GitHub In The Classroom

Overview, Introduction & Prerequisites:

This is an Introduction to the installation process of using GitHub in the classroom. This page will cover a Mish-Mash of Web resources showing this process. The goal is to be able to understand all the GitHub resources available, and a step by step of what I do in my class... and hopefully help other teachers.

Prerequisites:

No explicit prerequisite course work, Electronics, Logic, or coding knowledge is required. Come as you are. 🧠

Topics:

GitHub
GitHub Resources
Setting up a GitHub classroom
Lessons & Labs
Projects

I'm a huge supporter of Open Source and Creative Commons resources. This is another way of saying Free, Equitable and Accessible resources... 📽️ 🎧 📰 📖 📝🛠️ 🖼️ - Want to Support Me on this endeavor?

Let's get started... Its going to be a wild, fun, awesome ride...

Web Site: WWW.STEAMCLOWN.ORG | Contact: TopClown@STEAMClown.org | LinkedIn: Jim Burnham | TikTok: STEAM Clown

Consider Supporting my Open Source STEAM Curriculum Development -- Patrion: Jim The STEAM Clown | Amazon: Amazon Classroom Wishlist,

WORK IN PROGRESS

Unit: Computer Hardware & IT Fundamentals
- Module: TightVNC
This is a LEARNING Activity : Lesson / Lab

Last Revised: June, 10 2025- Authored: May 29,2025
Original Author: Jim Burnham - TopClown@STEAMClown.org
Content License: Distributed as Open Source. See Rights & Usage

Note: TEACHERS!!!! If you are going to use any of these lessons or labs, please let me know. I would really like to understand how you are using this material. I want to know what works, what does not work, what would you like me to add, and how I can make it better. If you changed something, let me know, because it's probably a good idea and you should share it with me, so I can add it and share with everyone else.

This Module or lesson is how I teach in my class. Many of the lessons might be specific to my class, but you could probably adjust them for your class. I'll try to make them a neutral as I can, so they can be used in any Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, or any other Engineering / Technology class. Let me know how I can make that better. I'll try to keep this unit current and relevant. Please let me know if any resource links are broken or not accessible.

Send me email at TopClown@STEAMClown.org You can also Join the STEAM Clown's Mailing List. If you want to Unsubscribe, click my Unsubscribe From Mailing List link

Overview and Introduction:

Author: Jim Burnham - TopClown@STEAMClown.org. License: Distributed as Open Source.

GitHub In The Classroom

Learning Objective:

Module Scope:

Introduction to GitHub

Learning Targets:

Lots of GitHub learning

Prior Knowledge:

Basic understanding of coding

Resources & Materials Needed:

PC, Laptop or Other device to access the GitHub web & application
Each lesson will have specific items needed to complete the labs and tasks

Prerequisites:

No explicit prerequisite course work or coding knowledge is required, but students are expected to have a good understanding of basic computer principles.

Caution & Safety Considerations:

Primer: "Aaron, I can imagine no way in which this thing could be considered anywhere remotely close to safe. All I know is I spent six hours in there and I'm still alive... You still want to do it?"

As with any activity, please make sure you are using appropriate safety equipment. If you are coding, writing, reading, or working a lab, make sure you stand up and stretch every hour or so, Please consider any safety issues connecting to a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, computers and other electronic equipment.

Essential Questions:

Key Academic Vocabulary or Concepts:

GitHub -

Step 1: GitHub - Introduction

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 2: Getting Started - References & Resources

GitHub Reference, Tutorials & Other Online Resources:

Web Resources:

Me confessing and asking Claude for help: Holy crap, as a teacher who considers them selves an expert in a lot of technology, I suck at GitHub, and knowing how to run a project and team based collaboration on GitHub. can you provide a set of links to good getting started with GitHub. links to online resources, youtube video creators, etc. My goal is to learn how setup a repository, where I can collaborate with other, and quickly get up to speed with administrating a GitHub repository/project and learn how to manage commit/push/pull request.

Claude just being "nice": Don't be hard on yourself — GitHub collaboration is genuinely a different skill from just knowing how to code, and most tech people learn it on the job rather than formally. Here's a curated roadmap of resources:

🏁 Start Here — Official GitHub Resources

These are the best first stops because they're accurate, free, and maintained by GitHub itself.

GitHub Hello World Tutorial — The official hands-on intro. Covers repos, branches, commits, and pull requests in under an hour. 👉 https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/hello-world
GitHub Skills — Interactive courses that introduce repositories, branches, commits, and pull requests. No prerequisites, takes less than an hour. GitHub Learn by actually doing it inside GitHub. 👉 https://skills.github.com
GitHub Docs — Collaborating with Pull Requests — The official reference for everything PR-related. 👉 https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests

🎮 Interactive / Hands-On Learning

Learn Git Branching — A visual and interactive way to master Git commands and branching — probably the most intuitive explanation you'll find. GitHub It's game-like and genuinely fun. 👉 https://learngitbranching.js.org

📺 YouTube Channels

GitHub's Official Channel Short, focused videos straight from the source covering everything from cloning to pull requests. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@GitHubGuides

FreeCodeCamp Covers all the basics: Git, GitHub, branches, commits, pull requests, etc. GitHub Their full Git & GitHub crash course is frequently recommended as the single best free video for beginners. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@freecodecamp

Traversy Media Brad Traversy takes complex concepts and breaks them down like he's talking to a friend. No fluff, no overthinking — clear, practical instruction. DEV Community Great crash courses on Git/GitHub workflows. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TraversyMedia

The Net Ninja Short, focused videos — each video covers a single concept, making it easy to learn at your own pace. Analytics Insight Great for looking up specific things like "how do I resolve a merge conflict." 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@NetNinja

Fireship Fast, sharp explainers. Great for quickly understanding what something is before you go deeper. His "Git it? How to use Git and GitHub" video is excellent. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship

📘 Free Structured Courses

The Odin Project — Free full-stack curriculum that includes solid Git/GitHub modules with real projects built around collaboration workflows. 👉 https://www.theodinproject.com
Google's Introduction to Git and GitHub (Coursera) — A proper structured course covering branching, pull requests, and team workflows. Free to audit. 👉 https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-git-github

🎯 Your Specific Learning Goals — Where to Focus

Since you specifically want to get up to speed on repo admin, collaboration, and push/pull requests, here's a suggested order:

Do the GitHub Hello World first — gets you oriented in 30 minutes
Watch FreeCodeCamp's Git crash course — fills in the command line fundamentals
Play Learn Git Branching — makes branching actually click visually
Work through GitHub Skills "Introduction to GitHub" — hands-on practice in a real repo
Read the Pull Requests collaboration docs — once you have the basics, this becomes very clear

Step 3: Creating An Account:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 4: GitHub - <something>:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 5: GitHub - <something>:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Sort and Organize:

Don't be hard on yourself — GitHub collaboration is genuinely a different skill from just knowing how to code, and most tech people learn it on the job rather than formally. Here's a curated roadmap of resources:

🏁 Start Here — Official GitHub Resources

These are the best first stops because they're accurate, free, and maintained by GitHub itself.

GitHub Hello World Tutorial — The official hands-on intro. Covers repos, branches, commits, and pull requests in under an hour. 👉 https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/hello-world
GitHub Skills — Interactive courses that introduce repositories, branches, commits, and pull requests. No prerequisites, takes less than an hour. GitHub Learn by actually doing it inside GitHub. 👉 https://skills.github.com
GitHub Docs — Collaborating with Pull Requests — The official reference for everything PR-related. 👉 https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests

🎮 Interactive / Hands-On Learning

Learn Git Branching — A visual and interactive way to master Git commands and branching — probably the most intuitive explanation you'll find. GitHub It's game-like and genuinely fun. 👉 https://learngitbranching.js.org

📺 YouTube Channels

GitHub's Official Channel Short, focused videos straight from the source covering everything from cloning to pull requests. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@GitHubGuides

📘 Free Structured Courses

The Odin Project — Free full-stack curriculum that includes solid Git/GitHub modules with real projects built around collaboration workflows. 👉 https://www.theodinproject.com
Google's Introduction to Git and GitHub (Coursera) — A proper structured course covering branching, pull requests, and team workflows. Free to audit. 👉 https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-git-github

🎯 Your Specific Learning Goals — Where to Focus

Since you specifically want to get up to speed on repo admin, collaboration, and push/pull requests, here's a suggested order:

Do the GitHub Hello World first — gets you oriented in 30 minutes
Watch FreeCodeCamp's Git crash course — fills in the command line fundamentals
Play Learn Git Branching — makes branching actually click visually
Work through GitHub Skills "Introduction to GitHub" — hands-on practice in a real repo
Read the Pull Requests collaboration docs — once you have the basics, this becomes very clear

Reference, Attribution & Resources:

License - "Be A Hero"... Distribute Your Content As Open Source... That Is What I'm Doing...

The content on this site may have been pulled from other open source sites, but typically the interpretation and presentation is primarily the Intellectual Property of Jim Burnham, - TopClown@STEAMClown.org at www.steamclown.org and the Student curriculum can be found under the specific Mechatronics Engineering Units section of this web site.
If you do use my material, and make changes, I would appreciate getting a copy... because if you are making changes, it means that you think there is a better way to teach this… and I would really appreciate understanding that. Please send me feedback on my Questions or Feedback form. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions or comment.
You also should keep and include my STEAM Clown Logo and Copyright in any derivative works you create. I would appreciate if you would include one of these images found on my Steam Clown License page and link it to www.steamclown.org

Teachers - Unit, Module and Lesson Plans

If you are a teacher and want to connect and teach this Lesson or Module, discuss how I teach it, give me feedback, please contact me at TopClown@STEAMClown.org

To access this Lesson Plan and the Teacher collaboration area, you will have needed to connect with me so I can Share the content with you. Please go to the Teachers & Partner Page, check out my Licensing and fill out my Collaboration and Curriculum Request Form. I'll review and then grant you access to the requested areas and lesson plans if they exist.

If you have questions or feedback on how I can make a presentation, lesson, lab better please give use my Feedback Form.

Resource Attribution:
Sites Referenced or Summarized:

Reference Sites -

Images:

https://imgbin.com/png/ZJtzkYZZ/under-construction-png

Random Stuff To Sort

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse

GitHub In The Classroom

Overview, Introduction & Prerequisites:

WORK IN PROGRESS

Overview and Introduction:

GitHub In The Classroom

Learning Objective:

Prerequisites:

Caution & Safety Considerations:

Essential Questions:

Key Academic Vocabulary or Concepts:

Step 1: GitHub - Introduction

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 2: Getting Started - References & Resources

GitHub Reference, Tutorials & Other Online Resources:

Web Resources:

🏁 Start Here — Official GitHub Resources

🎮 Interactive / Hands-On Learning

📺 YouTube Channels

📘 Free Structured Courses

🎯 Your Specific Learning Goals — Where to Focus

Step 3: Creating An Account:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 4: GitHub - <something>:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Step 5: GitHub - <something>:

GitHub - Introduction Lab:

Sort and Organize:

🏁 Start Here — Official GitHub Resources

🎮 Interactive / Hands-On Learning

📺 YouTube Channels

📘 Free Structured Courses

🎯 Your Specific Learning Goals — Where to Focus

Reference, Attribution & Resources:

License - "Be A Hero"... Distribute Your Content As Open Source... That Is What I'm Doing...

Teachers - Unit, Module and Lesson Plans

Resource Attribution:Sites Referenced or Summarized:

Images:

Random Stuff To Sort

Resource Attribution:
Sites Referenced or Summarized: