code.org Coursecode.org is an organization working to provide all school children a reasonable experience with computer science. Programming/coding is a key aspect of computer science. Part of code.org's effort has been to create courses for elementary students. This assignment asks that you complete one of those courses—the 20-hour accelerated course—and reflect on the experience and on programming.
The course should not actually take 20 hours. I expect it might take 4-10 hours. To access it you will need to:
code.org site (https://code.org/)I am unable to sign up as you would so the following is uncertain.
In the page that comes up you should see a "Sign in" button and below it a At the right you should see "Haven't joined yet? and under it a Create an account button. Try to sign up as a teacher so you can access the lesson plans. I would use something simple for a password. It would be useful to use a display name that I will be able to associate you, e.g., initials, first or last name, ... Eventually, click the Sign up
code.orgAs you work on the course, keep track of the outside-of-classtime spent on it.
You will occasionally want to check your progress to make sure you haven't inadvertently skipped something—the unplugged activities seem not be to in the sequence of puzzles. Also, you will need to click on the "Finished: Continue to next stage" button to get credit for having done it.
Keep in mind that this course is meant (I believe) merely to expose folks to programming, not to "teach" or develop skill at programming or even to accurately show what is involved. As you work through the course (and explore other material on the site), be thinking about what programming is and whether it is useful to include in our schools. Also, keep in mind that you are to reflect & report on this activity.
Note that the course offers quite a bit of help through the unplugged activities, videos, etc. But, if you have questions or encounter difficulty, please let me know.
As you do the course, keep track of any noticeable thoughts, reactions, and wonderings/questions you have so you can include them in your reflection about this activity.
Most assignments may be done in partnership, but this one should be done individually. You may, however, work side-by-side with a friend.
Completing this activity will be counted as one of the the PARR assignments. If all stages and unplugged activities are completed full credit will be received. Deductions will occur for missing elements of the course. If it is not done when due and you wish to complete it, please notify and I will postpone checking it for a bit, a slight late penalty will be applied.