TIM ANDERSON: Hi, and welcome to Tech Tips from Teachers.
This episode will focus on programming and coding apps.
Our guest today is Sam Patterson from Palo Alto, California.
Sam holds an educational doctorate in literacy,
and is currently an elementary school technology integration
specialist.
Prior to that, he spent 11 years teaching
middle and high school, and is also an educational blogger.
Sam, what sort of impact have you seen technology
have on the classroom?
SAM PATTERSON: In my career, I've
seen technology have a truly democratic impact.
At the beginning, I was the only one
who could bring content into my classroom.
So no matter how much I wanted my students to have choice,
I always had control.
Now my students can choose what content they're learning about
and bring it in on their own devices.
TIM ANDERSON: And then with coding and programming,
those are two words that we're hearing more and more and more.
What sort of impact have you seen that content have,
and what should we expect in the next five or 10 years?
SAM PATTERSON: I think we're just
at the beginning of what we're going to see.
We're going to see a lot more content integration, where
students are going to be not programming for programming's
sake, but programming about what they're learning.
I have students now who are using Scratch
to model the behavior of molecules
in different states of matter.
It's amazing.
TIM ANDERSON: We've heard from teachers
that there are few important elements for coding
and programming apps.
It's crucial for these apps to have opportunities for students
to apply the content that's been presented to them,
it's important that there are engaging incentives, and also
an opportunity for students and users
to interact with a larger community.
Sam, why is it so important there
are opportunities for application within these apps?
SAM PATTERSON: We want coding apps to give students
the opportunity to turn on the camera
and take a picture of the learning they're
doing in class, and bring that into the app,
so that they can then use the app
to show what they understand about that knowledge
and build more of an understanding about it.
TIM ANDERSON: You've got experience
with students of all ages.
Why are incentives so important?
SAM PATTERSON: Because we want the students
to be able to be motivated to work independently
through the challenges in the programs.
Because all of these do have challenges built into them.
TIM ANDERSON: Got it.
And then what about that community piece?
Why is that important?
SAM PATTERSON: It's huge, because when
the student publishes their work to a community
and other students can interact with it,
they really are publishing their work.
In the classic model of assessment,
that publication-- sharing it with the world--
is kind of the highest level of the work we do.
They've created a text.
They've sent it out into the world.
And it's really motivating for students
when they realize other people are playing their game,
watching their presentation.
TIM ANDERSON: Let's take a look at some exemplar apps
for coding and programming.
First one, what makes Tynker for School so great?
SAM PATTERSON: I love Tynker for Schools,
because they have deep resources.
I can tell my students, if you don't know the answer,
read the screen and find it.
And they can find either the directions or the tab
for help that brings them those directions.
This is important because teachers
can't be the ones holding all the knowledge about coding.
The application needs to give students
the guidance and assistance they need, when they need it.
TIM ANDERSON: And what do you like about The Foos Free Code
Hour.
SAM PATTERSON: The Foos is very engaging.
My students would spend all day there if they could.
And it's engaging because it's playful,
there's really good incentives, and at the same time,
they do a good roll out of different abilities.
And then at the end, students are
able to choose what they want to do with their abilities.
So if they want to create an infinite number of boxes,
they can.
TIM ANDERSON: And then with Pocket Code,
what makes that such a great app for classroom use?
SAM PATTERSON: Pocket Code allows
students to program something on their Android tablet,
and then publish it to a community.
And other people-- students and non-students--
will be able to interact with that code.
And that gives students a real sense
of having created an actual text that's
going out into the world.
TIM ANDERSON: So to recap, a few key things
to keep in mind when developing apps
for coding and programming.
It's crucial for students to have opportunities
to apply what they've learned.
It's important for apps to have engaging incentives.
And it's important for users to be
able to interact with a larger community.
For more episodes of Tech Tips from Teachers,
check out the Google Developers YouTube channel.
Thanks.
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