Tuesday 29th January 2019
Coding, a word that has always terrified me. Before this class if I heard the word coding, I automatically thought of computer geniuses sitting in labs typing at mindboggling speeds, creating unimaginable ideas and information, and something I would never be able to do. Until now and with thanks to the introduction of ‘Scratch Jr’ I now realise even the least technologically minded person can easily use coding and have fun with it. In today’s society where ICT is a major part of everyday life, coding has now become an essential part of a child’s learning and even has its own benchmark within the curriculum for excellence. In the 2014 curriculum, education secretary Michael Gove has stated that, “For the first time, children will be learning to programme computers. It will raise standards across the board – and allow our children to compete in the global race.” (Curtis, S. 2013)
(Education Scotland n.d. P311)
Today’s lesson is the second of our four assessment tasks within the module. Before the lesson I done a little research on Scratch Jr and I also asked my two daughters who are aged 9 and 5 if they had heard of Scratch Jr before and I was pleased to hear that both my children are very familiar with Scratch. My youngest daughter especially got very excited at the thought of me learning how to work Scratch and mostly at the thought of her being able to teach me how to use it. I downloaded Scratch Jr onto my iPad and I was very surprised with how easily my 5-year-old could navigate her way through the app and how pleased she was with her finished product. Scratch Jr allows children to start off with the basics within coding, the bright, attractive colours, adorable characters and ability to add voice recordings lets children be as creative and imaginative as they wish.
For the assessment we were asked to create an interactive story combining both literacy and technology outcomes within the curriculum for excellence benchmarks using the Scratch Jr app. Thankfully I had look at the app and examples of good practice that were available to us beforehand at home because I spent a lot more time on it than I first anticipated. This meant I was able to get straight onto the task when in class and having figured out some of the more difficult parts of the app previously ensured I was not held back in class. The assessment also had to encourage children to develop their practical coding abilities by experimenting with how they could expand on the lesson I had created. “As young people create Scratch projects, they are not just learning how to write computer programs. They are learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills for success and happiness in today’s world” (The Lead project, 2014).
With this in mind I created a story about an astronaut who was in space and was a little dazed and confused so he asks the children for help. Pictures of the different planets appear, and the children have to say which planet is which. There is rewarding sounds when they get it right and also a chance for the children to expand the story, for instance, identify other things that can be found in space. I thought it would be a good idea if the class were doing space as a topic, hopefully would be a fun carry on activity that would allow the children to expand their knowledge of the topic further as well as developing their coding skills. I believe this would be a great way to teach coding to children as they would be expanding their knowledge of the specific subject they were learning and also building on their coding skills. The experiences and outcomes I chose to cover this activity are:
LIT 1-02a
When I engage with others, I know when and how to listen, when to talk, how much to say, when to ask questions and how to respond with respect.
(Education Scotland n.d. P26)
LIT 1-06a
I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in a logical sequence and use words which will be interesting and/ or useful for others.
(Education Scotland n.d. P27)
TCH 1-13a
I can explore and comment on processes in the world around me making use of core computational thinking concepts and can organise information in a logical way.
(Education Scotland n.d. P311)
Overall, I really enjoyed today’s lesson and getting to know my way around the Scratch Jr app was really fun. It is definitely going to be a go to lesson for me when I hopefully become a teacher, I think it would keep the children engaged and the children would get pleasure from seeing their final product and even presenting it to myself or the class, which would also build their confidence and problem-solving skills. Traits that are getting more and more sought after from further education institutes and employers. A teacher who has confidence in these areas can no doubt be able to pass these onto their pupils and if you show an interest and enjoyment in digital technologies it will mirror onto your pupils and encourage them to expand their minds further.
Deborah ♥
References
Curtis, S. (2013) Teaching Our Children to Code: A Quiet Revolution. The Telegraph. [Online] Available: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10410036/Teac/[Accessed: 30 January 2019]
Education Scotland. (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence.[Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf[Accessed:8 January 2019]
The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Programming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.
