This week, December 7-13, is Computer Science Education Week. To celebrate, millions of schools around the world will participate in an Hour of Code. Students spend an hour or so learning a variety of programming skills. Having taught students from grades 3 through 12, I have a fairly good understanding of what works with each level.
So here are some ways to participate in an Hour of Code.
Elementary
Code.org (This has some fun programming tutorials geared toward younger students. Last year they had Anna and Elsa from Frozen. This year they have a Minecraft and a Star Wars themed set of tutorials. Code.org has added some texted based programming for older students this year.)
Tynker.com (This has some tutorials and activities similar to Code.org. You can also get an app for a tablet.
Scratch Jr. (This app is similar to Scratch, but designed for younger students.)
Intermediate
Code.org (See description above.)
Scratch (I love Scratch. It can be used to create simple projects or very elaborate games. Your creativity is all that limits what you can do. Check out this earlier post.)
Junior High/High School
Scratch (See description above.)
Code with Chris (I began to go through this iOS tutorial a week ago to learn how to build iPhone apps. Although I have not finished yet, it has been fabulous so far.)
ROBOTC Virtual Worlds (You will have to download some trial software to program the virtual robots, but I use the ROBOTC in my robotics classes and love it. I use the text based programming, but graphical programming is available as well.)
And there are tons more…
There are so many resources to choose from, there is no excuse for not participating in an Hour of Code this year. Take pictures of your students and Tweet them out using the hashtag #HourOfCode!
HAPPY CODING!
