Tag Archives: coding

Forrest Broman

Problem Solving with Technology: A List of Topics and Standards

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By Tony DePrato | Follow me on Twitter @tdeprato

Core Concepts and Definitions

Digital Native is a term that refers to children who have been born after the advent of the modern personal computer and affordable personal laptop. There is a belief that these children have a very high aptitude with technology. This curriculum plan completely disagrees with this belief and reaffirms that all children need a solid foundation in problem solving in, and creating with, technology. The normal life of the average Digital Native is one of a consumer and user of things others have created.

Computer Science is not programming, although programming is required to practice the discipline. Computer Science is a field of study which seeks to automate processes using algorithms, and to solve problems using algorithmic based strategies. Computer Science often involves simulating outcomes using data-sets, after creating a hypothesis. A person who studies computer science may not be able to creatively express themselves through the mediums of web design, multimedia, game design, etc.

Programming (Coding) is a generic term used to categorize the actions taken to make computers, devices, websites, games, etc. function. Programming is not a single knowledge base. Programming is comprised of vast options which are explored based-on the type of outcome needed and the type of system that is being engaged. A programmer may have aptitude to perform computer science related work, or, they may not. Students can learn to program hardware that they set free to interact with the world. Machines of all types can be programmed. Limiting exposure to programming mediums limits opportunity.

Cloud-based educational technology resources refer to environments such as Google Apps for Education and Office 365 for Education.

Portfolios and Project Tracking

In an ideal world, at the end of each semester student work should be submitted to the school following this model:

  • Each student must submit three pieces of work (good, average, and below average) per year they have created, even if that work is only documentation. The work must be original and comply with all copyright laws.
  • The school will submit the work to a network/district wide repository that utilizes standard tagging and search techniques found in cloud-based environments. Think #hashtags.
  • Each school/district can then evaluate what students are doing.
  • Students participating in third-party curricula, such as the IB Program, will be required to produce work for internal and external assessments. The final marking of these assessments can be compared to previous projects to help internally moderate scores and performance indicators.
  • Students from Year 11 should have a personal repository to share their portfolio work outside of the school community. This public repository should be maintained for two years after graduation.

Problem Solving with Technology by Year Level

Year 3 (8-9 Years Old) :

  • Object Based Drag-and-Drop Trial and Error Systems (An Example would be SCRATCH)
  • Arduino Based Manipulatives (An Example would be Makey Makey)

See Standards

Year 4 :

  • Object Based Drag-and-Drop Trial and Error Systems
  • Arduino Based Manipulatives
  • Programmable Robotics (An Example would be Lego, VEX, or similar)
  • Mechanical Skills Challenge Based Competitive Robotics

See Standards
Year 5 :

  • Arduino Based Manipulatives
  • Programmable Robotics
  • Challenge Based Competitive Robotics
  • Mathematic Basics with Javascript.
  • Hyperlinking Concepts using Cloud-based Resources
  • Asynchronous Communication Concepts using Cloud-based Resources

See Standards
Year 6 :

  • Arduino Based Manipulatives
  • Programmable Robotics
  • Operating System Manipulation
  • Mathematics, Arrays, Functions, and External Referencing with Javascript.
  • Hyperlinking Concepts using Cloud-based Resources
  • Asynchronous Communication Concepts using Cloud-based Resources
  • Peer Review Concepts using Cloud-based Resources

See Standards
Year 7 :

  • Arduino Based Manipulatives
  • Operating System Manipulation
  • Computer-to-Computer Communication without the Internet
  • Mathematics, Arrays, Functions, and External Referencing- Language Choices Flexible
  • Peer Review Concepts using Cloud-based Resources
  • Team Base Projects Using Arduino, Robotics, or Client Side Programming, with Documentation
  • Story Boarding Concepts for Media and Games

See Standards
Year 8 :

  • Computer-to-Computer Communication without “The Internet” (This refers to learning simple protocols)
  • Game Programming with Story Boards – Language Choices Flexible
  • Tutorial and Documentation Development for Primary School Learners
  • Team Base Projects Using Arduino, Robotics, or Client Side Programming, with Documentation
  • Local Server Concepts with Pre-Configured Servers Hosting WordPress (An Example would be MAMP or XAMP)

See Standards
Year 9 :

  • Game Programming with Story Boards – Language Choices Flexible
  • Tutorial and Documentation Development for Primary School Learners
  • Local Server with WordPress and Customisations
  • Local Server to Live Server Migration with WordPress
  • Math and Program Control Basics with Java, Javascript, PHP, or Python

See Standards
Year 10 :

  • Robotics or Automation without the GUI
  • Java or Python Core Programming Libraries
  • SQL Basics with Java, Javascript, PHP, or Python
  • Math Concepts: Game Theory and Probability (To be Simulated with Programming)

See Standards
Years 11 & 12 :

  • IB Computer Science
  • IB IGCSE
  • Public Website Design and Development
  • Mobile Game Development or Flash Game Development
  • Design Technology- CAD and 3D Printing

See Standards

Stephen Dexter

Coding vs Social Media Education: A Global Competency Faceoff

2 Comments

One of my favorite quotes is by musician Charlie Mingus who said that true genius lay in making the complex simple. It is right up there, in my mind, with Peter Drucker’s “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” and the Serenity Prayer, which by law should hang in every Principal’s office.

My son is taking a coding class at a local school. I have also been looking at a number of international school curriculae and noticed that a number of them offer coding classes as well. This is great. It enriches our understanding of technology and empowers users with a knack for engineering and software, all relevant stuff. Rasberry Pi is wonderful. My son was showing me how he can connect the doorbell to send me a tweet every time someone rings it. Not making that up.

My concern is that it when I review the criteria for global competency, I am not convinced that this curricular decision is getting us any closer to those ideals. Yes, we can decide to offer both. But with everything from Design Technology to Digital Literacy and so on, someone has to make choices around which courses get us closer to our school mission which, like it or not, is what we market on the home page of our web sites.

I argue that social media education is critical and cuts across every discipline that we teach, including coding. I argue that students are already using and misusing social media in ways we never imagined. Forget about Facebook, they are already onto a host of other platforms. Yes, I understand that coding wrote Facebook and that Mark Zuckerberg was a coding, not a social media specialist. But that does not mean that we need to try to create an army of Zuckerbergs.

Although you could argue that changes in social media such as the migration to Vine and Snapchat make it just as challenging to commit to something to teach, I think it is a dynamic platform that cuts across curriculum and global competency in a way that teaching coding does not. I am not advocating that we dump coding education. I am simply saying that schools cannot DO IT ALL. And if we want to create a relevant big picture experience that does not simply add to overloaded plates, I am putting my money on social media education.

Even though it is a bit of a marketing plug, @coryedwards makes an interesting point in his blog on the lack of social media education in universities. social media education and talks about the critical nature of this global competency.

Please note, I am not talking about digital literacy or citizenship. Those are important but not as nuanced as social media skills. I am talking about the ability to communicate and collaborate across cultures with an eye towards audience, message, language, and international aptitude. That is the essence of good social media on a global scale. It is, in my mind, becoming the humanities major of our time.

No, it doesn’t have to be either or. But with the demands of the I.B. and the principles that we are supposed to be living in guidance with our mission statements and global competence, I think it is our duty to keep the complex simple and to offer our students the best chance to negotiate a very complex world.

Sorry about the lack of an apropro 80s video, but this one about social media lifecastingwas the best I could do. (And apologies in advance for borderline ads that preview it).