Introducing the 'Geek of the Week' project to engage students with technology.

Next time someone calls you a 'Geek!' go and thank them for it, give them a hug if need be.  Because if we stop and look at many great people who changed our world for the better through innovation and the pursuit of technology, they were in fact 'geeks.'

In the US alone today 51 billionaires would identify as 'geeks' through the wealth theyccumulated from our love affection with technology.

So I thought it was time to stopped hating on them  and actually encouraged our kids to release their inner geek which has resulted in the 'Geek of the Week Project."

The purpose of this project is to offer a gateway for students and teachers to use the language of technology and computational thinking in front of their peers whilst researching some amazing technologies that which either already changed our world for the better or are in the process of doing so.

This project will open your students eyes to jobs and career paths which may have previously been unknown to them and maybe they may find another 'technology hero' to go alongside the Lebron James' and Taylor Swift's.

You can access this project either as a Google Slide or Microsoft PowerPoint and feel free to alter it in any way to meet the needs of your students.  It is completely up to you and your imagination.

I would finally like to thank the team over at Innovative Teaching Ideas for sharing this resource with us again.  You can either access it as the Google slide below or by clicking here to access it as a PowerPoint presentation.

Enjoy and leave a comment if you have anything to add to this.

Hello, World!

Facts & Myths about Computational Thinking in Classrooms

Whenever I speak to teachers about computational thinking it seems to place a layer of tension and confusion upon their shoulders, as most have preconceptions about this new ‘imposition placed upon them’.  They usually to glaze over and seek alternate discussion topics within minutes...

From experience I find most teachers have this attitude to Computational Thinking.

• “At some point in time I know the curriculum is going to make it mandatory for me to teach this stuff…”

• “I don’t know a single thing about coding and robotics, and I think they have something to do with computational thinking.  And that stuff is really hard to learn”

• “I only teach English or (insert topic here) and it’s not really going to affect me so I am pretty sure all those nerdy teachers will deal with it for my school..”

• “Maybe if we just ignore it… It will go away.”

Recently, I set about  trying to better understand computational thinking myself through research and professional development, before I had too many more conversations with teachers.

I have good news for teachers getting anxious about how they are going to deal with it when it becomes reality for them…  It’s definitely not rocket science, but it is a little different and can be  quite exciting for teachers and students who are prepared to buy in....

Firstly we need to break down these common misconceptions around computational thinking. So let’s look at the facts.

• Computational Thinking is a strategy for solving problems that can be applied to any field or situation.  Much the same as the concept of De Bono’s six thinking hats or other problem solving models.  

• Computational Thinking and Computer Science are two completely different things, and you can successfully teach and use computational thinking without ever touching a computer if you chose to.

• You definitely do not need to make robots, learn a new language  or program a computer to ensure your students understand computational thinking.

• It’s not going away anytime soon…  In fact it’s on the rise

If you want to get an understanding of what computational thinking is in  under six minutes then watch this clip from Google Computational Thinking experts.  It should be essential viewing for any teacher  before jumping to conclusions.

Essentially there are four parts to computational thinking as aforementioned which can be applied to any problem.

    Decomposition - Breaking a problem into smaller parts so you may divide a task.

    Pattern Recognition - Finding similarities and differences in order to make predictions

    Abstraction - Identifying the general principles that generate the patterns

    Algorithm Design - Developing the step by step instructions to solve problems.

Don’t get me wrong.  Computational Thinking definitely lends itself to computer science and opens the doors to coding and robotics.  You will certainly need to embrace technology if you wish to go any further than teaching and learning the process of Computational Thinking.

Why are we doing all of this?  Haven’t we already got enough in the curriculum?  I hear you say…

Yes the curriculum is overcrowded, but governments around the world see this as an essential skill in the 21st Century workforce.  If you need evidence around it’s place in our  society simply take look at the look at the world's top companies and richest individuals.  You will see the Apple’s and Google’s of the world fill out a large portion of those lists, and all exist on the fundamentals of Computational Thinking.

In essence we need to turn our kids from technology consumers to creators.  And Computational Thinking allows us to make this change.

If you would like to learn all out Computational Thinking for Educators I would strongly recommend you partake in this great free course from Google.  

from my experience Computational Thinking is a worthwhile problem solving skill  for anyone, and certainly something teachers shouldn't fear.
I acknowledge coding and robotics is a long stretch for most to get their head around but it is not an essential part of Computational Thinking and shouldn't put you and your students off from taking the first steps into a new realm of teaching and learning opportunities.

Google Classroom just made specialist teaching easier across multiple schools

The ever evolving and ever improving Google Classroom has just released an update that will bring a smile to teachers and schools who share staff or run cross campus teaching groups.

This update allows a teacher to work with a class of students outside of their base school domain.  So for example if you were a specialist language teacher operating across three different schools you can now manage all of your Google Classroom activity from a single account.  The other option I can see here is that teachers could also enrol for professional development run through Google Classroom from an outside provider.

For this to update to apply your Google Apps for Education administrator will need to add any external teachers to their white list to ensure security for students.  Further information can be found here.

Are you signing up for Google's Computational Thinking course for Educators?

Google are going all in on coding and computer science in an effort to improve the learning opportunities for teachers and students.  

On July 15 they will begin running a free course for educators to train them in how to use 'computational thinking.' in the classroom.  The course is open to all educators and there is a set time frame allocated to complete the course.

I have enrolled and would encourage others to do the same.  The course will be broken into five different modules exploring 

• Introducing  Computational Thinking

• Exploring Algorithms

• Finding Patterns

• Developing Algorithms

• Applying Computational Thinking

The Computational Thinking for Educators course runs with support from Google teaching assistants, content experts, and other students responding to questions in the G+ Community from July 15 through September 30, 2015 and can be completed at your own pace during this time. The course consists of text lessons, supplemental videos, activities, and a hands-on final project.  You can access the course here.

The stages of technology integration in schools

Terry Heick at Teachthought.com has written an article exploring four stages at which teachers and more so students integrate technology in the the classroom.

I like the manner in which he suggests that we should not all instantly aspire to become self directed learners absorbed by mobile technology and actually acknowledges the merit in using different stages to best meet your teaching and learning needs. 

This method of understanding needs to be also applied to the SAMR model of technology integration as we do not have to redefine every aspect of learning now that we have a computer in front of us.

The article would be useful to use with staff to both evaluate where they might currently be placed within these stages but also highlight other approaches to using technology to improve student outcomes.  The full article can be viewed here.

iOS Apps on the iPad to support Coding and Robotics

A must see resource for coding and robotics in the classroom.

The iPad is a great tool for coding.  Particularly for developing the skills and concepts in the junior years around directional language, understanding sprites and developing the building blocks of coding before moving onto traditional desktop coding software.

Here is a list of great apps on the iPad to assist coding and robotics in the classroom.  If you would like to learn a great deal more about coding and robotics in the classroom I an strongly recommend getting a copy of this excellent eBook.

Hopscotch   A visual programming tool for year 3 - 7 Students

Tynker Edu  Video game and puzzle creation tool for year 5 - 9 students

ScratchJr A visual programming tool for juniors for P - 2 Students

My Robot Friend A Problem Solving and Logic Skills Game for P - 6 Students

Codeacademy Code Hour Learn how to build things through coding. Various ability and challenge forTeachers / Students

The Foos Learn to code for an hour game forP - 2 students

Treehouse:  Learn Programming and Design Various resources to learn coding and design for Year 7 - 12 Students

Move the Turtle A variation on the classic BASIC programming skills from the 80’s for year 3 - 5 Students

Kodable A game introducing coding and problem solving skills for year P - 2 Students

Cato’s Hike a programming and logic odyssey. A friendly game for juniors intended to introduce coding and logic for year P - 4 Students.

Codea Kind of like Garage band for Coding.  More complex than anything else here but more rewarding and great tutorials and support for year 5 - 12 Students

Gamepress  Great tool for video game creation on the iPad.  Share your creations with peers also for year 5 - 9 students

Hyperpad Built on Gamepress platform but you need to create everything yourself.  You can actually export apps to iTunes store from Hyperpad.  Quite open ended. for year 7 - 12 students

Teach your students about coding and algorithms without a computer

To make a computer act like a human such as a robot, first we need to teach humans to think like a computer.  

Strangely enough this process does not, and and in some cases should not involve a computer.

CSunplugged is an excellent resource for teachers and students which is completely free and teaches students about computational thinking through a series of hands on activities.  

CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities teaching Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around.

The activities introduce students to Computational Thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers. Importantly, no programming is required to engage with these ideas!

CS Unplugged is suitable for people of all ages, from elementary school to seniors, and from many countries and backgrounds. Unplugged has been used around the world for over twenty years and should not be missed if you are considering teaching robotics or coding with your students.

YouTube for Kids launches to make the net a little more family friendly

Today YouTube launched YouTube for kids.  In the United States anyway, but we are assured the rest of the world will come on board soon.

As a teacher and a parent this is a real win for kids aged under twelve who Google have targeted this new app at on iOS and Android.

It contains a mixture of syndicated material such as sesame street and select user generated content.  Furthermore, it has features designed to make parents feel comfortable about leaving their children to use YouTube such as the ability to turn off the ability to search and specifically play educational material only.

This may be useful for teachers who wish to allow their students to view content as part of a study of digital literacies as they can really filter the content and options through the settings on the app.

From a business perspective this definitely allows Google to zoom in on a specific audience but we all know that there is no such thing as a free feed, especially on the internet.

This video below from Tanya Awith demonstrates some practical ideas oh how you can use this new app in your classroom.