Making things… Learning Things
"I am convinced that the best learning takes place when the learner takes charge…" –Seymour Papert
Once again, I was inspired and prompted by my friend Matt Oldridge into thinking and writing. This time, I found myself considering flow again. I wrote about this a few years ago but, since then, I have learned more about constructionism and more about learning in general. I've still so much to learn but Matt's prompt... Continue Reading →
One of my favourite chapters in Constructionism in Practice was written by Yasmin Kafai: Learning Design by Making Games (pp. 71-123). She was interested in learning more about the development of children's design strategies within the context of creating an authentic artifact - a computer game. Children were asked to design and create an interactive computer game that... Continue Reading →
One of my blogging goals is to share more often about coding to learn experiences of the students I am working with at various schools. Case in point, on Friday, some grade 5 students were hard at work during their fourth session (our first was October 3) of game design using Scratch. In January, they... Continue Reading →
It’s great that so many students and teachers I know, and many whom I do not know (but am aware of via Twitter) are checking out code.org or other hour of code sites next week. There are so many great resources that always result in a fantastically exciting hour for students. Coding has become the current term... Continue Reading →
I made this because I think there is an important distinction between learning to code and coding to learn. I think the focus with students doing coding in schools should be coding to learn. Bill Ferriter’s graphic called what do you want kids to do with technology was the inspiration for my graphic. I created this for... Continue Reading →
I'm reading this book. It's hard, but it's fun. I'm playing around with the ideas and it's making me think a lot about teaching, learning, playing, and knowledge. Play, making, exploring, inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, maker spaces, and so on... these are all justifiable reactions against the arbitrary segregation of various subject matter... Continue Reading →
A grade six teacher and I had co-planned a series of sessions with her students around coding with Scratch. In one of the later sessions, I was working with a boy who was frustrated with the game he was making and told me he wanted to start over again. In age appropriate words, I reassured... Continue Reading →
(Updated August 2016, May 2017) I am very pleased that there is a growing sense in the education world of the connection between coding and cognition and learning. There is a mountain of research examining the various beneficial cognitive effects of learning computer programming. Great! But, I believe Seymour Papert would say that students learning... Continue Reading →
Thanks to a challenge from Tina and Jay, two of my #peel21st colleagues, I wrote a list of ten good things about my professional practice right now. As Jay noted, it's always tempting to be critical but it always helps to consciously reflect on the good things that are happening. So, here is my list of ten... Continue Reading →
[Note: Updated, April 22, 2015] App Name - ScratchJr Cost - Free Website - http://www.scratchjr.org/ Tablets - iOS and Android Developed by - Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University iOS Download - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scratchjr/id895485086 Android Download - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.scratchjr.android What is ScratchJr? ScratchJr is a tablet app that young children can use to create simple programs such as stories, games and... Continue Reading →
Making things... Learning Things 