Digital Doors was created as a place for me to blog and share resources that I think would be helpful for teachers integrating technology in meaningful ways in their classroom. My goal would be to write a blog post a week, but with my busy schedule, that doesn't happen. I write when I can and rely on nifty tools to help me share what I am finding when I don't have time to write.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

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The Hour of Code is Coming!



Next week is Computer Science Education Week.  This is a way to bring to light the careers and opportunities available to students who gain a Computer Science Education.  The emphasis will be on coding.

I have said many times to teachers that as the technology gets more complicated, it actually gets easier for the consumer.  Even our most technophobic teachers, can order something on Amazon, play Candy Crush on their phone and get cash from an ATM.  So with the growing ease of use, comes the growing number of consumers and the growing number of jobs for those with Computer Science skills.

Teaching code to kids is a great way to have kids problem solve, think logically, and collaborate.  Kids (and adults) of all ages can learn how to code.  And coding can be fun.  We even have a few coding apps on the iPads for Kindergarteners to get started learning the process at there level.  And one of the coolest things about teaching kids to code is that in most cases, it is self directed and self motivated.  All you have to do is provide the right opportunities and point the students in the right direction and they're off on their own, testing ideas, trying to solve their own problems etc.

Greg Doud, at LaVenture has been running a Coding Club for kids after school.  He is really excited to see how the kids have run wiith this activity and continue to push themselves to learn more.  I have added coding activities and sites on our Elementary Tech Lab resources page so that students in our labs and at home can explore and learn coding.

I encourage you to share the Hour of Code resources with your students and perhaps even plan to do an Hour of Code with your students during the week.  (or in the future.)

Here are a few resources to get you started.


Computer Science Education Week
Coding for Kids
TED : Let's Teach Kids to Code
7 Apps for Teaching Coding to Children Pin It Now!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If any of the students want to follow up this hour of coding with some in depth coding tutorials, I can't recommend http://www.visualbasictutorial.net highly enough