Coding is, of course, a hugely important area of 21st century education. Whether they're as young as Pre-K or ready to enter college, coding is extremely relevant to almost every student's future. Thankfully, millions of educators and administrators realize the importance of teaching kids to code. Whether it's a curricular requirement or part of an informal school club, programming experiences are amazingly valuable for students. There's also plenty of options, so educators can find something without complicated or pricey features. In this section, you'll see a lot of different topics related to K-12 coding. These include features on particular STEM tools, insights on coding integration, skills students can develop and more. There's also something for teachers of all grade levels. Whether you teach the early grades or have students with the foundation to take the next step, you'll find helpful resources for teaching coding in the classroom.
We are unable to award something to everybody who applies for our EdTech grant, so, this Holiday season, we selected a few of the applicants who weren’t chosen and sent them what they asked for. Alyssa Newton was one of the educators we sent something to and her students really seemed to love what they received.
Gail Morris is a teacher at Gauger-Cobbs Middle School in Newark, Del. She works a lot with students who have learning disabilities, but still wants to get them introduced to coding as much as possible—a mission that we certainly support! To close out 2018, we sent Gail an Ozobot Evo for her and her students to use and we’re excited to share more.
We often preach about the importance of learning coding for students’ futures. As a skill, it might just be the most valuable ability they can possess as they move forward and, on the flip side, they could fall behind peers if they are not literate in coding. What we don’t always talk about, however, are the other benefits of learning to code.
There are two books kids can follow—one with instructions for building the computer and another that details all of the ways kids can then code with it. Well, now Kano has a few new models (as well as classroom packs), but for this edition of the Eduporium Experiment, we’re taking a look at the Kano Touch Kit and how kids can become engineers.
The C++ programming language can be learned by anyone with some computer science experience. On the basic side, students can learn things like loops, arrays, strings, functions, and variables, while the more advanced programming with C++ includes the capability to control pointers, structures, dynamic allocation, binary trees, and more.
As STEM education has developed over the last few years, now there are even more ways for teachers to deliver an innovative educational experience for their students. STEM education has been broken down into various focuses, including robotics, coding, 3D printing, and more, but there have also been letters added.
Now, Kano’s options have expanded and we’re excited to introduce their STEAM Packs, Club Packs, and Classroom Packs for both the traditional Kano and the touchscreen model. With these kits, innovative educators can support up to 30 students and empower them to code, create, and collaborate with all new options!
Every year, students in schools around the world take part in Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code. Participation in this fantastic initiative has continued to grow every year since its official inception and we expect this year to the biggest one yet! This year’s CS Ed Week begins on Monday (Dec. 3) and runs through Dec. 9.
After careful consideration, we believed the most deserving applicant from this past month is Victoria Blackmer from the Robert R. Jones Public Library in Coal Valley, Ill. Victoria is a librarian at this library in Coal Valley, which is almost on the border of Iowa, and she has also begun to work closely with the nearby Bicentennial Elementary School.
Though it seems like it might be too challenging or expensive to implement drones into STEM learning, the fact is that it’s no more difficult than adding more traditional STEAM tools. Aside from securing places to fly them, your biggest challenge might just be deciding on a model or two. But, don’t you worry—we’re here to highlight some of the best ones.
