Digital Learning

Getting started with the computing curriculum

Talk of 'algorithms', 'variables' and other aspects of programming as part of the new computing curriculum needn't fill you with fear. In this article and the first of e-Learning Update's 7 professional development videos, Chris Thomas explores the basics of programming and two tools that will make teaching it a lot simpler.

Talk of ‘algorithms’, ‘variables’ and other aspects of programming as part of the new computing curriculum needn’t fill you with fear. In this article and the first of e-Learning Update’s 7 professional development videos, Chris Thomas explores the basics of programming and two tools that will make teaching it a lot simpler.

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      string(2554) "By combiningvalues from the sensors with commands to turn the motor, basic scenarios can be created.When combined with an understanding of loops, students will have developed the buildingblocks of how computer programs work. Find out how to get started with Lego Wedo in thevideo that accompanies this article.http://www.teachingtimes.come-Learning Video Based LearningScratchScratch is a free application(downloadable or Web based)created by MIT in America.Although it can be usedalongside physical systems, suchas Lego robotics, its primarypurpose is for programmingobjects on the screen, known as‘sprites’. Through this software,students are able to take theirprogramming skills to the nextlevel, developing their understanding of variables and ‘if else’ statements. These two conceptsprovide the backbone of all applications and enable students to write programs that willrespond to the actions of the user, such as games and quizzes.As with Lego Wedo, all of this is achieved without writing a single line of code;programming blocks are simply dragged and dropped into place to create sequences of code.The video that accompanies this article explains how to get started with Scratch programming.Moving ForwardAs I hope you have seen, computer programming needn’t be something we fear. By using theright tools it is possible to create complex programs without writing a single line of code. Doesthis matter though? Are students really learning to program if they’re not writing any code? Ibelieve so.The greatest gains to be had in teaching programming will not come through studentsbeing able to recall countless programming terms, but instead will be through developingstudents to think as programmers.One of the most exciting opportunities that the new computing curriculum offers is that ofdeveloping the way students approach problems.Do they think logically?Do they break large tasks up into achievable, smaller tasks?Do they look to find mistakes in their work and fix them?Do they have resilience when things don’t work first time?Can they work as a team?Computer programming can help develop all of these skills and the benefits will be felt acrossthe curriculum.nnnnnTo find out how to get started with the new computing curriculum, watch thevideo that accompanies this article, using the following login details:Follow link: http://vimeo.com/92824236Password: teachingtimes1http://www.teachingtimes.comhttp://vimeo.com/92824236http://vimeo.com/92824236"
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Digital Learning

Getting started with the computing curriculum (Includes training video)

5 Jun 2014

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      string(2657) "the school’s curriculum is deliveredeffectively and meets the needs of the children, I have neededto implement a robust strategy for monitoring and review. SinceSeptember, I have delivered staff training, reviewed planning, takensamples from a wide range of pupils’ work, and observed lessons invarious year groups, focusing on the children’s learning and how theyget to grips with the curriculum – all of which I will continue to do overthe coming months. In doing this, I hope to develop and improve thecurriculum for the benefit of the children.In the near future, as each year passes, the children’s knowledge andunderstanding will improve, and in order to respond to this, so too willthe scheme of work – it is important to remember that it is a workingdocument. It will be difficult to foresee all of the misconceptions,opportunities for extending learning and the support that willinevitably be needed to ensure children progress. However, I believethat we will be well placed to respond to any issues or challenges thatwe may face.Jason Chahal is a Year 6 teacher and leader of Computing andScience at Westwood Primary School in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Hehas worked closely with the Active Learning Trust to develop acomputing curriculum for the school, and leads the subject forother Active Learning Trust schools within the Lowestoft hub.Knowledge trails1. Getting started withthe new computingcurriculum – Talk of‘algorithms’, ‘variables’and other aspects ofprogramming as part of thenew computing curriculumneedn’t fill you with fear. Inthis article and free trainingvideo, Chris Thomasexplores the basics ofprogramming and two toolsthat will make teaching it alot simpler.www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculum2. How to crack code – MaxWainewright providessome advice on explainingand teaching algorithmsto primary-age students.[Available with subscriptionto e-Learning Update]library.teachingtimes.com/articles/how-to-crack-codehttp://www.activelearningtrust.orghttp://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/how-to-crack-codehttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/how-to-crack-codehttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/how-to-crack-code"
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Leadership

Decoding the new computing curriculum

11 May 2015

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      string(2301) "motor to be used as input and output devices respectively. By combining values from the sensors with commands to turn the motor, basic scenarios can be created. When combined with an understanding of loops, students will have developed the building blocks of how computer programs work. Find out how to get started with Lego Wedo in the video that accompanies this article.Scratch																							Scratch is a free application (downloadable or Web based) created by MIT in America. Although it can be used alongside physical systems, such as Lego robotics, its primary purpose is for programming objects on the screen, known as ‘sprites’. Through this software, students are able to take their programming skills to the next level, developing their understanding of variables and ‘if else’ statements. These two concepts provide the backbone of all applications and enable students to write programs that will respond to the actions of the user, such as games and quizzes.As with Lego Wedo, all of this is achieved without writing a single line of code; programming blocks are simply dragged and dropped into place to create sequences of code. The video that accompanies this article explains how to get started with Scratch programming.Moving ForwardAs I hope you have seen, computer programming needn’t be something we fear. By using the right tools it is possible to create complex programs without writing a single line of code. Does this matter though? Are students really learning to program if they’re not writing any code? I believe so.The greatest gains to be had in teaching programming will not come through students being able to recall countless programming terms, but instead will be through developing students to think as programmers.One of the most exciting opportunities that the new computing curriculum offers is that of developing the way students approach problems.Do they think logically?    Do they break large tasks up into achievable, smaller tasks?    Do they look to find mistakes in their work and fix them?    Do they have resilience when things don’t work first time?    Can they work as a team?Computer programming can help develop all of these skills and the benefits will be felt across the curriculum."
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Digital Learning

FREE training video: Getting started with the new computing curriculum

5 Jun 2014

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      string(4876) "outstanding,not only for the quality of its content, but alsobecause it is an open-source document andshared freely under a Creative Commonslicense.To that end, I will leave you with three ofmy own introductory Scratch activities inthe style of the Scratch curriculum guide totry out with your pupils today. Each includesa lesson guide for educators and an activityhandout for learners. The activities can becompleted in about 30 minutes each, and willgive children the opportunity to experiencecreative computing for themselves. So try it foryourself, and let’s teach kids to code!Dylan Ryder is an EducationalTechnologist at The School at ColumbiaUniversity, an independent K-8 school inNew York City.Resources forcreative computingCreative Computing: ScratchCurriculum Guide, by KarenBrennan, Christian Balch, andMichelle Chung. Free to download,and available as an educator’s guide(pdf), student workbook (pdf), and aneditable powerpoint for remixing andtranslating.Scratch Programming in EasySteps, by Sean McManus.Learn to Program with Scratch:A Visual Introduction toProgramming with Games, Art,Science and Math, by Majed Marji.Super Scratch ProgrammingAdventure!, by the LEAD Project.ScratchEd Website: scratched.gse.harvard.eduReferences1. Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., Rusk,N., Eastmond, E., Brennan, K., Millner, A., Rosenbaum,E., Silver, J., Silverman, B. and Kafai, Y. (2009) Scratch:Programming for All. Communications of the ACM, 52(11),pp 60-67. Available at: web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Scratch-CACM-final.pdf [Accessed 03/02/2015].2. Brennan, K., Balch, C. and Chung, M. (2014) CreativeComputing: Scratch Curriculum Guide. Licensed Under CCBY SA 4.0. Available at: scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/[Accessed 03/02/2015].3. Brennan, K. (2013) Learning Computing through Creatingand Connecting. Computer, 46(9), pp 52-59.4. Malan, D.J. and Henry, H. (2007) Scratch for BuddingComputer Scientists. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 39(1), pp 223-227.5. Lamb, A. and Johnson, L. (2011). Scratch: ComputerProgramming for 21st Century Learners. Teacher Librarian,38(4), pp 64-68.Knowledge trails1. Getting started with the new computing curriculum – Inthis article and free training video, Chris Thomas explores thebasics of programming and two tools that will make teachingit a lot simpler – Scratch and LEGO Wedo.www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculum2. Making mathematics phenomenal: The case forprogramming – David Pratt of the IOE looks at thebenefits of incorporating programming into the wider mathscurriculum.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/makingmathsphenomenal3. Microworlds – Nick Packard describes what happened whenhe introduced his pupils to Logo, a computer programminglanguage for schools.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/microworldsDownload allthree lessonplans and theirresourceshere!http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guidehttp://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guidehttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/http://www.sean.co.uk/books/scratch-programming-in-easy-steps/http://www.sean.co.uk/books/scratch-programming-in-easy-steps/http://www.nostarch.com/learnscratchhttp://www.nostarch.com/learnscratchhttp://www.nostarch.com/learnscratchhttp://www.nostarch.com/learnscratchhttp://www.nostarch.com/scratch2http://www.nostarch.com/scratch2http://scratched.gse.harvard.eduhttp://scratched.gse.harvard.eduhttp://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Scratch-CACM-final.pdfhttp://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Scratch-CACM-final.pdfhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/guide/http://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://www.teachingtimes.com/articles/training-video-free-new-computing-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/makingmathsphenomenalhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/makingmathsphenomenalhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/microworldshttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/microworldshttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/scratch-activities-resource-packFocuson: Computing30Volume5.3nCreativeTeaching&Learning31Volume5.3nCreativeTeaching&LearningFocuson: ComputingFocuson: Computing32Volume5.3nCreativeTeaching&Learning"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Starting from Scratch

27 Mar 2015

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