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Learning to Code: It's Not Just for Teens AnymoreFriday Dec. 30th, 2016Katie Larson, photos by Andrea Paulseth Chippewa Valley Montessori Charter School students – (from left to right) Rose, Bode, Saige, Esper, and Jack – programmed an Ollie robot to follow a predetermined route on the school library’s floor. The message inscribed on a Post-it note and passed from one colleague to another during the first professional development day at the Chippewa Valley Montessori Charter School is pretty telling of the misconceptions...

31 December, 2016 /
6.4

CodeMonkey is an online game that teaches both the fundamentals and advanced topics in computer programming. Use coding skills to program a monkey to grab bananas and ride the turtle without falling into the river! In CodeMonkey students program an adorable monkey to get all its bananas back from the bad gorilla who stole them. As they progress in the game, students will meet different friends like the trusty turtle, who will help them in their journey as they face more complex challenges...

23 December, 2016 /

Elected officials may have a hard time admitting to not knowing something, but I have a confession: Several years ago, my adult son had to explain to me exactly what was meant by the term coding. “It’s the language of computers,” he said. Seeing the look on my face, he put it another way: “Coding is how people create websites, apps, software; anything web-based.” Okay, that made more sense. And what has become very clear is that the skill of coding is...

23 December, 2016 /

Making computer programming a part of the K-13 curriculum is becoming a rallying call in the United States. But just because you teach a subject doesn’t mean you get kids interested in it. So the real challenge is how to get kids, who might not necessarily be into computers, to pursue a career in coding? Google and MIT’s Media Lab are trying to answer that question at Code Next, an after-school program located in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland....

23 December, 2016 /

By Jen Cowart In Cranston Public Schools, the CS4RI initiative, spear-headed by Governor Raimondo to bring computer science education to all public schools by the end of 2017, is already in full swing at the secondary level; 21st Century Skills computer classes are a graduation requirement for high school and other computer science classes are offered, some which are eligible for college credits. The technology curriculum is fully implemented at the middle schools. According to library program supervisor Sue Rose,...

23 December, 2016 /

The Kyrene del Milenio Elementary fifth-graders huddled in pairs over laptops and notebooks, creating movements of figures on the screen from popular games like Minecraft or games based on popular Disney movies like “Muano.” At one table, Isaac Lehman was “the driver” who moved coding on the screen on the advice of the “navigator,” classmate Ngiratudelei Tellames. The youngsters and the rest of the Ahwatukee school’s student body, from kindergarten through fifth grade, as well as all other schools throughout the Kyrene...

18 December, 2016 /

To the Editor: Our children are our future. How often have we heard that line? Probably more times than we can count, but it is truer now than ever before, especially as we find ourselves overwhelmed with new technologies on a daily basis. We rely on Generation M to help us navigate this confusing world. Unfortunately, although preteens and teens may appear fluent, flitting among social-media sites, uploading selfies and texting friends, their digital skills end there. According to a new study...

18 December, 2016 /

Share Article Follow Futurity Researchers have built an interactive table that uses beats and samples to teach the basics of computer programming. They’ll install the device, called TuneTable, in museums in Atlanta and Chicago in 2017, giving K-12 students a chance to try it. “It’s also about changing the attitude about computation and exposing it to people that might not have sought it out otherwise,” says project lead Brian Magerko, an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “Hopefully some...

18 December, 2016 /
6.8

Lightbot is a programming puzzle game; it uses game mechanics that are firmly rooted in programming concepts. Lightbot lets players gain a practical understanding of basic concepts like instruction sequencing, procedures and loops, just by guiding a robot to light up tiles and solve levels. Teachers worldwide are choosing Lightbot first when introducing their students to programming. This programming app was developed for kids by an undergraduate student who's been coding since he was a kid himself. Brief instructions are included at...

18 December, 2016 /

Whenever we think of programming and as it’s now known “Coding” you kinda think first of the older kids, high-school for sure but even late primary school too. Well Fisher-Price have taken kids toys to the next level with coding for preschoolers. All those kids toys are meant to be educational, but sometimes you can’t quite see how they are or what they are teaching. Enter the Code-a-Pillar. An interactive toy from Fisher-Price teaching the basics of block coding. Yep,...

16 December, 2016 /

Since its release in 2011, Minecraft has captured the hearts and minds of today’s youth. With the recent release of MinecraftEDU school version, this popular game is rapidly becoming the most important educational software of our generation and is now used to teach logic, problem solving, and geometry. While many educators use Minecraft to teach project-based learning and other liberal arts topics, many don’t realize that Minecraft is one the best ways to teach students computer programming. Here are four reasons...

16 December, 2016 /

Last week, some of our 4-year-old students did something really fascinating: They programmed a robot using code.That’s right, preschoolers at Bessie Carmichael Elementary were given a set of instructions, and with a little time and a lot of puzzling things through, they made a small robot dance. Soon, all of our preschoolers will be playing and learning much the same way. [advertisement] In fact, all of our students, prekindergarten through 12th grade, will be learning computer science — along with math, language arts...

16 December, 2016 /

Gess Elementary students were thrilled to see the new robots had been delivered to the classroom. (Brandon Hansen Photo) Gess Beyond class receives educational robots through donations By Brandon Hansen/The Independent Staff The enrollment at Gess Elementary is growing by four, as Beyond program teacher Jeff Kersey is bringing robots to the classroom. After getting kids grades 2-6 interested in technology with coding, he’s taking it to the next level with his students being able to engineer and code robots. About a week ago,...

16 December, 2016 /

OCEAN CITY — Some students at Ocean City Intermediate School taught their parents a lesson last week. A little more than a dozen families of parents and students gathered at the school Tuesday night, Dec. 6, to program digital games using coding, according to OCIS computer science teacher Maureen Baldini. In what the school called “Family Coding Night,” students and families worked together to program a game that can be used as an app on a smart phone or tablet. The activity was...

16 December, 2016 /

If you’re not feeling Christmassy yet, Google’s Santa Tracker is guaranteed to get into the festive spirit The countdown to Christmas has started and Google is getting everyone in the festive spirit with their new Santa tracker. Available on Android apps and Google play, explore the North Pole full of addictive and educational games and videos. Google also has the countdown to Santa’s sleigh taking off. Google launched their annual Santa Tracker at the beginning of December. Each day, players will have the chance to...

12 December, 2016 /

Driggs 0 Updated at 11:52 am, December 10th, 2016 By: Julia Tellman, Teton Valley News Share This Story We Matched Lucy Bates works on programming her Arduino board at Girls Who Tech. | Julia Tellman, Teton Valley News DRIGGS — In a tiny voice, fourth grader Lucy Bates explained to me how to connect a light bulb with wires and a resister. Her Arduino board (a simple piece of hardware for electronic education) had five bulbs on it, blinking merrily to a program...

12 December, 2016 /
6.7

Code Monkey Island is a family-friendly board game that introduces kids ages 8 and up to programming concepts used by real programmers. It takes about a minute to learn the rules and 45 minutes to play, and exposes kids to fundamental programming concepts like control structures, data structures, Boolean logic and operators, and assignment and mathematical operations. It teaches kids how to use and master the fundamentals of computer science, and is played in thousands of homes, schools, libraries, and after...

10 December, 2016 /

More than 100 teachers from across the province were invited to Tuesday’s training session on computer coding and computational thinking at the downtown Vancouver offices of Microsoft. The session was designed to train teachers to train other teachers how to code, which will be a mandatory subject for students in grades 6 to 9 by 2018.NICK PROCAYLO / Vancouver Sun B.C. Education Minister Mike Bernier keep his eyes on the balls as he takes part in a training session for selected...

10 December, 2016 /

Li Tianchi and Sun Yue dream of creating a Hogwarts-like environment for China’s young coders. Last year the two entrepreneurs, both in their mid-20s, founded CodeMao.cn — “Code Cat” in English — a website to teach computer programming to kids. “We hope kids will realize that programming is like a magic key to unlocking the future,” Li said. China is pushing innovation as part of its long-term goal to move away from low-cost manufacturing and become a knowledge-based economy that produces high-value-added...

10 December, 2016 /

Moms and Dads, I know, your child is a genius. The thing is, even a young budding genius needs to keep their noggin stimulated to reach their full potential. What's that? Do I hear some honest parents maybe whispering that their incredible children might not be exactly genius material...

10 December, 2016 /

Applied computing technology has progressed to a level that requires greater programming effort to continue advancing for the benefit of humanity. Many grade school students are showing passion for learning with the help of computers and tablets, but few of them are actually interested in programming. In order to spark their curiosity, students need to be introduced to coding in an engaging and exciting way. At Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, computing engineer Zivthan Dubrovsky and his team...

10 December, 2016 /

Love Robot Wars and always wanted to beat up some pesky machines? Well now you can with MekaMon, the world's first gaming robot ecosystem where players can control a four-legged fighting robot from their smartphones against either other battlebots or fantasy enemies in augmented reality. MekaMon is the brainchild of Reach Robotics, a Bristol-based artificial intelligence start-up cofounded by Silas Adekunle, 25. In 2010, Adekunle was an undergraduate studying robotics at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and...

10 December, 2016 /

Once again, the K-12 world has come upon that week in December when educators, organizations and students alike celebrate all things programming. But this year, former educator and current entrepreneur Jeffrey Martín has a message for all those excited for Hour of Code: it’s not just about teaching the students. Martín, the founder of Atlanta-based organization honorCode, recently won the $425,000 Global Change the World competition for nonprofit entrepreneurs as part of the Forbes Under 30 Summit held in Boston, Massachusetts...

10 December, 2016 /

NEW YORK — Toys that teach aren’t a new thing, but a growing number call for kids to build with blocks, circuits or everyday items before reaching for a tablet screen.Play is how kids learn about the world around them, whether the child is a toddler throwing a ball or a teenager playing video games. The benefit is seeing how things work and what happens when an action is taken. Through the years, toys have become more high-tech to keep screen-obsessed children...

10 December, 2016 /

Thousands of Idaho students are helping Moana steer a boat — a character from the Disney movie “Moana” — and are learning to program animals in Microsoft’s Minecraft. These activities are part of Computer Science Education Week, when 394 Idaho schools are offering an introduction to computer coding and programming through the nationwide initiative Hour of Code. Nearly 400 kindergartners through six graders were equipped with a laptop on Monday at Boise’s Garfield Elementary School. It was the first ever wall-to-wall coding...

10 December, 2016 /
6.5

The following device is not developing coding skills, but cute educational toy for youngsters. TROBOs are lovable, huggable plush toy robots that teach kids (children age 2-5) about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) through fun, interactive digital storybooks. TROBOs answer kids questions through engaging stories grounded in real science to explain complex subjects in fun ways that kids can understand. Children build their own avatar and can even add their name to the app. The app works in English and Spanish....

04 December, 2016 /

Educational toys that have a math and science bent are now trying to get back to the basics: less screen time, more hands-on activities Toys that teach aren’t a new thing, but a growing number are calling for kids to build with blocks, circuits or everyday items before reaching for a tablet screen. Play is how kids learn about the world around them, whether it’s a toddler throwing a ball or teens playing video games. It’s about seeing how things work and...

04 December, 2016 /

What are learning toys? The toys featured in this guide are often called "STEM" toys because they can help develop skills that would be useful in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But we prefer the term "learning toys," because, as the educators we spoke to told us, these toys and games promote aptitudes that are relevant in all types of learning. We're not saying these toys will make kids into future inventors, programmers, or poets. Mostly we like these toys—and think the...

04 December, 2016 /

Play-learning with UBTECH Robotic’s Jimu robots teaches key coding skills to (big) kids of all ages, from 5 to 105!• Parents want to know more about how to teach kids coding skills at home• Over two-thirds (68%) of parents think kids know more about tech than adults• Only 18% of parents know schools are required by law to teach coding to all ages• 9% think that robots will soon replace human robots and teachers!• Robots are the best way of...

04 December, 2016 /

NEW YORK — Looking for a cool tech gift for a child in your life? There's no shortage of fun and fairly educational items these days. New toys for the holidays include little robot friends full of personality and magnetic blocks that snap together to teach the basics of computer programing. Here are some toys designed to keep youths entertained without sacrificing on education: Hands-on tech Tablet screens and apps haven't gone away, but they're just not enough on their own. With these toys,...

04 December, 2016 /
8.1

TinkerBots is a toy building set with easy-to-add robotics that make it possible for young children (and adults, too) to create an endless number of toy robots simply by snapping together TinkerBots’ patented “Power Brain,” kinetic modules and passive pieces, and even LEGO bricks. No wiring or programming required. TinkerBots is like “living LEGOs.” TinkerBots is the perfect hands-on introduction to the world of robotics. While experiencing hours of fun, children won’t even notice that they are actually learning something...

01 December, 2016 /

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Wonder Workshop, maker of the award-winning Dash and Dot robots that make learning to code fun for kids ages 6-12, announced its “Give Wonder” donation program and equipped five deserving schools across the U.S. with the robots and tools they need to implement successful computer science programs. “So many teachers and schools are unable to afford computer science technology for their students. Our mission at Wonder Workshop is to make coding and robotics fun and accessible for...

01 December, 2016 /

The Lego-compatible, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled SBricks Plus have four ports that are inputs and outputs, so you can attach sensors, motors, and lights. Image: Vengit Remember those colored bricks you used to play with as a child, or possibly much more recently? They were great, and still are, for building anything from bridges to trains. But in hindsight they lacked one thing: interactivity. Things started to change a few years ago when Lego introduced its Mindstorms and, more recently, WeDo educational kits to...

01 December, 2016 /