I was very encouraged by the focus (and admittance!) on our level of expertise in this domain. I believe that a teacher never stops learning, and this is an example of that. I have no experience with coding/binary code. I am a little scared about creating a binary learning game this week. I am a basic computer user. I have enough experience to feel my way around an interactive Whiteboard, software and ICTs for use in the classroom, but this digital technologies focus is quite new to me.
I watched the TedX talk about coding in education. Scratch Jnr is amazing! A student that may not be efficient in reading and writing, may still use scratch to code actions for stories and much more.
I can see Marina's point that it is not a truly collaborative task when they are sitting in front of a screen.
I am so in a awe of her dedication to early childhood introduction to coding; logic, sequencing, logic and creative expression!
The integration of curriculum and coding is ingenious. The only experience that comes close to what Marina explains is when I have used Bee Bots in a Year 1 class. We used Bee Bots in maths to find treasure. The children coded the bot to do certain moves to get to the treasure. We did dances too!
The children even made outfits for their Bee Bots and it was so engaging for them.
The example of Zora speaks to me immensely. Zora has many opportunities that most children her age do not, but, she has many things in common with the average child. Zora began her journey playing and mastering apps and IPad software and had a natural 'feel' and inclination to use those skills to create a game. So the question is, within the school curriculum, how do we get students to go from users of digital technologies, to becoming creators?
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