Coding

My coding journey
To begin my journey in coding (as I am a complete newbie to this) I interacted with the online Code Monster tool.

Code Monster screenshot

Code Monster screenshot

While at the start I was engaged, I quickly became a little bored by the repetitive nature of the activity (I didn't even finish it, it just moved so slow). However, that being said, I do believe this would be an excellent resource to introduce students to coding and believe that this would easily be used with younger students, especially if they work in pairs and can help each other through the process (collaboration to read instructions and progress through each phase).

 To challenge myself in an environment that was more engaging, I switched to playing Erase all Kittens. Erase all kittens is an adorable game about saving kittens in a digital world. It incorporates computer coding in a fun way; coding is used to build structures to progress through the levels and help Arno save his kitten friends.

Erase all kittens

Erase all kittens

What a brilliant way to engage students in computer coding! My only negative feedback about this game is there weren't enough levels (I was rather addicted). I would love to see this game expanded to incorporate more coding and even have the feature of using coding to create your own character!

Screenshot from Khan Academy's Hour of Code

 Because I was so addicted to coding after this point, I thought I'd go back and check out the Khan Academy's Hour of Drawing with Code. I did not do much of this activity but found it much better as a drawing activity than Code Monster. I was able to listen to their tutorials, and then fiddle around with the numbers and commands and change the image. I think I would prefer to use this with my students to introduce them to the concept of drawing with code. They can work through the activities at their own pace (as with Code Monster) however, the recorded tutorials are a real bonus! It really helped me as a visual learner as I am sure it would help many students who prefer visual and audio means of learning.

Engaging my students with coding
Vicki Davis has excellent ideas for teaching students how to code on her blog. Some of my favourite resources suggested are:

• Tynker Hour of Code - this site has a huge range of online activities for students in many grade levels to learn how to code. The games would be quite engaging for students.
• Kodu: game creation software - free download from Microsoft. If I have some spare time I'd really like to have a go at this. I did not know such programs existed for free use! :) It would be a brilliant activity for children to engage in and would allow them to be tool builders, not just tool users (Barr and Stephenson, 2011, p. 51).

* Proposed activity *
Year level: Grade 3-4
Content Descriptors: [Processes and production skills] - "Define simple problems, and describe and follow a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve them (ACTDIP010)" (ACARA, c. 2015).
Proposed learning experience (summary):
I would like to utilise code.org's graph paper programming - unplugged activity.
See this video for a description of how the game works:

Code.org. (2013). Graph paper programming - unplugged activity. 

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3fi_ls8CA

What I would prefer to do with this activity is:

1. Give students a piece of grid paper approximately 15x15 grids.
2. Get the student to use two different coloured pencils to draw their own object.
3. Then get them to write up a set of instructions (with their name on the top) to create their drawing. These instructions should include a note at the top on which colours are needed and which colour to start with. The same symbols should be used that were in the above video.
4. The student then keeps their drawing but gives their instructions to a peer (swaps).
5. The students then attempt to create the drawing.
6. Once complete they compare their drawing to the intended drawing. If there are any variance, the designer and drawer work together to find the error (in the drawing or in the instruction design).

References
          Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (c. 2015). Australian curriculum: digital technologies. Retrieved May 2, 2015 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/digital-technologies/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
          Barr, V. & Stephenson, C. (2011). Bringing computational thinking to K-12: what is involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? acm Roads, 2(1), pp. 48-54. Retrieved from http://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/CurrFiles/BarrStephensonInroadsArticle.pdf