Over the next 3 weeks I will be updating and editing my Blendspace and the resources stored within it. Please check back throughout the rest of the course for updates and edits. My Blendspace link is below:
10x Feedback- • I had no idea coding had become so popular, but with the popularity of shows like “The Big Band Theory,” movies like “The Internship,” and the motivation to learn to design and produce web-based projects online to share, it is no wonder. • I do not know much about coding, but I have used Scratch, a game-based site created by MIT. It allows teachers or students the possibility to design and create animated games that can be used to practice or assess learning. Would this be a good alternative and/or a first step to coding and design for students at the elementary age level? • You spoke about how teachers at your school might find it difficult to try and corporate yet another lesson into their already heavy curriculum requirements. Since you are using Khan Academy to teach students the beginning lessons of coding, might you use (or suggest to the teachers at your school to use) a flipped classroom model where students are expected to watch this at home? This way, not a lot of time in class is needed to dig deeper and discuss with students. They can then try it on their own at home and maybe ask questions on a class blog site for other students to answer, opening learning to a more constructivist student approach. (Sounds like you eluded to this a bit in your video.) • I appreciated the circle graphs/diagrams you incorporated into your video as well. It was surprising to see the results student gave from the data survey questions. Wow, 95% think learning computer science is important! That is proof your problem of practice is necessary and important.
There are some states now currently pulling away from Common Core. Do you see this as a problem in your state? "Teaching math through Common Core, but depriving our students by teaching it." The state of South Carolina is no longer doing common core as well as others.
Would your school be willing to offer more coding classes? For example a beginners class and then more advanced classes. Using more advanced coding lessons from MIT?
Does it need to be in core content classes or should it be a required elective? I think it will be very hard to incorporate coding into core classes with all the information they already have to cover in a school year. I wish you all the luck of getting the support you need within your school. I do feel it is important, but I am not sure how much more then require within a school year. I feel it should be a required elective class that all students should take.
I love your video. You did an excellent job of explaining your problem, data, and outcome. I do know a lot of math teachers use Khan Academy for teaching math. I am not sure if they use it for coding. We do have a STEMs program. Unfortunately not ever student will get the opportunity to be in this elective class. When you did you testing what core class were they in? Math?
I really enjoy you passion for computer science and your desire to see students build the 21st century skills they will need to be successful in the future. As I watched your video and listened to your ideas about how to get teachers to incorporate computer science into their core curriculum I was struck with an idea that might help to improve your practice.
First of all, I can see parallels between what you describe and the problems that I face at my school. Though I have chosen to focus in a transformative way on my own practice and my own classroom, my ultimate goal is to be an example to colleagues and encourage them to incorporate more technology into their classroom.
I think you should try for a single project that goes across the grade level of a particular subject. For example, try to propose a single project, within a specific topic of the 7th grade social studies curriculum. What I mean by a single project, is a project that all the sections of a all the teachers complete. In other words, all the 7th grade history teachers would do the same projects with all of their classes. That way, no one (teacher or student) feels like they are forging out alone. In addition, the teachers all share the work of creating the project and the grading rubric. You have to convince them to use coding, specifically the Khan Academy program, to complete the project.
I plan on attempting this with my fellow teachers at my subject and grade level (11th grade history.) The big thing is that if the work and effort is divided among teachers, many are more willing to participate. Also, convince them to change what they would do for one project to using coding to complete it. This should make the teachers less likely to balk a the idea.
10X Feedback: Hello Betsy, I teach high school and my high school accounting students participated in the Hour of Code and loved it! It was interesting to observe because the female students outpaced the male students and enjoyed more success. Last summer I had a class in creating apps as one of my electives here at Lesley. I thought it would have been beneficial for the professor to have each student complete the Hour of Code at the beginning of the course. I felt more empowered after completing one hour of coding then I did after completing an eight week graduate course.
I find it very interesting that Google is promoting the idea of CS being added to the Common Core. I like this idea and believe that our students would benefit from its addition. There are so many ways to teach CS that are exciting and engaging and to have it become an integral part of Common Core is a good thing.
I find the Khan Academy to be a great source of inspiration for me, so the fact that you have discovered tutorial videos and exercises created by them for your students is exciting. The idea of using coding to support these projects and bring the project to the level of redefinition on the SAMR model is really interesting. I wonder if you will be able to take this idea into other content areas.
Having so many students support the idea that computer science is important is wonderful! I wish I could get 86% of the students at my school to say that accounting. When I read that not all of your students are required to take computer science, it reminded me that it is not required at my school either. When my daughters attended our middle school, they were required to take a computer science course and if they failed to do so, they would be required to take one at the high school level. I think it has been at least five years since that practice has been a requirement, maybe even longer.
As we all know, teachers need more hours in the day. I thought your comment, “Teachers are always being asked to try new procedures or activities in their classroom and I do not want them to see computer science as “one more thing to do” was very insightful. I wonder if you could approach this topic in a way that would require little time upfront, and at the same time be informative and engaging. Maybe if the teachers saw firsthand what they could accomplish in their classrooms by implementing some new technologies that you could share with them, if they would embrace your ideas instead of seeing them as “just one more thing to do”. I know when I tried to gather support among the teachers that I work with, I found resistance to the Hour of Code. I decided that the best way to engage more teachers would be for my students to become ambassadors. They shared their experience and some teachers then started asking me for details. I also placed all of their completion certificates on my wall of fame and my own certificate on my Facebook page. I figured that the more we talked about it, the more people would ask questions and possibly participate. I am going to snag some of the bookmarks in your Diigo list so I can strengthen my case for greater student participation next year.
You video was fantastic! The analogy of the car and the mechanic was excellent! Your entire video was informative and impressive. I agree with you 100% that all of our students are going to need to use CS in the future and that all jobs will require this skill. Your point that all teachers may not know enough about CS, or possess the skills to teach it, or incorporate it into their classrooms, is important. The fact that your solution addresses this potential problem and offers the teachers a way to incorporate CS without being overwhelmed is amazing.
Your final few slides were really interesting. I especially like your analysis of the final graph and how your discussed the fact that 68% like using Khan Academy and how that was good and expected. I could hear excitement throughout your entire video and it made me excited as well. It seems like the solution to your problem of practice is moving in the right direction and that your students will benefit. Nice work Betsy!
The Common Core, at least at the K-5 level does an extremely “light” job of incorporating computer science skills. Some even say it’s a flaw, and teach CS skills based on ISTE or other technology society standards alongside the CC.
Your solution of using Khan academy in the classrooms to create projects and learn skills such as coding is a good middle ground, particularly since it still allows teachers to teach their respective content.
Does your school or district support dedicated CS classes? Or could a CS block for each class be incorporated into your school’s schedule? I’m asking because some CS skills can be incorporated into the CC, but there are also some more discrete elements of CS that need to be taught on their own if we really want to prepare students for the 21st century.
Hi Betsy! I was excited to see how your project turned out. My district had a big push last year to add Coding/Programming to our middle and high school level students. There is a huge need to technology support with technology running wild. I am excited that our student will now get this opportunity since we were finally able to hire someone to teach these classes. She is a bit overwhelmed as there is not much curriculum out there. As of right now we will be using John Paxton's Joy and Beauty of Computing from MSU for Python as well as CodeHS for Karl, JavaScript and SQL (none of that makes sense to me, but I just text my friend who will be teaching it.) :-)
We have also had students participate in Hour of Code as well as a club called Cyber Patriot. Not sure if the club is national or not but I know they have had some competitions. This might be something for you to look into. Might add a bit of excitement to the mix. As was also stated above, we had a few students participate in STEAM (we added the Arts to STEM). If students know a project will be judged by outsiders, this might help up the ante.
10x Feedback-
ReplyDelete• I had no idea coding had become so popular, but with the popularity of shows like “The Big Band Theory,” movies like “The Internship,” and the motivation to learn to design and produce web-based projects online to share, it is no wonder.
• I do not know much about coding, but I have used Scratch, a game-based site created by MIT. It allows teachers or students the possibility to design and create animated games that can be used to practice or assess learning. Would this be a good alternative and/or a first step to coding and design for students at the elementary age level?
• You spoke about how teachers at your school might find it difficult to try and corporate yet another lesson into their already heavy curriculum requirements. Since you are using Khan Academy to teach students the beginning lessons of coding, might you use (or suggest to the teachers at your school to use) a flipped classroom model where students are expected to watch this at home? This way, not a lot of time in class is needed to dig deeper and discuss with students. They can then try it on their own at home and maybe ask questions on a class blog site for other students to answer, opening learning to a more constructivist student approach. (Sounds like you eluded to this a bit in your video.)
• I appreciated the circle graphs/diagrams you incorporated into your video as well. It was surprising to see the results student gave from the data survey questions. Wow, 95% think learning computer science is important! That is proof your problem of practice is necessary and important.
There are some states now currently pulling away from Common Core. Do you see this as a problem in your state? "Teaching math through Common Core, but depriving our students by teaching it." The state of South Carolina is no longer doing common core as well as others.
ReplyDeleteWould your school be willing to offer more coding classes? For example a beginners class and then more advanced classes. Using more advanced coding lessons from MIT?
Does it need to be in core content classes or should it be a required elective? I think it will be very hard to incorporate coding into core classes with all the information they already have to cover in a school year. I wish you all the luck of getting the support you need within your school. I do feel it is important, but I am not sure how much more then require within a school year. I feel it should be a required elective class that all students should take.
I love your video. You did an excellent job of explaining your problem, data, and outcome. I do know a lot of math teachers use Khan Academy for teaching math. I am not sure if they use it for coding. We do have a STEMs program. Unfortunately not ever student will get the opportunity to be in this elective class. When you did you testing what core class were they in? Math?
Besty-
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy you passion for computer science and your desire to see students build the 21st century skills they will need to be successful in the future. As I watched your video and listened to your ideas about how to get teachers to incorporate computer science into their core curriculum I was struck with an idea that might help to improve your practice.
First of all, I can see parallels between what you describe and the problems that I face at my school. Though I have chosen to focus in a transformative way on my own practice and my own classroom, my ultimate goal is to be an example to colleagues and encourage them to incorporate more technology into their classroom.
I think you should try for a single project that goes across the grade level of a particular subject. For example, try to propose a single project, within a specific topic of the 7th grade social studies curriculum. What I mean by a single project, is a project that all the sections of a all the teachers complete. In other words, all the 7th grade history teachers would do the same projects with all of their classes. That way, no one (teacher or student) feels like they are forging out alone. In addition, the teachers all share the work of creating the project and the grading rubric. You have to convince them to use coding, specifically the Khan Academy program, to complete the project.
I plan on attempting this with my fellow teachers at my subject and grade level (11th grade history.) The big thing is that if the work and effort is divided among teachers, many are more willing to participate. Also, convince them to change what they would do for one project to using coding to complete it. This should make the teachers less likely to balk a the idea.
Good work and good luck.
10X Feedback:
ReplyDeleteHello Betsy,
I teach high school and my high school accounting students participated in the Hour of Code and loved it! It was interesting to observe because the female students outpaced the male students and enjoyed more success. Last summer I had a class in creating apps as one of my electives here at Lesley. I thought it would have been beneficial for the professor to have each student complete the Hour of Code at the beginning of the course. I felt more empowered after completing one hour of coding then I did after completing an eight week graduate course.
I find it very interesting that Google is promoting the idea of CS being added to the Common Core. I like this idea and believe that our students would benefit from its addition. There are so many ways to teach CS that are exciting and engaging and to have it become an integral part of Common Core is a good thing.
I find the Khan Academy to be a great source of inspiration for me, so the fact that you have discovered tutorial videos and exercises created by them for your students is exciting. The idea of using coding to support these projects and bring the project to the level of redefinition on the SAMR model is really interesting. I wonder if you will be able to take this idea into other content areas.
Having so many students support the idea that computer science is important is wonderful! I wish I could get 86% of the students at my school to say that accounting. When I read that not all of your students are required to take computer science, it reminded me that it is not required at my school either. When my daughters attended our middle school, they were required to take a computer science course and if they failed to do so, they would be required to take one at the high school level. I think it has been at least five years since that practice has been a requirement, maybe even longer.
As we all know, teachers need more hours in the day. I thought your comment, “Teachers are always being asked to try new procedures or activities in their classroom and I do not want them to see computer science as “one more thing to do” was very insightful. I wonder if you could approach this topic in a way that would require little time upfront, and at the same time be informative and engaging. Maybe if the teachers saw firsthand what they could accomplish in their classrooms by implementing some new technologies that you could share with them, if they would embrace your ideas instead of seeing them as “just one more thing to do”. I know when I tried to gather support among the teachers that I work with, I found resistance to the Hour of Code. I decided that the best way to engage more teachers would be for my students to become ambassadors. They shared their experience and some teachers then started asking me for details. I also placed all of their completion certificates on my wall of fame and my own certificate on my Facebook page. I figured that the more we talked about it, the more people would ask questions and possibly participate. I am going to snag some of the bookmarks in your Diigo list so I can strengthen my case for greater student participation next year.
ReplyDeleteYou video was fantastic! The analogy of the car and the mechanic was excellent! Your entire video was informative and impressive. I agree with you 100% that all of our students are going to need to use CS in the future and that all jobs will require this skill. Your point that all teachers may not know enough about CS, or possess the skills to teach it, or incorporate it into their classrooms, is important. The fact that your solution addresses this potential problem and offers the teachers a way to incorporate CS without being overwhelmed is amazing.
Your final few slides were really interesting. I especially like your analysis of the final graph and how your discussed the fact that 68% like using Khan Academy and how that was good and expected. I could hear excitement throughout your entire video and it made me excited as well. It seems like the solution to your problem of practice is moving in the right direction and that your students will benefit. Nice work Betsy!
The Common Core, at least at the K-5 level does an extremely “light” job of incorporating computer science skills. Some even say it’s a flaw, and teach CS skills based on ISTE or other technology society standards alongside the CC.
ReplyDeleteYour solution of using Khan academy in the classrooms to create projects and learn skills such as coding is a good middle ground, particularly since it still allows teachers to teach their respective content.
Does your school or district support dedicated CS classes? Or could a CS block for each class be incorporated into your school’s schedule? I’m asking because some CS skills can be incorporated into the CC, but there are also some more discrete elements of CS that need to be taught on their own if we really want to prepare students for the 21st century.
Hi Betsy!
ReplyDeleteI was excited to see how your project turned out. My district had a big push last year to add Coding/Programming to our middle and high school level students. There is a huge need to technology support with technology running wild. I am excited that our student will now get this opportunity since we were finally able to hire someone to teach these classes. She is a bit overwhelmed as there is not much curriculum out there. As of right now we will be using John Paxton's Joy and Beauty of Computing from MSU for Python as well as CodeHS for Karl, JavaScript and SQL (none of that makes sense to me, but I just text my friend who will be teaching it.) :-)
We have also had students participate in Hour of Code as well as a club called Cyber Patriot. Not sure if the club is national or not but I know they have had some competitions. This might be something for you to look into. Might add a bit of excitement to the mix. As was also stated above, we had a few students participate in STEAM (we added the Arts to STEM). If students know a project will be judged by outsiders, this might help up the ante.
Good luck and thanks for sharing!