Interesting Session on Kids Computing at PETE&C Conference

Some of you that know my work have heard me say I am usually not allowed to go to any congferences but with my new job I know have a chance to go to LISA (even if it isn't in Philadelphia) and other Conferences. Since LOPSA-East has been delayed until next year I was able to get to go to Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C). Most of the workshops are geared toward Teaching Technology but there were a few that fit closer to my job (both old requirements and the new requirements  of my job). But the one workshop I want to talk about is one I sat in called Kid Coders. The description of the session said:

 

"Why code? Learning to code can help develop higher level problem-solving and critical thinking skills. By covering STEM standards, writing code encourages students to be both consumers of technology as well as creators. Learn how students will become quickly engaged in coding through various programs, apps, and resources."

 

A reason I sat in was because of my little 8 year old hacker of a Grand Daughter (Nicknamed "Kevin" by me in a previous blog post.) I needed guidance on how to get here into programming as her grade school has nothing for it and I could not find any summer program for this. Two minutes into this session I knew I sat in on a great session. The speakers were Shana Bellairs and Mike Matz of Wyomissing School District.

 

Shana explained how she was not a programmer and needed something to bring programming into the lower grades since their students saw programming of any kind once they hit 9th grade. So she did her homework and found code.org and the Google Hour of Code. 

 

It was amazing how she showed the way the expose young students (some as low as 5th grade in her class but others lower grades) using SCRATCH, Hopscotch and the one thing that made me sit up Kids Ruby.

 

Yup Ruby in a wrapper to allow the young student to code in Ruby. The class ended showing how the Upper grades learned to program a robot called sphero (http://www.gosphero.com/). They programmed this little round robot to move all along the floor. The amazing thing was the tools used to create the program. 

 

When I got to my hotel room I logged into the speakers page (http://tinyurl.com/kidcoders). There I follwoed the phases and went through a couple of the tutorials from code.org and saw how it taught the youngsters and could see how easy it was and how I can see my little "Kevin" make the Ice Princess Elsa move across the screen and even more.

 

In my early days they used LOGO for young programmers and Turtle Graphics. Today we have SCRATCH, Hopscotch and Kids Ruby. 

 

So when I return and get with her this weekend we start our first class. Wish me luck.