Hello, world! It gives me great pleasure to announce the final round of edits for Block Breaker are now complete and the final layout designs have begun. I am tremendously grateful for the early reads of many friends and colleagues and the constructive feedback they had to offer during this lengthy process. What began as […]
I love twitter. As a regular user of twitter for professional development, I love meeting new start ups and people from all over the world. This week I bumped into “The Family Learning App” (@CanadaLearning) – a nifty new tool that encourages parents to engage with their children’s learning at home. As many of you […]
This is a guest post by Joe Archer. Click here to view Joe’s blog. Well… Lakewood Elementary School’s 2nd Annual Hour of Code Event has concluded, the hard work and effort was well worth it, but the learning outcomes from this event were much more inspiring and enjoyable for me watching unfold! Check out the […]
5 Stages of the Design Thinking Process Empathize: To gain an understanding of your audience and the problem to be solved. Define: Once data has been collected, clear goals should be established Ideate: Team members actively work together to generate a list of possible outcomes and solutions. Prototype: Members of the team will begin to […]
Hello World! Happy #CSEdWeek! With so many awesome activities floating around the interweb space I thought I would create my own project between travels. In this activity we will simulate different natural disasters (Earthquake, Tornado, Hurricane, etc) using Brainpad. Brainpad is a new STEAM tool on the market that I have written about here and […]
Hello World! If you have been following me recently, you will have noticed my new found love for this amazing STEAM gadget called brainpad. Brainpad is a fairly new product to the scene which has taken the best ideas from other products and put them all nicely in one little package. This board contains different […]
Well, the reviews are in! Everyone CAN Learn Math! An inspiring children’s book about applying a growth mindset to learning mathematics! Everyone Can Learn Math is a hot new release (and already a Best Seller) from my amazing sis-in-law Alice Aspinall. The beauty of mathematics is relevant in every aspect of Alice’s book showing that, with […]
Hello World! Brainpad is the latest STEAM tool to hit the market and I could not be more excited about it! While attending ISTE’s No Fear Coding Lab and #CSForAll Summit on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, I met Gus, the leader at GHI Electronics. Gus and I shared a brief chat in line at Starbucks where he was […]
Hello World! Happy Halloween-eve! In this post, we will construct a Makey Makey wire game that tests your hand eye coordination, STEM skills and creativity! Big Ideas: Geometry: Plotting x and y positions on a grid Algebra: Creating, incrementing and manipulating variables Number Sense: Counting and addition ISTE Standards: Empowered Learner, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, […]
Welcome to Python101! Our latest course is now live and I could not be more excited! With Hour of Code (err…Computer Science Education Week) on the horizon (December 3), why not a better time than now to launch our Python course! Have you mastered block based coding tools? Are you looking to try a syntax […]
UPDATE!! Welcome to Python101! Our latest course is now live and I could not be more excited! With Hour of Code (err…Computer Science Education Week) on the horizon (December 3), why not a better time than now to launch our Python course! Have you mastered block based coding tools? Are you looking to try a […]
![[ Video ] Introducing Computational Thinking #CodeBreaker](http://brianaspinall.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-17-at-3.20.25-PM.png)
Computational Thinking can take on a variety of forms. As a generalization – it means to solve problems using technology – either with existing technology, or by creating technology to do things we haven’t done before. Let’s face it: I have put together this short video below. Please feel free to share it with colleagues or at conferences. The more […]
Hello World! The world is under attack! Pumpkins are being thrown down to the ground by the evil Pumpkin Witch and you must save the planet from being covered in pumpkin goop! (Is goop a word? Well, it didn’t underline…). In this activity, students will code a game of “Catch The Pumpkins.” Big Ideas: Geometry: […]
Well, Halloween is just around the corner! What better opportunity to make use of the Micro:Bit accelerometer to build a script that responds to movement. Perhaps you want to make a haunted pumpkin? Perhaps you want to control your porch lights when kids approach? All possible with the Micro:Bit and OnShake command. In this video, […]
My wife’s grade 6 class is learning about circuits and electricity. One student in particular was curious to know if he could design and build a remote controlled car using Micro:Bit and servo motors. I was curious myself so I quickly jumped on MakeCode and put together these two videos. In the first video, […]
I have long been an advocate for constructivist learning. Experiences where students receive feedback from each other as well as the environment frees up the teacher to consolidate with others. I especially love finding the teachers with passions similar to mine. Jeramie Oliveira is a math teacher at Simi Valley High School and someone I […]
In this activity I want to share a neat way to engage students with paper coding using the interactive whiteboard (IWB). Based on my research with Reggio Emilia, I have come to realize how important it is for the environment to be a third teacher. That is, teacher as teacher, student as teacher and environment […]
We have chickens. Three to be exact. You would have learned this from my recent activity Coding a Game of 2 Truths & A Lie. Their names are Chicken Ball, Chicken Parmesian and Chicken Piccata. Don’t be fooled, they are egg layers, not meat birds. When we first got them we were told not to “name […]
Hello world! Welcome back to another school year! In this activity we are going to code an app for students to play “2 Truths and a Lie.” In the game, the programmer populates a list (array) containing three “facts” but one of the fact will be false. In my example, I use the second fact […]
Teachers rock. While many have been back to school for a few weeks, most of Canada has started this week. In honour of those colleagues we admire, I asked my PLN to share why they love their coworkers so much. This is a great thread, be sure to check it’s entirety on twitter here! […]
In this video we will build an app that chooses two random numbers and multiplies them together. The goal of the lesson is to create a game for students to practice multiplication tables (or addition, subtraction, division). As I mention in the video, there is plenty of opportunity to differentiate (two digit, three digit numbers, […]
In this tutorial we will use two micro:bits to broadcast messages to each other over bluetooth. This would be incredibly useful if teachers wanted students to code secret messages for a story, share historical facts with one another, make your own “heads up” game or even have teachers broadcast questions to students. The possibilities are […]
Last week I had an amazing time learning with staff and students from the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. I had the great pleasure of visiting four schools in four days and see first hand what students are capable of. Believe me – they are capable of GREATNESS! On to Rock Paper Scissors. […]
Once I was alerted to the concept of “hard fun” I began listening for it and heard it over and over. It is expressed in many different ways, all of which all boil down to the conclusion that everyone likes hard challenging things to do. But they have to be the right things matched to […]
This week I received an email from Janis Nostbakken who has an interest in data. They are hoping to collect information on the new web series I previously wrote about called Emerald Code. I have pasted the request below and hope you and your class can provide some feedback for them. After all, data and feedback […]
I am a big fan of cheesy 80s horror. I know, not quite the introduction you would expect from me. But hey, those types of movies are incredibly formulaic. Like an algorithm. IF (GoUpstairs) THEN YouDie(). When (Running) Don’tTripAndFall() //They always do Right?? I see the world in algorithms. I think Papert would consider this […]
The Story The year is 2153. In a world run by evil bots, it’s dangerous to be human. Lance, Freya, and their friends are trapped in the Rathouse Orphanage. Will they escape or will the Commander and his sidekick catch them? I am always on the hunt for new tools, games and apps, especially in […]
This morning I tweeted an article titled “Spatial skills higher among those who played with construction-based toys and video games in childhood.” It is a great read with many interesting points. From the article: Childhood play experiences strongly shape a person’s spatial skills, according to a new CIRES-led study—those skills can be critical to success […]
Last week the Federal government of Canada announced a $50 million investment in Computer Science & STEM education. A big move following similar initiatives happening with our friends in the south. I am pleased with the program and its goals, but have some concerns about “coding.” In Code Breaker, I write about the notion of […]
Fact Triangles are similar in some ways to flashcards although they are a better way of showing and practicing fact families. Fact Families are sets of three numbers that can be divided or multiplied together and they help develop the understanding of the relationship between multiplication and division. Below are two examples: Source: https://www.helpingwithmath.com/resources/oth_fact_triangles.htm A […]
Hello World! Today Code Breaker sits as the #3 Best Seller in “Experimental Education Methods” on Amazon.ca! What a fantastic ride this last month has been! With the success of Code Breaker’s release, we have noticed a significant increase in web traffic to our other resource, Hour of Curiosity as parents and educators continue to […]
When I decided to give away a few copies of my book, Code Breaker, I never anticipated the overwhelming requests for a copy! I am so grateful to have such interest! I have written a great deal of content about how to get started with coding at Hour of Curiosity so I decided “why not […]
Happy New Year and welcome back to school for 2018! Over the holidays I noticed Annelyse De Marco doing some pretty amazing things in her classroom so I reached out and asked for an interview. Annelyse and her class participated in the Hour of Code and there was plenty of fun to be had! 1) Who […]
I reached out to Tereza Salerno after seeing a tweet online. Tereza had mentioned she tried coding this week with her class. Curious, I sent her an email asking for more information. Have a read through of our conversation below. My biggest take away is the sense of accomplishment her students felt. Amazing! 1) Who […]
Special thanks to Robert Martellacci for having me as a guest on the MindShare Moment Podcast. Always a pleasure to chat with you! Good luck with your grand opening! From the December issue of the MindShare Learning Report: At our recent Canadian EdTech Leadership Summit, I questioned why we are still talking about, ‘pockets of innovation.’ […]
