DFI Session 8 - Computational Thinking

Kia ora bloggers!

During today's DFI session we looked at computational thinking. When I think about myself and my confidence in teaching this content I am definitely at a beginner level. Over the last year or so my school has had some PLD on the new digital technologies curriculum and how to get started on teaching computational thinking in our classes. This has been really beneficial as it has helped me wrap my head around what is expected and how this can be implemented within a junior classroom. So far, I have explored unplugged programming activities with my class but I am yet to expand into the digital. I will be looking to do this by using programmes/tools like Scratch Junior and Bee-Bots (once I've explored them a bit more myself and feel confident in using them).

We then connected with the Manaiakalani pedagogy by looking at empowerment. Something that really resonated with me was the idea that choice = empowerment. This made me think about how much choice I provide my students with on a day-to-day basis. During Auckland's many lockdowns I developed learner choice boards where each week I created 9+ activities for my students. They were able to choose which activities they wanted to complete and when they wanted to complete them. This worked really well - students were engaged and enjoyed being able to select their own learning tasks. The quality of the work they produced was of a high standard as well. Post-lockdown this was something I reflected upon and said to myself I would include in my regular classroom programme but, I'm sad to say, I haven't kept up with this. Hearing Dorothy talk on this topic was a good reminder of how something so simple can empower students to achieve so much.

Deep diving into future technologies was next on the agenda. We looked at how technology has evolved over the last 10 years and how, inevitably, this evolution will continue. This moved into a conversation about how we need to prepare our students for a world filled with technologies that have not even been invented yet. The digital technologies curriculum is how we can do this. From here we were treated to a Scratch presentation by a Year 8 student from Pt England. It was awesome to see what he has learnt and been able to create through this programme. I had heard of Scratch before but hadn't properly explored it until today. Here's a quick screencastify of a project I made a start on. 😊

We also had a play with Makey Makey. Here's a video of us making some sweet sweet beats with this technology. 💃🎶

Have you used Makey Makey or Scratch with your class before? I'd love to hear how you have used it and what your students created!