iPad Coding - STEM Curriculum Resources by Dr. Wesley Fryer. According to Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager in "Invent to Learn," "Three categories of [school computer] usage were outlined in Robert Taylor’s seminal book on the subject, The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee (Taylor, 1980). " The first two computer uses predominate in schools. To use a computer as a "tutee," however, students must PROGRAM or CODE the computer. While Scratch software (free) is my favorite programming environment to use with students, Scratch still relies on Adobe Flash so it doesn't function completely on iOS devices like iPads.
The following apps are designed specifically for coding on iPads. iPad Coding Apps The photo collage used as the header for this page is a collection of referenced iPad coding app icons. Gaming in Education – Minecraft in Schools? I recently returned from a holiday in Orlando, Florida, where I was privileged to be able to attend “Minecon”, a convention for the popular sandbox game “Minecraft”, developed by Mojang AB.
Personally I’m a big fan and long term player of the game, and I’m amazed at how this ‘phenomenon’ has swept across the world. It was great to see how the game is being used and where the game is heading in the future. You might think this is an odd thing to write about on an Education related blog, but there is a link, trust me… read on One of the exhibitors at the convention was TeacherGaming, an organisation who have chosen to focus on ways in which games can be used in an educational setting. Their current, ongoing, project is starting to make schools and educators sit up and pay attention.
What is MinecraftEdu? According to the MinecraftEdu website: MinecraftEdu is the collaboration of a small team of educators and programmers from the United States and Finland. Why Use MinecraftEdu? Technical Stuff. Supporting Parents - Bring Your Own Device Support. 7 Apps for Teaching Children Coding Skills. It's hard to imagine a single career that doesn't have a need for someone who can code. Everything that "just works" has some type of code that makes it run. Coding (a.k.a. programming) is all around us. That's why all the cool kids are coding . . . or should be.
Programming is not just the province of pale twenty-somethings in skinny jeans, hunched over three monitors, swigging Red Bull. Not any more! The newest pint-sized coders have just begun elementary school. If you're concerned that that a) elementary school students don't have the ability to code, b) there's no room in the curriculum, and c) you don't possess coding chops to teach programming skills, throw out those worries.
In no particular order, we have listed all the coding apps that are appropriate for young learners. GameStar Mechanic Platform: WebCost: $2 per student GameStar Mechanic teaches kids, ages 7-14, to design their own video games. Scratch Platform: WebCost: Free! Tynker Platform: WebCost: Free! Move the Turtle. Australian Educational Twitter Hashtag chats. Educational-origami.