This week our class discussed and tested out some fun coding apps and websites that are designed for children to learn and play. I learned that understanding code helps students make sense of the world and it helps develop their problem-solving skills and critical thinking while being an engaging, fun activity. Learning code helps students better understand their problem-solving skills and apply them to different areas of their life and education. Students learn decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithm design, abstraction, and they get to design fun characters along the way. Some resources teachers should use in future classes:
- Coding Resources Connected to BC’s Curriculum, where students can create projects and manipulate worlds through codes.
- ScratchJR is a fun website and downloadable app that allows participants to create movement and animations for an animal.
- Programmable robots: Sphero and Beebot
- CodeBytes, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating students of computer science.
- Computer Science without a Computer
- Hour of Code Activities
