Start Coding K-12: NAIS 2016

Demand for CS Problem Solving Skills are on the rise!

While we may not know what jobs our students will have in the future, many of those companies don't even exist yet, we do know that the demand on skill sets will be different.  Current trends point toward the need for more skills in Problem Solving rather than just base knowledge of computer science.  Gone will be the jobs of just knowing how to code, employees will have to be able to think on their feet and solve bigger problems!

Starting CS Earlier - What's the hold up?

Computer Science is here to stay, just like Math and Science.  It's time to incorporate CS or CT (computational thinking) into mainstream education and no this not just a High School course I'm talking about.  K-12 needs a CS strand that builds upon itself, where High School students may even be diving into their own product development with their knowledge base!

What to do about it?

Start small and start Now!  Look up Hour of Code, you just missed it in December, but don't let that stop you!  Scour the resources and play around with students and teachers.  Make a plan now for how you will make the biggest impact with your school next December!

Applauding Innovations - Graphic Analysis from Online Simulations

Did you really understand the concept in that Virtual Lab?

In Kathy Peng's 8th Grade Biology class, students get a rich experience in data analysis.

Students conducted virtual experiments online manipulating enzyme activity by changing variables in their simulation.  Online simulations such as this allow students to test multiple hypotheses and experiment with variables rapidly that would otherwise be too costly or time consuming to perform in a traditional classroom.  In addition, students recorded their data in a lab notebook just as they would in a real lab setting.  In this lab, students were encouraged to keep a paper lab notebook and to create graphs of their collected data.

One of the criteria for creating their own graphs was that they would need to present their completed graphs to the class with an explanation of the analysis they performed.  Students used a document camera to display their notebooks with their graphs and made brief presentations of their analysis as well as answered questions posed by students and Ms. Peng.

Graphical representation of data is a big challenge for students.  Many students have difficulty connecting the skill of graphing they learn in mathematics to then represent scientific processes from real data.  This activity made students really dig deep in their understanding of enzyme activity coupled with graphical representation of what they observed.  By having the students present to the class and answer questions, it solidified their understanding of the data they collected.

Applauding Innovations - Super Hero Physics

How would your Super Hero do in a world governed by the laws of Physics?  

Raji Swaminathan asked just this question to her 7th grade Physics students.  Use Newton's Laws of Motion and a superhero or character of your choice to create examples of how the laws work.  This project involved research into the 3 Laws of Motion and then additionally tasked students with analyzing how a character of their choice would be influenced by those laws.  

The students in Raji’s class dove right into this project.  This was the kind of learning they really wanted to do!  

They carefully researched the Laws of Motion, matched up the super powers of their chosen, or sometimes created, characters and were eager to show off what they had discovered.  This is the type of creative energy students yearn for in their learning.  Opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of new concepts coupled with the things they love outside the traditional classroom!  The students could really explain and understand the 3 Laws of Motion to greater depth than a simple passage in a textbook.  

This was a fantastic project!