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Coding the latest buzz word There is an international movement to teach coding in schools, everyone is talking about coding, the media , schools , not-for-profits , summer camps , women's magazines . The difficulty is the responsibility for integrating coding into the curriculum falls on the teachers who are not all equipped with the skills to teach coding.  Why? Teaching coding skills is not about teaching everyone to be a programmer. It is about digital literacy and ensuring all students understand how technology works. It also teaches a thinking style referred to as "Computational Thinking". Computational Thinking  (CT) is the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solution(s) in such a way that a computer—human or machine—can effectively carry out.  (Jeanette Wing 2-14) ( Source ) It was first referred by Seymour Papert in 1980 and then in 1996 and it is an important thinking style for solving complex problems.   ( Source )

How do you make the Rock Cycle Interesting? I love geology, I think it is amazing the problem is not many people do. Making the rock cycle interesting without a field trip to Uluru or the Blue Mountains is even more difficult. I based my lesson on a YouTube I found by Chad Ackerson . He explains the rock cycle beautifully as he demonstrates the lesson. During my lesson I played the YouTube and pressed pause at each stage of the cycle. Goal: Investigate the Rock Cycle. Prelearning: 1 lessons Research different types of rocks Preparation You will need to cut up 4 lollies into 9 pieces each for the teacher prior to the lesson. Melt 18 of the pieces prior to the lesson so it has time to cool. Keep 18 pieces for the lesson Materials/Resources 3 packets of star burst lollies (2 lollies per student + 4 for the teacher) Groups of 2 Baking Paper - one piece per student 4 coloured pencils Washed scissors. Washed hands Worksheet  - one per student Work

Coding and Computational Thinking in NSW Curriculum In May 2016 BOSTES released a support document for NSW teachers. The document offers teachers ideas for integrating coding and computational thinking into each of the key learning areas. The first page http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/go/science-and-technology/statement-on-coding  has definitions and links to useful resources. This page is definitely worth exploring as many of them are free and they are useful in multiple key learning areas across multiple year groups. The document is divided into stages. By clicking on the button for a stage it will open a page with lesson ideas grouped under each key learning area. The activities are designed to be similar to the many tasks that teachers use regularly. Additional resources are included to enable teachers to modify tasks to include more detailed computational thinking and coding tasks. Example In stage 2 teachers reinforce the idea of writing a procedure.

Future Schools 2016 Future Schools 2016 had a focus on computational thinking and coding. There lots of fantastic speakers and interesting delegates to network with. This year I spoke at 2 congresses on coding. In the coding congress the focus was on coding and the curriculum. In the young learners congress I spoke on introducing computational thinking using offline tasks and modifying or modifying existing tasks to cover computational thinking skills, this presentation included links to the curriculum also.  Links to my presentation and resources are and can also be found at iMerinet.weebly.com Tim Bell - csunplugged.org Tim presented activities from the csunplugged website.  Check that digit  This was almost a magic trick where Tim was able to predict the final number of a random water bottle in the audience.  Other error detection lessons are also listed in the Error Detection activities. Each activity on the csunplugged.org site is dense with links and information.

Updated September 2021 ----------------------------- The curriculum is overloaded, how to integrate new technologies and coding without adding additional content. The key is to integrate the ideas. This lesson took 2 hours and we completed it in one 2 hour session. Ensure you have equity with access to all tasks eg: boys don't dominate the using the technology while girls colour. Observe your students as some may need encouragement to do the coding and connect the Makey Makey. They may need some concrete scaffolding eg: provide them with a sample of code. Incomplete poster that shows the beginnings of lifecycle. Goal: Create a poster that illustrates the lifecycle of a tomato. The poster could be used to cover any outcomes or lesson ideas.  My Prelearning: 3 lessons Research on lifecycle of tomato Art lesson - still life on how to draw a tomato Design the Code - talk through with the students how to plant their code. When I press space Stop all other sounds Play

The following tools are in no particular order. pencilcode.net Pencilcode is a coding tool that caters for a range of skills. It is based on coffee script and has a visual and text based coding option. The program also has tutorials you can work through for beginners or use the text editor to write your own.  The program is a visual tool that is used to operate a turtle. It can be used for drawing, maths, or music.  The site has a comprehensive  reference guide . With sample programs that can be cut and paste to create new program, an ebook and videos. The website now has 4 different options. Let's Play : The original format of the tool. Can be used in text mode or block coding. This format is good for applied maths lessons. It can be used to teach symmetry, position, cartesian plane, patterns, 2D shapes and more... Draw : Work through the tutorials to learn about different tools and techniques for coding. A great introductory lesson for all ages. Work through t

What is social media and how can it be useful for teachers? Published in Education Matters with corrections to the organisers of @EduTweetOz Biography Meridith Ebbs is teacher St Columba Anglican School, Port Macquarie. She has a blended role, teaching classes from years 2-10 and working as an eLearning integrator to support the eLearning programs and teacher professional development within the school. Meridith is a key staff member of the Professional Excellence and Innovation Centre, Port Macquarie. She develops and facilitates conferences and workshops. Meridith acts as a consultant in digital citizenship, the use of technology to enhance 21century pedagogies and social media. Meridith is a moderator of a MOOC for Adelaide University and speaks at conferences on coding, technology and pedagogy. Meridith is interested in computational thinking, coding and the maker movement. She is working on increasing the participation of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and