum, Free Coding Tool, Device Agnostic

This year, December 5-11, The Hour of Code will take place. To deepen student learning relevant to this event, Microsoft has developed a comprehensive curriculum for grade 6-8 students and their teachers. This rich curriculum relies on Touch Develop, a coding tool that works on all devices, such as Android and iOS phones and tablets, Chromebooks, and Windows, Macintosh, and GNU/Linux desktops/laptop computers. Microsoft Touch Develop is a powerful and engaging coding tool that lets students create fun games and real-world apps easily. Find out more online  here and here.

Sign Up and Touch the Future

Teachers are invited to register for a free professional learning opportunity in teaching introductory programming skills. The free session takes place on December 2, 2016 at TCEA headquarters in Austin, Texas. Teachers can register for Introduction to Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA). Take a day and learn how to easily introduce your students to the world of code and the future it brings.

 

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coding
Coding/Computer ScienceSTEM/STEAM

Computer Science Is Not New…So What’s All the Buzz About?

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

This is a guest blog by Keith Oelrich, CEO of Learning.com, a TCEA partner.

As I have posted before, interest in and discussion of computer science and coding instruction for K-12 students continues to grow. This article from PBS is a great overview of how some of our nation’s largest districts view this growing imperative, and how they are attempting to fill the need for their students.

Another sign of the momentum around this topic: today, in 29 states plus the District of Columbia, computer science credits can count toward high school graduation math and/or science credits; this number is up from 12 states just three years ago!

A few things about this are interesting to me. First, teaching computer science in K-12 schools is not new. This subject has been taught for decades, mainly in high schools and as an elective. What IS new and exciting is the recent emphasis on teaching computer science and computational thinking to ALL students, at ALL grade levels. There is a growing acceptance that CS/CT should be treated as a “fifth core subject,” on par with math, science, language arts, and social studies—and even our youngest students should have some early exposure to the topic.

Also interesting is the increasing recognition that learning CS/CT is not only appropriate for those who intend to pursue careers in programming or technology. The study of computer science provides skills which are applicable in many professions, in fields as diverse as retail, healthcare, manufacturing, entertainment, agriculture, and transportation, among others. Employers value the skills that students learn in studying computational thinking and coding such as problem solving, creative thinking, analysis, and logically organizing data. No longer is the study of computer science just for the “geeks.”

Here at Learning.com, we are excited to see these developments. For over 15 years, we have been working with school districts around the country to provide a technology literacy and pre-computer science curriculum for K-8 students. Our core product, EasyTech, covers many of the standards included in the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) standards for K-8 students. We deliver this offering today in more than one in every six districts across the nation, roughly 15,000 schools.

Earlier this year, we announced the development of our new Foundations of Coding/Computational Thinking lessons for grades K-8 (available for back to school this fall). This week, we are excited to announce the introduction of EasyCode, an additional set of coding activities and exercises for students in grades 3-8. With EasyCode, we provide a hands-on experience with a real coding language (Coffeescript), giving students the ability to write code to solve problems, test their solutions, and receive feedback. And all delivered in a fun, gamified environment that, I have to say, is quite addictive!

As mentioned in the linked PBS article above, one challenge facing districts is the lack of teachers who are trained to teach computer science. We have been helping districts address this problem for 15 years, and EasyCode provides great lesson plans, teacher support, and a variety of implementation options that ease the introduction of these activities into a variety of classroom or lab settings.

Take a look at EasyCode here and learn more about how you can offer CS/CT in your district.

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