Scratch - Coding & Mathematics

 I have been attending webinars with Raranga Matihiko on Coding Across the Curriculum. 

This week's webinar included a section about Scratch and using it in Mathematics. Scratch was used to draw shapes initially and then to add a repeating pattern to make spirograph type patterns. Mathematics knowledge of 2 D shapes and measurement of corners and angles are all used in this coding exercise. 

I worked through drawing shapes such as squares, triangles, rectangles and pentagons. I didn't have much success with the pentagon but I will work on that.

Then I put the code together to create the spirographs in succession.  I also worked out how to make the background change colours randomly to make it a bit more interesting. My next job is to see if I can speed up the circle code! 

Gamefroot & Coding Clubs

Here is the revised version below for you to try out. Today we worked with the Gamefroot peeps Dave and Dan. It was great to meet Dave in the flesh as I have followed his "Gamefroot Dave" tutorials on YouTube.

I managed to add music, text boxes, a points system and a non-playing character. My next job is to make the kiwi react if the player lands on its head, and to make the text box transparent.

Teachers from Ilminster Intermediate School and Gisborne Intermediate School have attended these game dev sessions as they are starting Coding Clubs after school this term at their schools. This is an exciting project for these two schools and one that we are looking forward to supporting. I'm sure the students whoa re keen to join this club will be zooming ahead faster than I have been able.

I wrote previously about gaming and my lack of it so I am unsure of what makes a great game and what appeals to kids. I recently came across this blog post Game Design in the classroom - 8 steps to get started. The thing that caught my eye was that step #1 is to play list of games and there is a PDF with links to online games in categories.  This would be great way to get going. Now all I need is the time!

Kumara to the Marae by Cheryl Torrie / Remix in Gamefroot

Coding - Why Teach It?

So why teach coding?  Coding is a word we hear lots in schools and is one part of the revised New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). When using the term "coding" teachers are referring to computational thinking (CT) and designing and developing digital outcomes (DDDO).

The NZC says " It's important that students have opportunities to be innovative designers and creators of digital solutions – moving beyond solely being users and consumers of digital technologies." NZC

Here is my take on why we should teach these...

1. Coding is another language. Language is about communication. Giving and receiving directions teaches communication and logical thinking. Students have to plan and organise thought then communicate them.

2. Coding teaches problem solving. This is where they go into the learning pit and not only are debugging or solving a myriad of problems, they are also learning to be resilient and to be persistent in their endeavours - see #7!

3. Coding fosters creativity. This is the gold! Students are not following a formula. They have opportunities to experiment, make mistakes, remake, add on to an original idea. 

4. Coding and maths go hand in hand. Think of Scratch and the x and y axis. Think of Scratch Jnr and using the grid to code precise movements for sprites. Think about abstract ideas and visualising. 

5. Coding assists academic performance. Students have to plan and organise their thoughts

6. It's in the New Zealand Curriculum. Was meant to be incorporated into the school's curriculum in 2020. So we should see it happening now.

7. Teachers can't smooth the path to success! Many times in classes I have seen students having to problem solve and debug, and because the teachers have very few skills if any in this area and are not able to code, teachers cannot jump in and do it for their students. I think that sometimes when coding this is the first really hard task students have had to do without teacher intervention or over-scaffolding. 

Research & Development - is it meant to be fun?

 I have been developing my Gamefroot game and aiming to be one page ahead of the students. I am still in the learning pit and have been fortunate to have some students teach me how to extend my coding. And what fun it has been!

Here it is...>

Kumara to the Marae by Cheryl Torrie / Full screen / Remix in Gamefroot

Gamefroot and Game Dev

 Today I attended a day's training with Dan from Gamefroot. Locally, there is interest in establishing a Game Dev Club/Coding Club. What a neat opportunity this would be for our tamariki. 

Our first activity was part one of game development - the "Wall o' Games". Lots of fun and a strategy to get creative juices and collaboration going. 

 

Then onto coding in Gamefroot with a blank canvas. I really was in the learning pit! Not only with the coding aspect but the whole gaming thing as well. I do not play online games and never have so felt at a bit of a loss as to what the elements of a game are and what they do, how you win/lose, and what is a spike?  Along with spike there was a whole lot of other gaming lingo I did not understand. 

My limited experience in Scratch Jnr on iPads and Scratch on Chromebooks helped a wee bit in terms of me knowing what coding blocks are, but as to what they did - that's a whole new world. And then I scrolled down some of the lists of coding block as and see the millions I didn't use and wonder - what are they for? 

Maybe I need to sit with the mokopuna when they are here in the July holidays and get them to talk me through their favourite games and why they like them.

Anyway...here is what I managed to do today which is basically the first half of 8 weeks of Dev Club mahi. Not bad for a newbie!

Click here  to play the first 2 levels of my game. Let me know in the comments what my game needs. 

DFI Day #8 - Computational Thinking

Another full day of Learn Create Share.
Computational Thinking is such an interesting area and the resources that are available are amazing.
In the past DFI's I have explored Lightbot and Flappy Bird (which was highly addictive!). So today I thought I better get stuck in and try Scratch Jnr.

I am in 7 junior classes this year so I would like to open the world of coding to them and as they all have iPads this is the ideal place to start. I like the way you can test the code and adjust as you go - is that called debugging? I managed to add my face to the girl character which will be fun for learners. Next bit of leanring for me will be to add sound bytes to characters rather than having words popping up.

I can see me exploring this further and probably losing a few hours in doing so. All in the name of "work". And...we are having our 2 young grandsons for the holidays - this could be a saviour on a cold, wet winter's day.

Here is a screen recording of my first project...

Gamefroot was another fun thing we did and used the Mihi Maker. Last time I used this it didn't work that well. And it is still not embedding correctly so I fall off the end of the world part way through even thought the preview went well.