Written by One of the reasons I applied to attend Cohort 21 was to connect with innovative and dynamic teachers. During today’s meeting, I had the privilege of talking with several colleagues who are passionate about computing and getting their students involved in technology. We all feel that this is a core skill in the 21st century economy, and want our all students to have some exposure to this discipline.
The issue is one of marketing essentially; computer programmers have a stereotype of sitting in basements at 3 AM with there faces lit up green by the text on their screens. It is a challenge to get students, especially girls, to picture themselves being successful in those courses. My action plan, when it is developed, will involve presenting the curriculum in such a way that it is accessible and interesting to a wider audience.
I have already begun to research teaching high school CS curriculum using Scratch, which is a drag and drop language that allows for instant visual feedback. I have also had preliminary discussions with teachers of other disciplines to see if we can collaborate on some projects in art or civics with a programming element.
In the near term, I will try to teach a concept to my current students using Scratch, and get their feedback on the experience.
Thanks to Andrew, Graham, Kyle and Ruth for some great conversations!
I look forward to hearing what you come up with, Adam. Let’s keep in touch and trade ideas/units/activities that work!
Thanks, Ruth, I’ll definitely be in touch. It’s great to know there are people out there pushing the envelope!
Have you looked at MIT App Inventor at all? That might be a hook. Logic blocks like Scratch, but the end product is something like they could use daily, in the real world.
Thanks, Ed, I’ve heard of it but haven’t really delved into it much. I’m still trying to firm up my end-of-year plans, perhaps I will pilot this platform.
Thanks to @jmedved and @ehitchcock for their recommendations – they’re great! This year at BVG we hosted our first school wide Hour of Code. Through this, I was connected with https://hatchcanada.com/ Check it out, it may provide some further resources. Also, I’d love to connect you with @lauragleeson12 and @anthonychuter at BVG who are doing a great job of this very marketing!
We are hosting the West Point Bridge Building Competition this Thursday at BVG and it’s a great example of embedding engineering in the curriculum directly and having a blast competing with these concepts. We currently have 8 schools attending. You’re welcome to come and check it out, or I’ll update you on it too!
Looking forward to hearing more,
garth.
Adam,
I totally hear you on the stereotype piece. As a Guidance Counselor, I have a hard time selling the Computer Science courses to students, whereas to me it’s a no-brainer. Coding is a skill that everyone is going to need to be marketable as an employee in the future. I’m glad to hear that teachers like you and @tchambers and @aruston are getting students started early by introducing them to the many aspects of coding! I look forward to hearing where your plan takes you.
Les