With regards Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, David Jonassen classifies “meaningful learning” using five categories: Active: Students should be actively engaged in their learning – typically this will be doing something on a computer, but it could also be taking part in a discussion or an activity away from the computer, such as role-play to illustrate how packets […]
Press “a” to begin. Clouds appear at random. Aliens enter the screen every few seconds. Destroy 10 aliens to win. Press “space” to fire. Project page: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/95785178/#player For more lessons, activities and ideas, grab a copy of my book, Code Breaker, on Amazon here! TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedinemailReddit
When considering assessment and evaluation, it is important that any culminating activities accurately match the delivery of previous lessons. This week I wrote about Mathland, a place described by Seymour Papert in which students are immersed in mathematics. They construct their own knowledge of mathematics with tangible options and computer coding. Papert was a firm […]
I’ve been reading more and more about Seymour Papert as I continue my research on computational thinking. I’d like to highlight a body of work from one of his books. In Mindstorms, Papert continues to make good evidence of a constructivist approach to learning. Constructivism is basically a theory — based on observation and scientific study […]
Click the green flag. Click “allow” to access mic and camera. Yell at the ball. The louder you yell, the faster the ball reacts. ** Careful not to yell too loudly or the ball may pop! Project page: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/94612918/ TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedinemailReddit
I’ve spent a good portion of the morning working on this Scratch project. The game uses Geometry to control the paddle and determine the direction in which the ball moves. After 5, 10 & 15 points the ball speeds up and black boxes appear which affect it’s behaviour. Check the project page and “See Inside” […]
I am growing a little tired of the coding narrative. Suggesting everyone should code seems quite trivial without any fundamental research as to why we should all be doing that and leaves me feeling offended. Whoa, what? Brian just said “not everyone should code.” No, I didn’t. I’m suggesting that we look beyond coding. Coding […]
I must make a confession as this has been bothering me for quite some time. It has been a reoccurring thought on my morning commute to school over the last few months. When I landed my first LTO (long term occasional) job back in 2007 I was ecstatic. It was a grade 5 position, and […]
Happy birthday, edmettle! Support the project on Kickstarter! A little over a year ago I began working on this project as a way to improve vocabulary in young students, as well as have students of all ages recognize each other when demonstrating skills positively. Mettle (noun) – a person’s ability to cope well with […]
For all the kids who grow up in a small town and think they don’t stand a chance. You do. I was once that kid.