Scratch | Christopher's Reflective Journal

Tuesday 7th February 2017

Internet Safety Day/Coding

As I stated last week, this week would involve finishing off the assessment task for Scratch Jr. We also had an in-depth and detailed discussion about internet safety for children and ourselves. This was very relevant to the day as today was in-fact safer Internet Day.

Firstly, I finished off the presentation on how to create a scratch Jr. and how I made mine relevant to the Hungry Caterpillar. The main challenge for me here was trying to perceiver with the different formatting issues between Apple products and Windows products. Everything was going well, and I was on track until I tried to upload my video of the finished product and my phone would not send it due to it being too large of a file. So, I then thought I had cracked it by using an iPad to film it. Hurray, I thought as I saw the video in my inbox for my emails, for it to say that it did not support the media player that was used to make the video. I had to have a lot of stamina and patience but I got there so I hope you will like it. I will attach the whole presentation with the video included so you can have a look. Hopefully, this task will be a good enough assessment as I put a lot of effort that I did not think I would need into it.

As I had finished my assessment task, I decided that I would do a bit more reading on programming and coding as I found it very interesting and I was really seeing the advantages of using this kind of technology in the class. I read an article that was about the importance of making sure our children were learning to code, similar to the one I read last week. However, there was one part that really stuck out for me that summarised well the importance of teaching children to code. “This is not just an evolutionary change – this is a massive revolution in the study of computing… England is leading the world in this transformation and, bizarrely, no one seems to know about it.” (Curtis, S. P.2.). This quote shows what leaders we are being in technological terms, but it could be questioned as to: are we actually teaching this to our children even if we are the leaders, or are we forgetting to do this?

The article also raised a point that I liked to hear: “staff are even working through the courses themselves to develop their own understanding prior to teaching, because as we know there is not yet a great deal of support/training being offered in schools” (Curtis, S. P.4.) This shows, that the teaching staff clearly too feel that there is a great importance of using coding to teach children. They can see the advantages this has to the children’s learning attitude and how interactive the lessons become. For the staff to do this, with a lack of resources and training is honorable but shows how important they must think coding is to force it through and train themselves.

Once I had finally stopped pulling my hair out and fretting about every little thing about my presentation, we focused on the next part of the module which was: animation. This related well to today as the animation was going to be based on Internet Safety, when today was actually Internet Safety Day. Over the next few weeks I will discuss the importance of children being safe on the internet. We as teachers should encourage and teach children how to use the internet effectively and safely. In today’s 21^st century the internet is used now on a daily basis, we should make sure children know who to go to or what to do if anything goes wrong. As Johnathan Allen et al pointed out: “encouraging a culture where children feel able to report things they see which make them feel uncomfortable fosters a responsible attitude and begins to educate learners about how they would deal with these issues in the wider world beyond the classroom” (Allen, J. et Al. P.195). Allowing children to use the internet allows them to access a worldwide web of knowledge and resources. Teachers and pupils can change the way normal tasks such as homework is given out through the use of the internet. However, for the resource of the internet to be used effectively: staff and pupils must be trained in the first instance to make sure both parties stay safe and what to do if there are any dangers!

As we decided as a class to make our animation assessment task relevant to children, we split into groups to discuss the apparent dangers the internet can bring to children and everyone. To introduce us on how we would go about this, we watched a video of the consequences and upset the worst case scenario consequences could be if a child is sucked into not being safe on the internet. We then watched some demonstrations on how to create a movie or trailer on different programs. We then had the opportunity to have a go ourselves and play around with different formats on what each program had to offer.
When we had got a feel for the different programs, we were to decide who to work with and how we were going to go about it. I will not give the game away just yet on what we are planning to do as that will keep the suspense for next week. We are also still in the very early stages yet so we are still not too sure about what angle we are taking. I think we did agree on using iMovie though as it looked like the best program to use for either a trailer or film.

Stay tuned to find out what we are doing for our animation task and how we get on. For sure next week will once again be a fun, busy day.

Remember to check out my Scratch Jr. presentation by clicking on the blue link below the PowerPoint image.

PowerPoint – with my Scratch Jr. made program.

assessment-task-scratch-christopher-ewing-7-2-17-with-video

References:

Curtis, S. (2013) Teaching Our Children To Code: A Quiet Revolution [online]

Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10410036/Teaching-our-children-to-code-a-quiet-revolution.html [Accessed: 7 February 2017]

Allen J. Potter J. Sharp J. and Turvey K. (2011) Primary ICT. 4^th Edition, Glasgow: Learning Matter ltd.

Tuesday 31^st January 2017

Programming/Coding

What can I say, this class is always interesting and there is never a dull moment. This week we were building on the knowledge we gained last week, on how to use programmable toys in the classroom. Well, we stripped this right back for this week. We used the app Scratch Jr, so we as the learner could see what it was like to program something and what codes and secrets were needed to make it do the actions we wanted.

As always, we made sure it related to a classroom setting. We did this by watching how a normal story, out of a reading book could become far more interactive. The children could use their imagination and be as creative as they could be. It was all about getting the children’s imagination not only just how to work and use technology but using this technology in their own inventive and imaginative ways. For example, a lesson such as story writing does not just need to be done on paper and in a jotter. The children could learn the codes of scratch and write their own story using this. This module is really opening my eyes on how to be more creative and step away from the usual boring ‘black and white’ methods of teachings things in a classroom. Scratch Junior also allows text to be added meaning the children are still using words in a written form even if they are not writing it down. They are using their knowledge gained from around them and applying it in a fun and interactive way that they will remember. The ICT and technology being used “is a catalyst for provoking thinking, it can present opportunities for looking at communication and interaction in new ways. The widespread modes of communication with ICT have, until recently, been the written word, visual images and sound.” (Loveless, A. P.54) The way in which the Scratch Jr. is getting the children to interact though communication technology wise and human wise is fascinating. It is teaching them to communicate effectively with one another through oral means and to work as part of a team. They are then problem solving for which way they want the Scratch Jr. to go. They are once again using communication but through coding this time so the Scratch Jr. goes the right way and does what the group want it to do.

Also, as it was an iPad app this means the children could go home and get further practice on how to use this. Homework tasks such as asking them to create a fun story to the class can be done at home. This approach is about using the resources available to each child and getting them to learn and work out-with the class. Many children now have iPads and usually just play games that are not that educational. This would encourage them to use the iPads but in a more constructive way. Another thing the teacher could do is to make the children present their inventive ideas to the class. This would allow the children’s confidence to be built-upon and also their oral skills and non-verbal skills of communication. I am very surprised at how technology can meet so many outcomes and is more interactive way of getting the children to engage. Also, the benefits technology brings in the sense of taking things home. It is always a plus when the children want to take things home. The technology here is encouraging learning in so many forms.

The rest of the time was handed over to us to make our own creative way of showing how to work Scratch Jr to other teachers and the benefits it can bring. We have to make it based on a lesson. We can go in any direction and make it any way we desire to go. I have chosen to show a well-known story of the Hungry Caterpillar as I thought it was well known and Scratch Jr would allow me to show this off in an interactive way. I am well through my presentation now but I have had to overcome a lot of technical glitches. I am nearly finished, but have the opportunity to work on it next week as there are still some loose ends needing tied up. I also have a little pressure as this is an Assessment Task and I not only want my presentation to be interesting but also understandable to pass. As we have the opportunity to work on it next week and I have not finished I will post the full and finished presentation for you next week. I have tried to lay-out my presentation in such a way that is appealing for teachers’ eyes but also that it is easy enough to follow. I hope my coding for the Hungry Caterpillar goes better and is a bit easier next week!

As you can see from above I found today extremely interesting and the knowledge and use of technology I have is growing stronger every time I enter this class. I am so taken-back as to all the different uses and how interesting technology can make something. I am really enjoying this module!

Once I had finished with the class, I decided to do a bit of further reading with articles that our lecturer had given us and from what I am already reading in several books. There was one are article that talks about why all children should be taught how to code. This is because children “need to understand the networked world in which they are growing up in” (Naughton, J. 2012, P.3). A really interesting benefit that the article highlights is the understanding in which children will develop if they are able to fully code. “It will increase problem solving skills and develop computational thinking” (Naughton, J. 2012, P.3), where the children will know the differences of computerised thinking and humanised thinking. It also gives an extensive list as to the type of understanding terms the children will develop if they are able to code. Children will have the understanding for: algorithms; cryptography; machine intelligence; computational biology; recursion and heuristics. (Naughton, J. 2012)

As I said I will post the finished product next week when I have completed all the tasks. Until then have a good week!

Christopher E.

References:

Naughton, J. (2012) Why All Our Kids Should Be Taught How To Code [online] Available: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/mar/31/why-kids-should-be-taught-code [Accessed: 31 January 2017]

Loveless, A. The Role of ICT (2003) London: The Bath Press, YHT ltd.

DT Week 5 – Internet Safety Day/Coding

DT Week 4 – Programming/Coding

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