Coding in Education
Now that we have the tools,
what do we do with them?
Coding has finally hit schools. In this workshop, I show how easy it is and share resources for it while drawing upon the need for it espoused in our reading. In it, Kafai & Burke note that being a citizen of the modern world, a "digital native", entails both knowing of how elements in the digital landscape are made and making worthwhile contributions to those landscapes (Kafai & Burke, 2014). Knowledge and use of coding embodies both of these aims.
I chose the Tracy the Turtle coding activity from Hour of Code (via CodeHS) both because it reminded me of Turkle from the reading and because I have a small amount of coding experience using Win-OOT, C++, and HTML, but none in Python.
I found the language to be simpler than those I had learned before, but a bit clunky. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with it. Most languages have redundancy reducing code at high levels, and I presume that to be the case for Python too.
I have not had the opportunity to use or teach coding in practicum, though I certainly look forward to when I do. My first foray into coding took place in high school (in 1998!) and that course instilled in me a desire to 'look under the hood' of coding that hasn't abated to this day. Though technological and cultural carriers made sticking with coding in rural Canada challenging in 1998, times have (thankfully) changed. The barrier to entry has lowered substantially and with the creation of countless 'kid-programmer' platforms like Hour of Code, which I find spectacular.
The part of Kafai and Burke's paper that resonated most with me while I put together my 'fancy a' in Python was how coding makes knowledge seem tangible and malleable for kids (and adults!). By providing immediate, sandbox ability to see thoughts manifest as digital creations, coding helps us understand knowledge, "as an actual product to be tinkered with, shared, and re-imagined" (Kafai & Burke, 2014, p.2).
I found the reading's focus on a social dimension to coding to be particularly salient, though my particular activity was rather self contained. Still, the platform it utilized and the sharable nature of most of the coding activities there support the reading's emphasis on how the perception of coding has changed from a strictly individual activity/tool to a more social one.
Finally, Though I strongly agree that the creativity inspired through the process of allowing children to see their knowledge come to life produces limitless dividends, I personally feel that the biggest benefit of coding education is that it empowers learners to easily glimpse behind the knowledge curtain and understand how such a big part of their lives works.
References:
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Kafai, Y. B., & Burke, Q. (2014). Mindstorms 2: Children, programming, and computational participation
'Fancy A' Code (Copy and paste this into the 'Sandbox' link above' Python Sandbox Code: speed(10) penup() setposition(-200,-200) pendown() begin_fill() color("pink") forward(400) left(90) forward(400) left(90) forward(400) left(90) forward(400) left(90) end_fill() penup() color("cyan") setposition(85, -160) pendown() begin_fill() forward(50) left(90) forward(200) circle(130,180) forward(25) left(90) forward(50) left(90) forward(25) penup() setposition(85,-160) pendown() forward(200) circle(75,180) end_fill() penup() begin_fill() forward(200) color("pink") pendown() left(90) forward(150) left(90) forward(200) circle(80,180) forward(20) end_fill() begin_fill() left(90) forward(20) left(90) forward(20) left(90) forward(20) left(90) forward(20) left(90) end_fill() penup() color("cyan") right(90) forward(200) left(90) forward(190) left(90) forward(100) pendown() left(180) begin_fill() forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(120) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(5) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(120) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(20) right(15) forward(5) end_fill() penup() color("pink") right(90) forward(45) left(90) forward(5) begin_fill() forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(95) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(15) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(95) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(10) right(15) forward(5) end_fill() penup() left(180) setposition(110, -160) pensize(20) color("yellow") pendown() forward(200) circle(105,180) forward(30) penup() setposition(95,-80) pendown() forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(105) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(15) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(105) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(16) right(15) forward(15) penup() left(90) setposition(-110,5) pendown() pensize(20) forward(30) penup() setposition(-190,-190) color("yellow") pensize(5) pendown() forward(380) left(90) forward(380) left(90) forward(380) left(90) forward(380) left(90) penup() color("cyan") forward(30) left(90) forward(30)
