Beyond an Hour of Code #Coding #Education

There is feeling by teachers that teaching coding is not a valuable use of time in the classroom. As standardized tests ramp up in schools across the country, many teachers find it hard to fit coding into their curriculum beyond one houri n December. The biggest misunderstanding that seems to take place around coding is the belief that EdTech is trying to turn all students into coders. This could not be further from the truth. Here are some of the real reasons why teaching coding to students is valuable. 

1. Coding supports problem-solving skills - One of the biggest things I have encountered as I learned to code as an adult was how much I depended on my problem solving skills to figure out why something was not working in my code. Coding systems will spit out errors when your type the wrong thing in the wrong place. The coder needs to find out where the problem is, why it is a problem, and how to fix it. Working through a problem toward a solution is an important skill and students need help developing it. Watching students work through their code is always interesting because you can see the wheel turn as they go line by line. This takes me to the next good reason. 

2. Attention to detail - The answer to your coding problem is always in the details. I have seen students spend many minutes trying to debug their code, but will refuse to proofread their essay before submitting it to their teacher. Teaching students the value of taking their time, checking their code for errors, and making notes on anything that needs to be fixed are skills that translate to writing. ELA classroom teachers, which I was for over 15 years, have tried to get students to make proofreading a part of their writing process. It wasn't until after I left the ELA classroom that I found that coding is how I could encourage students to proofread. Proofreading skills improve with practice and proofreading code is a must if you want your code to work. 

3. They might become a coder - The goal of using coding is not to make every student into a professional coder for the rest of their life. However, there are some students who might never have considered coding as a career if they had not had a taste of what it is like in the classroom. Women and women of color and not represented across the coding world and if there is going to be a move toward more equity in this world, more opportunities need to be given to students to explore coding in fun and engaging ways. Bringing coding into the classroom can start the move to bring balance to the coding workforce. 

4. Basic Understanding of the world - Students will take biology, chemistry, physics, etc. and families and teachers generally do not think twice about this. We are not expecting all students to become biologist, chemists, or physicists. We want students to have a basic understanding of their world. Technology has become engrained into just about every facet of our lives. It is near impossible to go about your day without needing something that has been coded. Being able to look around and understand how things work and why they work the way they do can be helpful as you navigate your world. Asking students to explore coding to obtain this understanding is something that should no longer seem like a wild idea. 

These are just a few of the reasons why bringing coding into the classroom more than just an hour a year. Building in coding as part of the curriculum will bring positive results beyond just coding knowledge. Take the time to explore coding yourself and you will see how you use your own skillset to solve problems and create code. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

Nick

Cutting Board Challenge #MakerEd #AdobeEduCreative

We are starting the school year with some fun challenges in our Innovation and Design Level 2 class. I really want to focus on physical making with digital making as a support and design tool. Our first project will be using Adobe Creative Cloud Express to create their own logo. From there, we will use the laser cutter to put their logo on a keychain. Here is my example I will be using with the students,

From here, students will be design their own themed cutting board. I was able to get a bulk order of 5"x8" bamboo cutting boards for the class from Amazon. Students will design a PNG in ACCE and we will use the laser cutter to etch the design. Their logo will go on the back. Once they have created their cutting board, they will need to create an ad for it. Here is my example,

One of the things I trying to do this year is not make my examples over the top. I spent lots of time on other examples in the past and I had students say they would not be able to match my example. I think that impacted their effort. For first time project examples, I'm going to scale back the examples until I can use student examples. 

All of these examples and projects will live in their portfolio on Seesaw. By the end of the trimester, I hope to have each student with a collection of their design work. 

Feel free to share some thoughts and ideas on how I could tweak this to make it better. I appreciate all of the feedback. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

N Provenzano

An Underwater Pond Camera with @Raspberry_Pi #MakerEd

I was out back and I was looking at my pond like I usually do most Summer days. Here is a shot of my pond. I built it all by myself. One of my earliest adult Maker projects. 

As I walked by and noticed how clear my water had become since changing filters, I thought it would be cool if I could see where my fish like to hide. I broke a few large Terra Cotta pots in half and placed them in the pond to create little caves for the fish to hide from raccoons and a white crane that hangs in the backyard. I immediately that that a my Raspberry Pi Zero W attached to my Dremel 3D printer would be perfect for this project. Here is a link to elinux.org site that walked me through the code to create a Web Interface for my Raspberry Pi Camera. 

Since I had the program up and running already, I needed to come up with a to power the Pi and to keep it dry. After a quick run to the store for some Diver grade waterproof bags and battery pack, I was ready to put together my underwater Pi.

                  

These are some photos of the camera in the bag with the battery pack. I also added this little LED light. I think it helped a bit.

Here is the bag floating on the surface of the pond getting some great shots of the fish swimming around. If I wanted, I could weigh the bag to the bottom of the pond (3.5 ft), but I'm not sure the wifi signal would be that strong.

Here are a couple of videos I posted to Instagram. (Note: Ignore the Time Lapse stamp. I forget to change that before recording.)

Another fish shot with the @raspberrypifoundation Underwater Pond Camera. #MakerEd #MakersGonnaMake

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Aug 4, 2017 at 5:33pm PDT

Here is an underwater video shot with a @raspberrypifoundation Zero W attached to a portable battery in a dive bag. #MakerEd #MakersGonnaMake

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Aug 4, 2017 at 5:31pm PDT

This entire project was easy because I had a Pi set up for video and timelapse. I just needed to take it and make it waterproof. This was a fun project that I can really explore more deeply by thinking about building a motorized boat around the floating bag that would allow me to steer it around the pond to specific areas and get really tight shots.

Hugs and High Fives!

NP

Check out @TeamKano for #BackToSchool

Enter in Nerdy2016 and you can get 10% off!

I've had the best time playing with the Kano Computer Kit. I will just start right away by telling you that you need to order a kit right away if you are interested in getting your students or own children learning to code and assemble their own computer. The new Computer Kit comes with a Raspberry Pi 3! Ok, let's get to the basics.

Kano Computer Kits come with a Raspberry Pi which is the computer that runs the OS. The OS comes on a microSD card that comes preloaded with the Kano OS. Here are some pictures of unboxing and putting the Kano Computer Kit together. Below are a ton of pictures that I wanted to share because this really is something that is important to see as well as read about.

The Computer Kit has a nice package

Keyboard dongle is plugged in and ready to go

Power ready to light up the Kano

Assembled and ready to go!

Once everything is assembled, you are ready to connect your Kano to an HD monitor. This can be a TV or another HD capable monitor you have access to at home or school. I connected mine to a large SMART board. Once I plugged in everything, here was the first message. 

Fun little picture

Made a mistake and they helped me fix it

 Once I set my user name and I followed the initial steps, I was then taken to some screens to help me get going. The tutorial setup was very easy to do and was wonderfully paced.

Working the keyboard

Killing bugs!

Setting up the desktop was sooooo simple

Karate Avatar

 Once the desktop is all set and you have created your avatar, you set up your online profile so you can access the great community that Kano has set up for users to share content and try new things others have created.

Once you have set up the account, Kano walks you through the different apps that can be found pre-installed on the OS.

Once you have done all of this, you will earn your first badge! I was so excited to earn my first badge. I'm not going to lie. I might have done a fist pump. 

First badge

 The first app i jumped into was the Snake app. I wanted to make my own Snake app and the game walked me through all of the code I needed to make it run. It was very simple to type out and establish in the system. I then was able to play the games I created.

 When I was done, I shared my creation to the Kano Community.

As I continued to play with Snake and try out the new levels, I earned a badge!

I continued to earn more badges as I played different games and learned different things about coding and creating on a computer. 

Eventually, I leveled up to 2 and was very excited about this accomplishment. The more I played, the more I leveled up. It was a bit addicting. I spent my entire off period and lunch playing with the different games. I was hooked. 

The more levels I earned, the more content I earned for my avatar. 

I know I have shared many many photos, but I've done that to show you how beautiful the UI is on the Computer Kit. It is wonderfully designed and easy to use. The cartoon graphics are well rendered and look great on the HD screen. The UI is so important if you are going to get adults and children hooked on using a device. These are key and Kano has done an amazing job with it.

I played pong, did a text based Python script game, I played with Scratch for the first time and made the Cat dance around the screen, and I did all of this with a huge smile on my face. The true test was to give it to my son and see what he thought.

Leo is playing with the Computer Kit and the Screen Kit. He was hooked right away. He LOVES Scratch. He wants to play it all the time. Leo is 5 and he was moving around the Kano UI easily. He figured out how to do things on Scratch without any support. While Scratch is a different program not created by Kano, the Computer Kit allowed Leo to have easy access to the program. The keyboard was the perfect size for him to click the keys and use the trackpad. He was able to draw a submarine and make it bounce on the screen without asking a single question. Dropping the pieces together was simple for him and Kano allowed him the easy access to a great tool. That is what makes Kano stand out for me. 

The Kano Computer Kit retails for $149.99 and it is worth every penny. The kit that will have the Pi 3 will not need for you to connect a wifi dongle. That will make it a little nicer for the set up. 

Leo continues to play with the Kano Computer Kit and asks me about playing the "Cat Game" (Scratch) all the time. He also loves to play Pong once in a while. He is slowly learning the different aspects of the Computer Kit and he is doing it with little guidance from me. These are such important skills for him to learn. He will be a coding expert if he keeps this up. 

I look forward to seeing the Kano OS grow, expand, and mature with its users over time. Kano will only improve on its stellar UI and offer new applications that will be easily downloadable and added to the desktop. Kahoot just announced that they have connected with Kano. Check out the story here. 

You need to hurry up and reserve your Kano Computer Kit before it is too late. 

Yes! @Storybird Gets It Right

Storybird is an awesome web based app that allows users to create they own picture books. I've featured them in sessions over the years on how this can help engage writers.

Storybird recently announced that they are ditching their Freemium model and all tools will be available for educators. Here is the full post from Storybird. 

Storybird gets it right. They see that things are tough and are doing something that helps teachers and students. If you haven't checked out Storybird lately, take a moment and see what I can do for your classroom. 

Paralyzed By Technology #edchat

As I have worked with teachers over the years, I have come across one common problem that many teachers deal with when looking at technology. It's this idea that all new tech tools must be integrated immediately or they have failed as a teacher. As they look over the long list of available tools, they become paralyzed because they are overwhelmed.

I always make sure to tell all educators that technology is about baby steps. As "techy" teacher, it appears that I have used every tool to the full extent from the very first day I started using the Internet. What teachers do not see are the many many tools I have used incorrectly or the tools that just didn't fit my instructional style. There is a vast wasteland littered with remains of programs that I was excited about, tried, and then realized were not for me or my students. I learned to focus on what was working and use it well.

After some time with a tool and feeling like I have mastered it, I would explore a new tool. I took baby steps with all of the tools I have ever used. At the end of the year, I evaluate the tools and decide if it will stick around. Either way, I look to add a new one for the start of the next school year.

As a connected educator, I see tons of great new tools shared on a regular basis and I have to fight the urge to try and use them immediately. If I want to do it right, I need to take my time, learn how to use a tool and think out who it fits into my classroom.

Friar Laurence said it best in Romeo and Juliet "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast"

I encourage teachers out there to find one new tool to explore, have fun trying it out in class and then reflect on its use at the end of the year. When you are done, look for another one for the next school year. Over time, teachers will no longer be paralyzed by technology and will become the "techy" teacher in their building.