Coding: the smart future for our kids - Chau Au
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Chau Au presents on her experience volunteering as a Code Club facilitator at the local library. She discusses how she got involved in Code Club and shares details about running coding clubs for children over multiple terms, including the types of projects and curriculum used, resources available, and the types and number of students. She also provides case studies of three students who demonstrated growth in confidence, independence, and problem-solving over the terms. Overall, the presentation emphasizes the benefits of coding for children and provides recommendations for others interested in starting coding clubs.
Coding: the smart future for our kids - Chau Au
- 1. Coding: the smart future for our kids Presenter: Chau Au Code Club Volunteer Facilitator Bowen Library, Maroubra Junction HSC and Education Forum @ State Library of NSW Tuesday 08 March 2016
- 2. Hello! About me… • Currently studying B Education in Primary Education at the University of Technology Sydney. • Love playing around with computers & fixing them during school • Still have interest in computer technology • First learnt programming through database Filemaker Pro, MS Excel & HTML through Adobe Dreamweaver • Never into action games and robotics as a child • Love data entry and making movies
- 3. My journey… Where and how did I come across Code Club?
- 4. January 2015 Wanting to find some volunteering experience around computers
- 8. How do I get Code Club started??? I never used Scratch program before…
- 13. Term 2 (April 2015)– First Code Club • Full group of 11 kids • Most never coded before, a couple have used Scratch before • Had a IT library staff who assisted Code Club sessions • 9 weeks (found it too long) – preferrably 6-7 weeks.
- 15. What have I gained from this? — More confident in facilitating & public speaking — More knowledgeable about coding in Scratch as visual language — Build a great relationship with the kids — How fun and interesting coding is — How important coding is for the future — How running an after-school program is so fun — How to overcome challenges in running Code Club
- 16. Sustainability with Continuation — Continuous support — Ongoing volunteering — Getting more volunteers on board! — Getting more kids an opportunity to code — Professional learning experience — Evaluating and reflecting on my facilitation — Shifting methods of running Code Club
- 17. Structure of running Code Club in library setting How did I run Code Club? What resources were available? Number of students and types of students?
- 19. Curriculum structure & resource projects from Code Club
- 20. 2015 Code Club Terms — Term 2 - 2015 — Scratch 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #1 = 11 kids — Term 3 - 2015 — Scratch 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #2 = 11 kids — Scratch 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #1 = 9 kids — Term 4 - 2015 — Scratch 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #3 = 15 kids — Scratch 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #2 = 9 kids — Term 1 – 2016 — Scratch 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #4 = 20 kids — Scratch 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #3 = 14 kids
- 21. Future terms — Term 2 - 2016 — Scratch 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #4 — Python 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #1 = Scratch cohorts 1-3 — Term 3 - 2016 — Python 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #2 = Scratch cohort #4 — Python 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #1 — Term 4 – 2016 — Scratch 1 (Beginners) – Cohort #5 — Python 2 (Continuers) – Cohort #2
- 22. Resources — Computer training room – 11 desktop computers — Used Scratch offline version — Printed booklets of each set project each week (in B&W) — Max. 11 students for Term 2 & 3 — Introduced BYO laptops in Term 4 with the new cohort group doing Scratch 1 (Beginners) — Increased numbers to max. 15 — Increased numbers to max. 20 this Term
- 23. Kind of students — Receive registration forms from parents — Mixed boys and girls — Most never experienced coding before — A couple were highly experienced with other coding language but not Scratch — A few kids are from non-English speaking backgrounds — A couple of kids with a learning difficulty or a condition requiring additional needs (undisclosed – don’t need to know). — Kids that want to learn, have fun and enjoy.
- 24. Demo
- 25. The kids!! Their experiences & case studies
- 26. Survey responses from T3, S1(B)
- 28. Survey responses from T4, S1(B)
- 31. General comments
- 32. Case study #1: Confidence Amy, Brendan & Leo - dynamics — Amy, 9 & Brendan, 8 — Was not very confident in the first couple of weeks — Working on a slower pace from others — Became more confident & fast over the Term — Leo, 10 — Over-confident with completing scratch projects early — Likes to challenge — Providing additional projects as extension set a higher challenge — Peer-to-peer assistance
- 33. Case study #2: Freedom Jenny and Dom – parent expectation & no fear of failure — Jenny, 10 — Fear of making mistakes — Keeps asking if she was coding correctly in each step before continuing — Over the Term, she learns to make her mistakes . — Dom, 10 — Parents had very high expectation from Code Club in the beginning — Was pushed to code as fast as he is expected to and complete everything within the session — He was given the space & time to work on the project at his own choice of pace over the Term
- 34. Case study #3: Problem-solving Phillip and Tiara – dependent to independent — Phillip, 11 — Was very dependent on following the leader’s instruction step by step at the beginning. Had bugs and issues with program without solving issue himself — Through the middle of the Term, he worked through the project on his own and use problem-solving skills to fix an issue on his own — Tiara, 10 — Always put her hand up to ask to fix something for her — Did not know how to problem-solve something – lack of attention & human error — In the last few projects, she was able to solve on own without asking any help!
- 35. How does coding benefit a child? — Knowing how to carefully follow instructions — Become confident & engaging — Problem-solving issues on their own — Learn coding language and skills from very foundation level — Inspire them to pursue digital technology & computer science subjects in future years of schooling school — See how coding works with current games and app they play or use — How coding is important for their future in the digital age
- 36. Possible implications — Resources — Interest of students in coding & content — Not following instructions affecting concentration and attention level — Physical environment – how small or big the room is — Knowledge and understanding of computer literacy & coding terms — Not enough time to explain computer jargons & concepts — Facilitation style – lead-directed vs. student-to-student — Number of volunteers
- 37. Before I conclude… — Consider setting up Code Club at your local library — Program or be programmed — Network with Code Club Australia & other organisations — Develop professional knowledge with coding. Using Scratch is a great start — Promote STEM learning: robotics, 3D printing, drones, programming. — Invest in books and resources around computer science and coding — Learn as you go, play as you go, enjoy as you go. Have a go!