Make Create Educate

It is possible to use the Makey Makey for than a keyboard that makes bananas an inedible mush. This project will be creating switches to collect data for a survey. This could be modified to encourage students to collect data using an alternate method to forms. Student can modify the project to collect data to test understanding or collect information for a survey. It could be used by teachers to test student knowledge when they leave a classroom. This is designed as a simple introduction to variables. There are other ways to make this more efficient code but the purpose of this lesson is to introduce the concept of variables. Target Group Year 4-6. Students have simple coding experience with block coding and ready to progress to the next step. Concepts covered: Introductory coding Variables Digital Systems Variables What is variable?  A variable is used i n a computer program, this is a named memory location where values are stored.  A variable may be use

Digital systems and coding have applications across all key learning areas. Over the last 2 weeks my year 5 have been investigating data. One of the activities was to roll the dice 36 times and record and graph the outcome. We then repeated the activity with an electronic dice we created using a microbit . We compared the results and found there was no significant difference. The next step is to compile the data in a spread sheet and compare the outcome with a larger dataset. Prior to completing the task we watch Sheldon's Friendship Algorithm from the Big Bang. We then devised a decision chart in plain English on what we wanted the dice to do. One student said we needed an "If statement". We expanded this idea to be an "if then else" statement. We discussed the number of times we would need to include an else if component. This was then a guided discussion as a group we broke the problem into smaller parts. Here is the code for cre

How do you use digital technologies in projects that are relevant and meaningful? This is an introductory project for first time users. The amount of curriculum content required to be taught does require a degree of integration to ensure we have time to cover all outcomes. When integrating content it is important to ensure you map all outcomes from all key learning areas to the unit of work. Australian Curriculum has Design and Technology and Digital Technologies . NSW in 2019 will introduce a new K-6 Science and Technology and 7-8 Tech Mandatory . This showcases a method of introducing microbits to a group of year 5 students that have minimal coding experience. This project is below grade level but a start on where they will need to be by the end of year 6. Australian Curriculum Design, modify and follow simple algorithms involving sequences of steps, branching, and iteration (repetition) ( ACTDIP019 ) Implement digital solutions as simple visual programs involving branc

What does Possum Magic by Mem Fox have to do with computational thinking and digital technologies? Possum Magic by Mem Fox is a story about a magic grandma that makes her grandson Hush become invisible. To solve the problem they travel Australia looking for ways to make Hush visible again. Luckily the problem is solved for Hush as he consumes classically Australian foods. Strangely they need to travel to most of the capital cities to do it.  Getting children to visualise a journey and translate what they hear into a concrete experience requires computational thinking. 3 activities to integrate digital technologies in a literacy lesson. K-2 Beebot Activity Create algorithms to follow the trail of the food that Hush eats. Educational content Algorithms Procedural texts Recounts Integrating digital systems Recounts Resources Beebots or bluebots Clear mat  or cardboard ruled up with 15min grid. Pictures  of the foods consumed by Hush Activity

This post is for Maths teachers who teach fractals and assumes knowledge of Fractal theory. Fractals and Recursion Recursion is a recurring function that calls or refers to itself. A function is a name given to a series of steps and is used to simplify programming by referring to or "calling" the function. https://guide.pencilcode.net/edit/functions/ For example the code below is to draw a square. The first part defines "square" as a function and tells the program what "square" means and then uses to the word "square" to draw multiple squares of different sizes and colours without the need to write all the code. square = (size) -> for y in [1..4] fd size rt 90 pen red square 80 jump 15, 15 pen firebrick square 50 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal A Fractal is a curve or geometrical figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. They are useful in modell

CSER with the University of Adelaide With the support of a Australian Federal Government Grant the CSER (Computer Science Education Research) Team offer four free online courses world wide with personalised workshops for teachers in Australia with project officers in each state. Australian schools that register their staff for an online course are eligible for access to a free lending library . If you would like a project officer to visit your school you can apply through the website. The online courses provide a range of content. F-6: Foundations is the introductory course and assumes no knowledge and is a great way for teachers to introduce coding and the use of computational thinking and digital systems into their classroom and schools.  The courses are mapped to the Australian Curriculum but the content suits all Australian states and their particular version of curriculum. It also covers skills and content required in other countries that require the teaching of  compu

Popular culture may lead you to believe we need to teach all students to code. Actually... we need to teach all students how to use computational thinking. Coding is just one application of computational thinking. Other applications include robotics and digital technologies. There are four components of computational thinking ( BBC website ) decomposition   - breaking down a complex problem or system into smaller, more manageable parts pattern recognition   – looking for similarities among and within problems abstraction   – focusing on the important information only, ignoring irrelevant detail algorithms   - developing a step-by-step solution to the problem, or the rules to follow to solve the problem Based on the definition above you do not always need technology to teach computational thinking. It is possible to teach computational thinking offline and using picture books is just one way. Teaching with picture books is one way for teachers with limited technology