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ISTE Standard: Computational Thinker
ISTE Standard: Computational Thinker
Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models, and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
Tool Overview: Hour of Code
Tool Overview: Hour of Code
The Hour of Code is a collection of free, interactive computer science lessons meant to teach basic coding skills to K-12 students. These lessons are short (as you may have guessed), well-organized, and engaging.
This educational campaign was created by Code.org, a nonprofit organization working to make computer science education accessible to a broader range of K-12 students. Code.org is committed to increasing diversity in computer science, which is a field where women and people of color are traditionally underrepresented. The Hour of Code program has been used by tens of millions of students—the majority of which are young women or students from marginalized racial and ethnic groups. You can read more about this program and Code.org's diversity work here.
Minecraft: Education Edition
Minecraft: Education Edition
For my initial foray into the Hour of Code, I decided to try out two of Minecraft: Education Edition's entries: "AI for Good" & "A Tale of Two Villages."
To be clear, the grade level of this particular tool (rated for grades 2+) is well below my own grade level (at least 5). But, as I had no experience with coding and plenty of experience with Minecraft, I couldn't pass this up.
"AI for Good" has you use simple block programming to get a cute little robot to help prevent forest fires by identifying and clearing dead plants—something that AI can now be used for in the real world. "A Tale of Two Villages" gives you the option of working with Python rather than blocks, and there's a little more variety between tasks. Both programs let you goof around once you've completed your lesson, which is a fantastic feature if you plan to engage a class in these activities in real-time.
Either of these activities could help students gain proficiency in ISTE's Computational Thinker standard. Every meaningful action in ME:EE is performed (at the user's command) by the robot, so students are made to break every problem down into discrete steps and solve each of those independently (5c). The optional post-hour activities require more experimentation and more advanced problem-solving than the basic tutorial. Even without those, though, there's educational value in this tool.
My Recommendation
I highly recommend visiting the website if you have any interest in learning or teaching introductory coding. There is a great variety of activities, and you can easily organize and filter them to get what you're looking for without too much trouble. That said, I don't know how I'd use this in a high school ELA classroom. Of the activities with a Language Arts tag, there are only three rated for high school students, and none of those seem particularly difficult to pass up.
So, while I have a lot of respect for Code.org and their mission, I doubt I'd find the right occasion to have a full high school ELA class engage in one of these activities.
TL;DR
I'd recommend ME:EE for personal use, but not for an entire ELA classroom.
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