Learning to Code Websites

The #CSforALL movement continues to grow. Many students are excited about this growth, while many teachers are apprehensive. Thankfully, many websites are designed to guide the students through their learning to code journey, allowing the teacher to act as a facilitator. In other words, classroom teachers at the elementary through middle school levels aren't expected to be coders or programmers themselves. These teachers can oversee the progress of their students as they begin to take interest in this journey. Look into the following sites to get your students started.


Code.org (K- Adult)
Most famous for the "Hour of Code," Code.org is a great place for students to begin their coding experience. Younger students learn the coding process through block coding and then gradually begin to use Java, a coding language. The site has really taken off with a teacher dashboard. Teacher's can create a section for students to sign into so their progress can be followed. Complete lesson plans and modules are ready to go for teachers to assign to students K- 5. Middle school teachers have complete lesson plan access to Computer Science in Algebra and Computer Science in Science materials. Code.org also offers free PD for teachers either in person or online. All of these links are found on their Teacher Dashboard Page. 

Scratch (3rd Grade - Adult)
Created by MIT, Scratch is a great site to learn coding. It is highly engaging for students as they get to create different scenes for characters (or sprites) to act out in. Scratch allows students to share their creations to a project board for others to see. Once students get started, they can click the Tips tab at the top of the screen and there are many tutorials to guide them through their learning process.

Codecadmey (Middle School - Adult)
Codecadmey focuses more on the coding languages than block based coding. I would recommend this site for those students who rapidly completed block coding and are ready for that next step. What I like about Codecadmey is that it clearly lays out the programming language options on a menu for people to choose from: HTML, CSS, JAVA, and PYTHON just to name a few.

Pencil Code (Middle School - Adult)
Pencil code not as self explanatory as the previous two sites, but it does have some great features. The Materials for Teachers page breaks down concepts one by one, allowing teachers to hone in on particular skills. It's almost like grabbing a particular "worksheet" off of the shelf for a specific skill. Pencil code promotes the student creativity side of coding very heavily. There are art, music, and game making playgrounds for students to explore. I'm not sure I'd start off with pencil code, but it is a great place to send the students that get through code.org's Hour of Code quickly.

Teaching Digital Literacy: Resources to Help Students Validate Online Information

Digital Literacy is a term that is growing ever more popular among those teaching our 21st Century Learners. Also known as Information Literacy, Digital Literacy is an important component of what is known as Digital Citizenship. It is a skill that many children and adults grapple with. One of my favorite memes on the topic is right here!

We all chuckle, but then the conversation kind of fizzles out from there. It isn't that we shouldn't believe anything that we find online, it is that we need to be critical of the validity of what we find.

I often hear teachers say, "kids are so lucky now, they can just search for the information they need on the internet. They have the answers instantaneously." While it may be true, the statement doesn't take into account that students must be critical and validate information that they find. I argue that this was not a skill that previous generations had to grapple with as much. For example, as a child of the 80's and 90's, when I went to the library to look up information in encyclopedias and books, I didn't have to deeply question the validity of material found. I may have looked at publishing dates, but I hardly questioned who the author was, or the publishing company of the source. (I'm speaking of non-fiction texts of course) Yes our students can quickly access information, but they have to learn how to validate and be critical of that information.

So that leads to the following question: "How do I teach kids how to validate what they find online?"

Here are just a few resources out there to support teachers as they develop this 21st Century Skill with their students.

November Learning: Education Resources for Web Literacy - Middle School & Up
This site has 7 different steps to walk students through as they begin to learn about internet information, urls, domain names, and so on. It begins with a pre-test to give students an idea of where they stand.







Common Sense Education:
Common Sense has a great amount of support materials when it comes to teaching all aspects of Digital Citizenship. Here are just a few links that are directly used for Digital Literacy
Common Sense Education: Sites I Like (Grades K-2) - What makes a Website the Right Site For You?
Common Sense Education: You've Won A Prize! (Grades 3-5) - What is Spam and What Can You Do About It?
Common Sense Education: Identifying High Quality Sites (Grades 6-8) - When Can You Trust What You Find On the Internet?



iKeepSafe Digital Literacy - Google Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum (Grades 6-8)
The first lesson plan on this page titled, Become an Online Sleuth, can help you teach your students to use a critical eye while using the internet.



These are just a few of the many resources out there to support teachers and students as they shuffle through the unlimited information online.

Teaching Digital Citizenship with Google Classroom

As the beginning of a new school year approaches, teachers begin to think about introducing the norms & rules of their classroom to a new group of students. Included in these classroom behaviors, are the expectations for technology usage.

Digital Citizenship has become a popular term in recent years both inside and outside of the classroom. Frankly, it isn't only our students that need to work on Digital Citizenship skills, but many adults as well. Our devices and connectivity allow us to easily make comments and share posts with others. This can be a great way for us to learn and connect with others. Unfortunately, this also leads to negativity, hurtful comments, and unsolicited opinions to be spewed over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on.

How do we teach a new generation how to behave in digital spaces, when many students, parents, and other adults, don't necessarily behave themselves? Google Classroom and other Learning Management Systems (LMS) can give us that opportunity.

Google Classroom gives teachers the ability to control who can post and make comments to the "classroom stream." A great filter for teachers to be able to utilize as students begin to understand how to use the digital space.

However, only allowing the teacher to post and comment at all times can be detrimental. The less students are able to interact with the digital space, the less the students will be motivated to use it. More importantly, filtering their behavior for them will not give them the learning experience they need to build in their own filters.

Teachers must give some opportunities for students to post and make comments in the digital space. This will allow students to begin to use learning and social networks responsibly. Google Classroom allows teachers to model appropriate online behaviors for students as well as give students a safe digital space for them to try these behaviors out for themselves.

Here are some posting examples:

In both of these announcements to the class stream, the students are asked to participate in the commenting section. These are simple opportunites that the students have to have meaningful interactions within the digital space. The class is closed to only specific students to give them a safe place to interact. As the school year progresses, the teacher can allow students to create their own posts of videos, articles, or presentations to the class stream for discussion.

As stated, if a teacher never gives these opportunities, then the students will miss out on the complete experience that a LMS provides. They will also miss out on the understanding that any social network can lead to learning opportunities.

While we are all teachers of our content areas, we must prepare our students to succeed outside of the classroom. We need to give them the opportunity to interact with others through a digital space, and learn the concepts of Digital Citizenship. Google Classroom and other LMSs naturally lead to those opportunities.

Computer Science Practice Standards - An introduction to #CSforALL

This past fall (2015), I was lucky enough to be a part of the K-8 Computer Science Standards Committee for the state of Arkansas. Arkansas is the first state in the US to require all students in K-8 learn computer science standards. These standards will be embedded in other curriculum areas, CS will not be a stand alone subject. All of Arkansas's high school's must have CS courses available for interested students as well.

The Computer Science Standards (Linked HERE from the ADE Website) begin with a set of Computer Science Practices. These practices exhibit the "habits of mind" that it takes to succeed in the area of Computer Science. Many teachers will agree that these are also great habits to succeed in every subject.

Using Piktochart, I decided to make a printable poster for these practices. Please feel free to use and share this poster with your fellow teachers. Link to download poster: bit.ly/arcsprac

iPad Coding Apps for Beginners

As we approach Computer Science in Education Week this year. I wanted to share 3 iPad apps that are great for your young students to use for their Hour of Code. The age/grade ranges are suggestions, you may have to differentiate accordingly for your students. REMEMBER: "Hour of Code" doesn't mean that a child needs to be on an app for a solid hour non-stop. Ten minutes a day here or there would be great for our young coders.

Kodable
Kindergarten - 1st Grade:



Kodable is great for the basic coding concepts. Students select the directional steps that need to be taken to get from one side of the screen to another.
This gives students the basic idea that algorithms are the steps needed to accomplish a task. Kodable allows teachers to set up classrooms and view their students progress via class codes through their website. www.kodable.com

Lightbot: Code Hour
1st - 2nd Grades: 




Lightbot Code Hour asks students to be specific in the amount of steps that need to be taken within the algorithm. The Lightbots also perform rotations and actions.

Scratch Jr.
2nd Grade and above:


While this is a "Junior" version of MIT's Scratch program, it is still fairly complex compared to the other two apps mentioned. I believe that a child would have more success trying the Kodable and Lightbot Apps out first, before jumping into Scratch Jr. It offers many complex features. Students are able to add multiples within steps for an algorithm to be completed. Sound effects and voice can be added as well. Once they become comfortable with coding concepts, Scratch Jr. allows for endless creative ideas for your students.