Materials
Coding Language
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Materials for Beginning Students
Materials for Advanced Students
The Finch is a small robot that is designed to activate a students’ ability to understand a problem and create possible solutions. The Finch gives students the opportunity to learn computer science by providing a way to see their code as the Finch responds to light, temperature, and obstacles. This is a robot designed for all students. Beginning with block-based coding and moving to advanced text-based programming, the Finch is a tool that can be used in elementary school, middle school, and high school. More Info
Materials for Advanced Students
The Makey Makey is a small circuit board that students use to learn about circuits, conductors, and sensors by turning everyday objects into buttons to take the place of the keyboard or mouse of their computer. Students can design their own controllers, can make musical circuits, and build their own sensors by connecting the Makey Makey to their computer. More Info
Materials for Advanced Students
The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized computer that introduces students to how software and hardware work together. Through the LED light display, buttons, and sensors students can learn about coding and programming as well as about inputs and outputs. The micro:bit can be programmed to do many different things. It can be a digital watch, a fitness tracker or a games console. It offers two programmable buttons, which can be used in gameplay or to skip through tracks in a playlist. It also features an on-board compass to track the direction of the wearer. Your students simply need to connect the micro:bit to their computer and add some simple lines of code to create the device they want. More Info
Materials for Beginning Students
Ozobots are great for students just beginning to code. They are small robots that use sensors to identify lines, and colors codes, drawn by the student. As the Ozobot comes across a sequence of colors, it interprets the colors, and does what that block of color series translates to. For example, if the Ozobot sees a sequence of certain colors, it interprets the directional code and will turn the direction the student has mapped out. As it moves across a different sequence, it will read the speed code, and speed up or slow down. After your students master screen-free coding, they can begin to code online with Ozobot Blockly, a drag and drop form of coding. More Info
Materials for Expert Students
The Raspberry Pi 400 is a complete personal computer, built into a compact keyboard. Teachers will be able to use these computers, a mouse, and a monitor for the student that is moving further ahead in learning computer languages and coding their own games and apps. This device gives people of all ages the chance to improve computer skills, build hardware projects, do home automation, and learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. Besides coding, the device will also help students with computational thinking and skills such as decomposition, pattern recognition, logical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving. Multiple Raspberry Pi projects that combine learning and creativity exist to help students create solutions for real-world problems. More Info
Materials for Advanced Students
Sphero programmable robots supports student growth through playing games, creating programs, and completing challenges. These robots are also a great option for unplugged (screenless) learning while teachers integrate coding into other subjects.
The Sphero indi is a robot for early learners. Through unplugged and connected activities, this robot teaches coding, encourages students to design and build mazes, and offers open-ended play, all while encouraging computational thinking and problem-solving. Your students will learn how to control the robot as they set up color cards for indi to drive over. Each color instructs the robot to do something like speed up, slow down, turn, and celebrate.
The Sphero Bolt is designed for beginners to advanced coders and is beneficial for students that are becoming more familiar with, more comfortable with, and more interested in coding. Besides programming the Bolt to move, students can program its LED lights, the patterns or messages on its LED matrix, as well as the colors, patterns, and intensity of the lights. Programming its sounds offers multiple opportunities as well - like animal sounds, alien sounds, and more. Students will also learn to mix in loops to their programs. More Info
C++ is considered as the foundation for most programming languages, and is equipped with the capabilities to develop apps. C++ can help to develop apps on multiple platforms, thanks to its versatility. Many computer science experts and developers have different opinions about whether a student should start with C++ or not. This programming language can look a bit like math and might put students off the idea of learning to code. Once the basic fundamentals of programming are understood, however, C++ can open many doors into the world of programming. Many of today’s most successful programmers started learning to code with C or C++.
Java is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. This makes Java a great programming language for kids to learn. It gives them a richer insight of a code that is set to continue to develop for many years to come. Java is an objective-oriented and easy-to-handle programming language and is a bit harder to learn than Python, but choosing Java as a first-time programming language will make learning any subsequent language a bit easier for students. Many students have already thought about creating their own apps or websites but simply don’t know where to start. Java has been around for two decades and there are so many online resources, toolkits and tutorials that virtually anything can be created from the ground up using Java. The object oriented setup of the programming language makes it easy for students to progress. Java looks similar to C and C++, but offers more functionalities, thereby enables students to create more robust programs.
JavaScript is a coding language used for building websites and apps. Many interactive websites and games use this popular script programming language. JavaScript is not only a programming language that’s in high demand, it’s also easy for kids to learn. While JavaScript is used a lot in web development, its applications are not limited to this. Programmers use JavaScript to control advanced devices and robots as well.
Blockly is similar to Scratch, and develops code in the same way , using interlocking building blocks for development purposes. This visual block programming language makes it easier for kids to master code.
Another recommendation as a kid’s coding language is Python. Python is a scripting language that is considered one of the easiest coding languages to learn, and requires only a few lines of code to become operational. Python reads like normal speech and uses text-based commands and is based on the English language – making it simpler for children to understand. One rarely has to add comments to the code because Python code that is written well enough reads as if the comments are already included in the code. If your kids or students are going to learn something like coding, then you would want them to get a basic grasp on how to think like a programmer. With Python, students will have very few obstacles with regards to learning how to program. Due to the user-friendly nature of Python, kids are able to write lines of code quicker than other popular programming languages such as Java.
Scratch is a programming language that provides kids with a solid foundation for learning how to code. Scratch has a visual coding environment and allows the development of apps, games, and characters with drag-and-drop code blocks. If you have a classroom of kids who are interested in creating animations, interactive stories, art or music, then Scratch is a coding language that can be learned online for free. While this language is simple enough for children, there are enough functionalities and options that even experienced programmers use the language. Visual programming languages like Scratch offer a solid foundation of programming principles. Scratch is popular because instead of using hard coding, kids can learn through creating, dragging and dropping colorful command blocks.
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