Coding Across the Curriculum: How Computer Programming Can Maximize Problem-Solving Skills and Student Engagement (Course # C234)
Instructor: Andrew Frisch
andrewfrisch1107@gmail.com
Welcome to the course! Assignments, which can be found below, should be individually e-mailed as Word documents or PDFs to andrewfrisch1107@gmail.com. Please do NOT share as Google Docs! Ten assignments are to be completed for the course. Assignments 1 and 12 are mandatory. The other eight assignments are of your choosing.
Assignment # 1: Course Introduction
Welcome to the "Coding Across the Curriculum" online course! I’m looking forward to reading your assignments and hoping that this will be a positive and productive experience for you.
Please write a brief letter of introduction, including the following:
What school district and school you teach in;
Grade and subject area;
How long you've been teaching;
What you like most about your job;
What most interests you about the course topic?
(Note: If you have taken previous online courses with me, please feel free to use the same letter of introduction.)
Assignment # 2: Coding in your district
As you know, coding is an up and coming trend in schools. What has your district already done to promote coding in the various buildings? Have they participated in the annual "Hour of Code" event? Please write anything you have heard or seen about coding in relationship to how your district including it in the curriculum.
Assignment # 3: Why teach coding?
Please read the following article: http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1934-why-teaching-and-learning-how-to-code-in-schools. Summarize and reflect on the article, and share some of your viewpoints that resulted from reading the article.
Assignment # 4: Coding in the Elementary Schools
Some research indicates that it is important to teach coding at a young age. This article explores that line of thought: https://www.iste.org/explore/articledetail?articleid=216. After reading the article, what are your thoughts on that? How do you see it fitting in with what you teach and your curriculum?
Assignment # 5: TED Talk on the importance of coding
Please view the following video: https://www.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code?language=en. Please reflect on the video. Did you enjoy it? Have you ever used Scratch? Also, what do you think of the idea "learning to code" vs. "coding to learn"?
Another interesting article that is related to this idea of coding to learn: www.edutopia.org/blog/learning-to-code-learning-to-learn-gerard-dawson?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Assignment # 6: "Scratch"-ing the Surface of Programming with Scratch
I would like you to make a program using Scratch. Scratch is a very popular beginner programming language that can be easily learned by students at a young age. Complete one of the tutorials or make something of your own. For the assignment, submit a screen shot of your creation as well as a brief reflection on making the program and the website. Also, how relevant and appropriate is it for your population?
Scratch Website: https://scratch.mit.edu
Video Tutorials: https://scratch.mit.edu/help/videos/
Assignment # 7: Tinkering with Tynker
Create a program using Tynker, another popular beginner language. Complete one of the tutorials listed or make something of your own design. Submit a screen shot of your design as well as a reflection on making the program and the website. Also, how relevant and appropriate is it for your population?
Tynker Website: https://www.tynker.com/
Tutorials: https://www.tynker.com/support/videos
Assignment # 8: code.org Exploration
Visit https://studio.code.org/courses?view=teacher and explore activities appropriate to your grade level. Try out activities for yourself and take screenshots of what you complete as well as reflect on the activities. How well does this site suit your population? Try out at least three activities.
Assignments 9 and 10: Lesson Plan
Create a lesson that makes use of one of the coding websites you may have visited in Assignment 6, 7, and/or 8. Indicate the subject and grade area as well as how it is relevant to your curriculum. This does not need to be a full length lesson plan that you made in your methods course! You can give a rough outline of what you will do in the lesson (including an introduction/motivation, lesson activities, and closure). I'd love it if you actually were able to implement this in your class and reflect on how it went.
If you already have happened to do something like this in your classroom, feel free to describe the lesson you did it with and reflect on it. Otherwise, this can potentially be something for the future!
Assignment # 11: Putting it into Practice
Now that you have gotten a sense of what coding is about and why it should be done, write a short piece on how you would go about incorporating it in your curriculum and classroom. What resources and support would you need? If this is not something you see as feasible in your current situation, please explain why that is so, and perhaps an alternative.
Assignment # 12: Course Evaluation
Thanks so much for being a part of this online course! It’s been a pleasure being your instructor.
For your final assignment, please write a brief evaluation of the course.
In your evaluation, please indicate your overall satisfaction with the course. Also, it would be helpful to hear which assignments you liked best and which you found particularly interesting, informative or relevant. Please let me know which topics you most enjoyed learning about.
All comments are welcome and, again, thanks for spending this time at a CORE Professional Development online course!