Hour of Code III

   I'm writing as we're concluding our Hour of Code week at GSB.  This is a program organized through the efforts of a variety of prominent technology people and companies. Supportive partners include Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Khan Academy and YouTube, to name a few.  Many prominent technologists (e.g.: Bill Gates, Hardi Partovi, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg) have lent their support as well.

   What's the Hour of Code about? It's been a national effort to introduce students, grades 
K - 12, to computer coding.  The rationale is simple, though not one-dimensional.  One reason why it's important to introduce students to coding is that an increasing amount of job opportunities will depend on coding skills and knowledge. We simply do not graduate enough students with adequate computer science literacy, and the shortfall will grow in the coming years.  

From the 2010 - 2012 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/

   But the Hour of Code project is built on more that an economic foundation.  There is also an understanding that by learning coding, students become better thinkers.  It's hard to improve on what Steve jobs said about this idea: "Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer....because it teaches you how to think."
   One more educational reason why the Hour of Code makes sense. It provides an introduction to an academic discipline that many students otherwise might not encounter.  It's impossible to get through twelve years of schooling with no English or history or science or math. Virtually all students have exposure to other languages, music, the arts and physical education. But a surprisingly small group of students have had a academic exposure to computer science. This is a gap in our system and needs to be addressed. This program provides a step in the right direction.
   Not sure that learning computer coding will change how you think? You might want to read an article that appeared very recently in the December 15th edition of the NY Times. It's titled "The Code of Life," by Juliet Waters, and it presents a very personal and compelling case.
   The Hour of Code program provided coding tutorials that were categorized by coding language and grade appropriateness.  Our Lower School students spent time with several coding languages, but especially with Scratch, and object-oriented language that is highly visual and easy for kids to learn.
   When I asked Carrie Petkiewich, our Middle School computer instructor, about her experience with the Hour of Code, this is what she said: “The Hour of Code was a fantastic opportunity to introduce something new to my middle school students. The programs we tried were fun, but also challenging. I enjoyed seeing the students thinking, strategizing, and troubleshooting to fix a step they got wrong. They were excited when they got the code right. This was problem solving in programming and all the students who were able to do it really enjoyed it. Coding is something I hope to continue to incorporate.” 
   Below, a few pictures of the Middle School students at work on coding projects.

   In the Upper School, computer science classes participated in the Hour of Code, as did the physics classes and some math and chemistry classes. Older students were introduced to somewhat more complicated coding projects using languages like JavaScript, Python and M.I.T.-designed code to allow students to write apps for mobile devices.  I personally worked with two classes as they coded.  One was a statistics class, the other a filmmaking class.  In both, students were engaged and productive.  Feedback was positive along the lines of "It's pretty cool learning how computers are instructed to operate" and "I thought this would be dull but it's actually pretty interesting."  Below, a few pictures of Upper School students at work.

    Many, many projects were completed, but most were not saved. I did manage to grab one saved file from Marisa, an Upper School student.  She was working in JavaScript, a language that utilizes a combination of text and symbol instructions with numbers.  If you wanted a prompt for a web site page to be printed, for instance, the JavaScript instruction would look like this: 

<p>"Print" dialog with printer icon:</p>
<p><a href="JavaScript:window.print();">Print this page</a></p>
<div class="more-info">
<p>More info: <a href="/javascript/javascript_print.cfm">JavaScript Print</a></p>
</div>

   Marisa created a greeting card through JavaScript. Here's the finished product, done in an hour of coding:

   In the Lower School, Lynn Prosen and Jill Fedon used class time to introduce all of our LS students to coding.  Some of the work was done off-line using basic coding instructions (forward, back, left, right) to direct Bee-Bot robots through a maze.  Because the coding instructions had a direct relationship to the physical movements of the robots, the students were able to see for themselves the cause and effect of computer coding.

   Jill Fedon did a great job of filming students at work and creating a short video.  You can see for yourself that students were engaged, motivated and active as they participated in the Hour of Code.

   Probably best to end this post with a short video describing an actual coding story. It involves a man with a laptop and an offer to a homeless man.  The story, as it unfolds, is one version of a modern day fairy tale.