Coding in the Classroom

EDCI Reflection #3

Coding in the Classroom

Coding is the language that directs and controls the technology around us.  It is mysterious for some but intuitive and natural for others.  Even if we are not comfortable or knowledgeable about coding practices as teachers, we should always be open to allowing students to complete lessons using coding tools.  The idea of implementing a coding project in my teachable areas of social studies or art is perplexing to me, but  I am very interested in designing lessons that allow different types of learners to engage in the material.  Building up some basic coding language skills could be helpful to engage with more students.

Guest Speaker – Tina O’ Keefe

She implemented a graduated class program of 12 courses running in one room with a range of ages.  Students choose which classes they want to do on the first day.  There is an introductory course for those students in grade 9 or if they haven’t done a computer course before.  This is all done with google classroom and she gave us a brief tutorial of some google classroom features.  Especially useful was that she detailed how to do an interview style questionnaire over google classroom to get to know new students.  Also a neat trick seemed to be using “net control” to help cut down on distractions for learners.  Advised to add EA’s as students to google classroom rather than as teachers to cut down on mistakes.  She gave a brief tutorial of google read and write.

She talked about the process of creating a new course and getting it approved by the district superintendent.  She also talked about how she runs courses for students who have completed the basic levels and wish to progress further.

Overall an extremely interesting presentation that offered an interesting perspective alongside showcasing a number of powerful tools for learners.