annmarie123
commented
8 years ago Coding in the Common Core
Description
In my session, I will be demonstrating my project, Coding Core (http://cc.esntee.com), an open-source lesson plan tool that teaches common core subjects through digital literacy exercises. Based on interviews with over 24 teachers and school administrators, my website allows schools to easily implement computer science coursework that goes beyond the video game lessons of Code.org, but can be easily understood by teachers or parents with no tech or CS background. During the session, I will demonstrate the features of the site and then allow participants to either create their own lesson plan or choose a lesson topic of their own to try.
Agenda
- For a lightning talk, I would just demo the product.
- For a learning lab, I would follow my brief demonstration with an audience participation exercise, allowing small groups or individuals to try a particular lesson such as practicing a probability exercise using Scratch (http://cc.esntee.com/project/probability_with_scratch/).
- For a hands-on workshop, I would do both the demo and lesson plan exercise and then lead a group in an app inventor demo through the sites lesson plans.
- All the software and websites in the lesson plans are free to use and I will be sure to have them downloaded on any laptops participants will be using.
Participants
For 3 participants, I will do a hands-on demonstration and then allow them to explore the site and try a lesson of their choosing.
For 15 or more participants, I will likely put people into groups and select a "teacher" in the group to try and teach the material in the lesson plan. This will hopefully demonstrate how easy the material can be both taught and understood by people with little or no background in computer science or coding.
Also, if people are too shy to speak or work with others, I will provide materials for them to test the site on their own.
Outcome
While I have presented this resource at a number of education events in Chicago (and am in the works of building the project to a larger scale for certain schools in the area), my hope is that Mozfest could be a true international launching pad for CodingCore; that teachers, parents, and kids alike will walk away excited to finally have a resource that pulls everything from the ever expanding world of ed tech and delivers it on a platform that anyone can understand and implement no matter their budget.
[ ID ] dd2891be-695d-49d2-a00d-c3658b0da406
[ Submitter's Name ] Kim Wilkens [ Submitter's Affiliated Organisation ] St. Anne's-Belfield School [ Submitter's Twitter ] @kimxtom
[ Space ] demystify [ Secondary Space ]
[ Format ] learning-lab, fireside
Description
Computer science (CS) is a hot topic in education these days and for good reason. Technology is changing everything - the way we work, govern, communicate and educate, yet too few students are exposed to the foundational concepts behind technology or get hands-on experience creating tech. The capacity, tools and resources needed by every school to integrate CS concepts are limited. At St. Anne’s-Belfield School (STAB), we began integrating CS across our K-12 curriculum in 2014. Being part of the Mozilla Learning Network has been critical to our success. We’ll share our approach of introducing CS concepts while tackling stereotypical fears associated with coding that students and teachers often face. We want to dialog with other educators, students and parents on their experience of CS - the good, the bad & the ugly. Then we want to brainstorm steps that can be taken to bridge this critical gap in education.
Agenda
Introductions & expectations from all participants Brief intro on Why CS? Brief share about what we have been doing at STAB - successes & failure Participants share their experience - we’ll use post-its to document what’s working, what’s not working & where are the gaps Brainstorm ideas for next steps Document results in Thimble project
Participants
If there is a small group, we can all work together on the sharing, brainstorming & documenting. If there is a larger group, we won’t have a problem splitting into smaller groups with 3 of us leading the session.
Outcome
The outcomes we’d like to see from this session include: 1) community building for those interested in CS education; 2) identifying some concrete ideas for next steps for those who are struggling to make CS education happen in their environment whether student, parent or educator; 3) connecting beyond MozFest through resource sharing in a Thimble project.