Upon completion of today’s lesson in Digital Technologies, we were required to blog about our experience using an online resource that allowed us to revisit the concept of coding. Having previously had some experience in coding which involved creating a lesson using the programmable toy BeeBot, I was looking forward the prospect of using a different tool that would give me more depth and insight into another coding programme that I could use in both my student and professional capacity. The task given to us today was to create an interactive story through coding, using the programme Scratch Jnr. Scratch Jnr was developed for young people to help them develop creative learning skills for the 21st century. Such skills include collaboration, problem solving, logical reasoning and creative thinking. Furthermore, it was created in such a style in order to aid more enhanced learning whilst being adaptable and can be suited to individual learning styles for our children.
So why coding? Coding allows for children to be immersed into technology whist keeping in line with a diverse and technological society that we live in. It also allows for children to use their creative skills and imagination in conjunction to write a computer programme. The Lead Project (2014) states that,
” They are learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills for success and happiness in today’s world.”
Technology surrounds us everywhere on a daily basis; from smartphones and tablets, to smart boards in the classroom to reading flight times and information off of digitalised boards at airports. Children need to gain skills that will set them in good stead for their future as a young adult and continuing on through the rest of their life where technology is a prominent feature. As suggested by Naughton (2012),
”Starting in primary school, children from all backgrounds and every part of the UK should have the opportunity to: learn some of the key ideas of computer science; understand computational thinking; learn to program; and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of excellence in these activities.”
Today’s task saw us create an interactive story through using coding, by using the Scratch Jnr resource on an iPad. I felt quite confident in using the app as we had been given access to tutorial cards and online tutorial videos to view before we accessed the app which I found to be of benefit to me. It allowed me to gain an understanding of a lot of the features available on the app along with ideas and varying ways of creating an engaging and inviting story for children which would gain their interest and hold their attention. The story was to be based around promoting literacy skills whilst linking to the Curriculum for Excellence. I created a story which encompassed the following experiences and outcomes from early level outcomes the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence:
I enjoy exploring and choosing stories and other texts to watch, read or listen to andcan share my likes and dislikes. LIT 0-01b/LIT )-11b
I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts and, sharing my thoughts in different ways. LIT 0-01c
I am developing problem solving strategies, navigation and co-ordination skills, as I play and learn with electronic games, remote control or programmable. I can work individually or collaboratively to design and implement a game toys. TCH 0-09a/TCH 1-09a
The Scratch Jnr app allows children to create a storyboard which features multimodality along with promoting coding skills. Characters can be edited and moved around using programmable coding features, texts can be added and images/text/backgrounds can be edited and moved around. The lesson I developed allowed for children to use their own initiative and create their own ending to the story I had already made. This type of software promotes a wealth of benefits to the education of children, with the afore mentioned features being a few of these. It also has positive impacts on the educators, supported by The Lead Project (2014) stating that ”schools can use Scratch to aid teachers in subjects like mathematics, English, music, art, design and information technology”. This is a programme which can be used across the curriculum in a variety of ways: on an individual basis for the child or teacher; in a collaborative manner for pupils working in groups or between pupils and teachers and for teachers as individuals as well as sharing ideas with other professionals in the same career.
After reflecting back on my experience of Scratch Jnr today overall I would consider the experience of using the programme enjoyable and definitely something I will be revisiting in order to further enhance my skills and abilities on the app. I would consider this to be a valuable and intriguing resource to use in the classroom with children of all abilities in order to support them in their learning and in enhancing their skills in ICT. I look forward yo using this in both a student and qualified capacity and sharing ideas with peers in order to build up my knowledge on this exciting coding programme.
References
The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Programming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.
Naughton, J (2014) Why all our kids should be taught how to code Available Online at: moodle.uws.ac.uk/…/Why all our kids should be taught how to code Education The Observer.pdf First Accessed: 30/01/2018
The Curriculum for Excellence (2012) Education Scotland: Literacy and English Experiences and Outcomes. Available Online at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/literacy-english-eo.pdf First Accessed on: 30/01/2018
