iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

I love bringing physical computing into my classrooms:

Physical computing means building interactive physical systems by the use of software and hardware that can sense and respond to the analog world. Physical computing is a creative framework for understanding human beings’ relationship to the digital world. In practical use, the term most often describes handmade art, design or DIY hobby projects that use sensors and microcontrollers to translate analog input to a software system, and/or control electro-mechanical devices such as motors, servos, lighting or other hardware (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_computing).

. . . but as with all use of educational technologies, I believe that it should be used intentionally to assist learners in developing and expanding their content knowledge and life skills.

Across Ontario, there are educators finding exciting and innovative ways of bringing coding and computational thinking concepts to students. In this article, we share the #12BlocksOfCodemas activities challenge created by Ryan Smith of Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB).

"Interested in integrating Scratch into your classroom this Fall, but aren't sure where to start? Here's a recap of our Scratch Across Every Subject Series!"

Yesterday, I shared a student-produced video from Next Vista for Learning. This morning I have a good example of a teacher-produced video found on Next Vista. In the following video Brian Ellis explains what the Snap programming language is, demonstrates how it works, and explains the differences between Snap and Scratch. Take a look at the video and think about how your students might make use of Snap's features.

A couple of weeks ago, I started creating a sound word game with one of my favorite Piggie and Gerald books, Pigs Make Me Sneeze. Around the same time, I saw a post from Tom Heck in the Makey Makey Educator group where participants in his workshop  created an invention that helps young students learn new words. It was a serendipitous a-ha moment for me! I could make my own interactive word board so that my kinder kids could be empowered to play the sight word matching game on their own!

Mitch Resnick has been working on how to give students new avenues of creative expression for over a decade. His Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab develops Scratch, one of the most popular coding programs for kids, which is based on the seminal work of Seymour Papert, who died in 2016. When Resnick thinks about the guiding philosophy behind Scratch, he thinks of one of its users — Ipzy.

Ipzy started using Scratch at age 11. Ipzy — who goes by the gender neutral pronoun “they”* — loved to draw and heard that Scratch might help them animate their art. Ipzy’s first Scratch project was a simple animation where the eyes and ears of a drawing moved subtly. “You can almost see [Ipzy] here dipping [their] toe in the water of something new,” said Resnick during a presentation at the International Society for Technology in Education conference.

Coding curricula is sweeping into classrooms across the country, thanks to programs such as Code.org. According to the Education Commission of States, about 20 states now require that districts allow students to apply specified computer science courses toward completion of mathematics, science or, as a foreign language. But is coding preoccupying the hearts and minds of students after school hours? This is the question that researchers at the MIT Media Lab are asking.

If you’re an educator who wants to incorporate coding into the curriculum but your school lacks the resources, there are plenty of low- and no-cost tools you can turn to. Scratch is one of the most versatile resources for this because it boosts student engagement and provides an easy way to infuse coding into your existing curriculum.

If you’re ready to give it a shot, here are four ways students benefit from Scratch in the classroom:

A very cool project I did with 4K. All the lessons plans are available here

When we ask young people what motivates their participation on Scratch, they often emphasize the importance of their friends and other peers. Whether in person or online, peers motivate creative learning by sharing ideas, collaborating on projects, offering help, providing encouragement, and creating a sense of connection and community.

While there are numerous benefits to peer learning, I know from experience how challenging it can be to organize and facilitate a class or workshop so that all students have positive peer interactions and constructive collaborations. I have become fascinated to learn about the different ways that educators are supporting peer learning with Scratch.

micro:bit is a tiny circuit board designed to help kids learn to code and create with technology. It has many features including an LED display, buttons, and a motion sensor. You can connect it to Scratch and build creative projects that combine the magic of the digital and physical worlds.

Earlier this year, we announced our plans for Scratch 3.0 — the next generation of Scratch. Today, we are very excited to launch the Scratch 3.0 Beta.

During the beta period we’re inviting everyone to try the new Scratch 3.0 editor at beta.scratch.mit.edu. This new version works in all modern browsers across a broader range of devices, including tablets. Scratch 3.0 focuses on even more ways to create and get started. Check out the video below for a few highlights.

Coding in education is once again gaining more and more popularity in education. There are now too many coding tools, online and device-based, to keep up with. There are so many choices now for students, teachers, or for anyone looking at using coding in education. Choice is great but it creates a new challenge for teachers — which tool(s) is best for my students?
But coding in education is special. It’s not just learning about loops, variables, objects and if…then statements. Coding to learn in education has a long history. But computer science and computer programming also has a long history. Often, they are getting mixed up and, I think, there is some time and effort being wasted as a result.

In what ways do Scratch and visual & media arts inform one another? How can Scratch be a platform for artistic expression and vice versa? Can visual and media arts help introduce and extend computational creativity? Together, Scratch and art have limitless potential for learning and creating!

We’ve started assembling Resources and Scratch Projects and we’d love your input! Do you have  lesson plans, activities, websites, videos, example projects, or something else to share?

I can’t remember the first time I used Scratch.  I am fairly certain it wasn’t before I started my library life, so sometime in the past three years?  My vague memories should not be any indicator of my feelings about Scratch though.  I love Scratch! For those uninitiated, Scratch is a drag and drop coding platform created by the folks at MIT’s Media Lab, an innovative, tech focused, research facility located in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Using color- coded, drag and drop blocks, Scratch demystifies computer programing, builds creative thinking and problem solving skills, and encourages students to learn by doing.