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Week 5 - Digital

Flipped task:

 TED Talk by Linda Liukas 'The poetry of programming' 

Should we/could we ‘teach kids to code’? Why or why not? 
Children should view computers as something they can tinker with, not that they are magic.
It is a mode of self-expression
"Little girls don't know that they are not supposed to like computers". Parents are the ones that put children off. It is not magic and it is not too complicated.

If we don't, we raise a generation of consumers, not creators. 

What is the relationship between Computational Thinking and coding? 
knitting is about symbolic commands with loops
Irregular verbs involve pattern recognition
Computational thinking doesn't have to be about coding - but it is a key component 

What is the role of storytelling in teaching coding?
Storytelling gives us a reason for the code - e.g. the martian GPS anecdote
Disruption starts as people with a vision - creativity
Programming is about creating worlds - you can build your own universe with its own rules. Create something out of nothing.
Computational Thinking
In his book 'Mindstorms', Seymour Papert (1980) stated that 'when a child learns to program, the process of learning is transformed. It becomes more active and self-directed. In particular, the knowledge is acquired for a recognizable personal purpose. The child does something with it. The new knowledge is a source of power and is experienced as such from the moment it begins to form in the child's mind." (p.21)
Computational Thinking is a problem solving process. It is a fundamental skill for everyone, and involves solving problems, designing solutions and systems to solve open ended problems based on multiple variables. We illustrate the concept in this week's session with the following quotes:
“Everyone should learn how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.” (Steve Jobs, cited in Sen, 1995)
"Computational thinking is a way humans solve problems; it is not trying to get humans to think like computers." (Wing, 2006)
"Computational thinking is taking an approach to solving problems, designing systems and understanding human behaviour that draws on concepts fundamental to computing." (Wing, 2006)
According to Google (n.d.), Computational Thinking Means Solving problems by using:
  • Decomposition: Breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts
  • Pattern Recognition: Observing patterns, trends, and regularities in data
  • Abstraction: Identifying the general principles that generate these patterns
  • Algorithm Design: Developing the step by step instructions for solving this and similar problems
Scratch for Computational Thinking
Last week we used Scratch with Makey Makey. This week we will be using Scratch for computational thinking. 
Pair Programming
Pair programming is a common technique in agile software development. One member of the pair is the ‘driver’ (does the typing, and focuses on tactics) while the other is the ‘navigator’ (can review and suggest, and focuses on strategy). When pair programming you should change your roles within the pair on a regular basis, and also change your partner on a regular basis.
"This combined effort, which requires frequent role changes between the two developers, and changes of pairing, has been argued to provide benefits such as improved team discipline, cohesion and morale, better code, a more resilient work flow and creation of better solutions. It raises the working knowledge of the entire code base by all the developers, and enables mentoring of team members" (Parsons, Ryu & Lal, 2008).
Scratch Examples 
With Scratch examples you can click the 'See Inside' button to see how the code was written and, if you want to, you can make a copy to modify yourself by pressing the 'Remix' button. This example shows repetition and selection
There is also a ScratchJR for 5-7 year old and Snap! (formerly BYOB) which is an extended reimplementation of Scratch that allows you to Build Your Own Blocks. It also features first class lists, first class procedures, and continuations. These added capabilities make it suitable for a serious introduction to computer science for high school or college students.
Our Scratch coding examples


Celebrating 50 Years of Kids Coding
This Google Doodle (which appeared the Google homepage in 2017) is a short coding game to celebrate 50 years of kids coding.
Digital Curriculum
The new digital curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) emphasises computational thinking. 
“In this area, students develop algorithmic thinking skills and an understanding of the computer science principles that underpin all digital technologies. They become aware of what is and isn’t possible with computing, allowing them to make judgments and informed decisions as citizens of the digital world” (Ministry of Education, 2017). 
We will be looking at the 8 progress outcomes/whakatupuranga of the Computational Thinking technology area, which you can find through the following links: 
This image from the curriculum shows how the 8 progress outcomes are intended to align to levels.
Digital Passport
The Digital Passport is The Mind Lab by Unitec's contribution to helping teachers get up to speed with the new digital curriculum, supported by the Next Foundation. Teachers can sign up for the Digital Passport for free until 31st August at www.digitalpassport.co.nz
If you need your school's signup code, email digitalpassport@themindlab.com with your school’s name and your teacher’s registration number
References:
Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Center for Computational Thinking. Retrieved from https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~CompThink/
Google. (n.d.). What is Computational Thinking? Computational Thinking for Educators. Retrieved from https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/unit?lesson=8&unit=1
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books.
Parsons, D., Ryu, H. & Lal R. (2008). Better, Not More Expensive, Faster? The Perceived Effects of Pair Programming in Survey Data. In Proceedings 19th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Christchurch, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=acis2008
Sen P. (1995). Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview, Retrieved from: https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/steve-jobs-the-lost-interview/id632407040
Ministry of Education. (2017). Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/167461/1235900/file/Technology%20in%20the%20New%20Zealand%20Curriculum%202017

Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33-35.

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