PROGRAMMING & CODING
Programming and coding will be part of the National Curriculum from September 2014. Initially I faced the idea of teaching programming and coding with an amount of trepidation, firstly because I had little experience and understanding of it and secondly because I questioned its place within the primary classroom. However, after further research I now see that this is a highly relevant subject area for children growing up in such a technology-rich world. The video below is particularly persuasive as to why children need to be taught these skills from a young age.
Definitions:
Programming is the process of creating and storing a set of instructions encoded in a language understood by the computer, that do some form of computation, processing input and/or stored data in order to generate output."
Coding is the translating requirements into a language the environment your application will run in will eventually understand (server, PC, iPhone, browser, etc.)
Programming is the process of creating and storing a set of instructions encoded in a language understood by the computer, that do some form of computation, processing input and/or stored data in order to generate output."
Coding is the translating requirements into a language the environment your application will run in will eventually understand (server, PC, iPhone, browser, etc.)
My first experience with programming came from using "Beebot", a programmable floor robot borrowed from the university, which enables children to learn about algorithms and directional language. Beebot has 4 directions of travel, moves in 15cm steps and 90 degree turns and confirms steps with flashing eyes and beeps. He can store a series of instructions which allows children to program him to go between points uninterrupted.
My group borrowed Beebot to complete a school-based maths task focusing on problem solving. We worked with a small group of Year 1s, challenging them to think of as many routes as possible that Beebot might take to get from the start to his home. The following video shows Beebot travelling on the course I made for him:
The children's attention was captivated by Beebot and you could see that they loved typing in the instructions and setting him off! The main focus of the lesson was identifying as many routes as possible, so correct programming was not the priority. However, it was clear to see that some of the children struggled with the algorithm - the idea that instructions could be typed in in one long, efficient sentence to be carried out by Beebot, rather than giving an instruction, pressing "go" and then typing in the next one in a series of individual commands. Some also had difficulties with visualising the 90 degree pivotal turns, thinking that pressing the "right" arrow would make Beebot travel one step to the right rather than merely turn him 90 degrees to the right.
Overall, Beebot was a big hit. Ideally, children could work in pairs with one Beebot per pair in order to fully experiment and understand the corresponding movements to the instructions given. Once children are confident using Beebot, there is huge potential for some amazing lessons featuring Beebot "assault courses", time trials and track design. Fun and interesting lessons using Beebot could provide a really strong and inspiring start to programming for children, particularly in Key Stage 1.
Overall, Beebot was a big hit. Ideally, children could work in pairs with one Beebot per pair in order to fully experiment and understand the corresponding movements to the instructions given. Once children are confident using Beebot, there is huge potential for some amazing lessons featuring Beebot "assault courses", time trials and track design. Fun and interesting lessons using Beebot could provide a really strong and inspiring start to programming for children, particularly in Key Stage 1.
Moving into Key Stage 2, lessons on coding and programming can become more complex. Scratch animation (see "animation" in drop down menu) could be used for children to see how algorithms can be used to program animated characters and interactive games.
A site I have found incredibly interesting and helpful is code.org which offers the "Hour of Code", a free, hour-long, self-directed tutorial with video lectures from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. It teaches the basics such as repeat-loops, conditionals and basic algorithms and has contributed no end to my increasing confidence in this area.
I imagine many people share my initial feelings towards programming and coding which is why I now feel even more inspired to teach it in a way that conveys enthusiasm and brings it to life. As those in the video point out, coding is absolutely everywhere. Neglecting to introduce children to it is failing to prepare them for the society they will live in.