Intro2Coding showcases sample lesson plans and templates based off of popular coding resources freely available online. Our aim is to focus on technologies commonly available in elementary and middle schools in British Columbia, as well as model how teachers can integrate technology into lesson plans in Math, Arts, and Socials (for example).

 

However, these samples are merely the beginning. Intro2Coding's heart is its community. Ultimately, we seek to empower K-8 teachers to create your own lesson plans, remix others’ plans and share the resulting projects online with the Intro2Coding in our discussion forums.

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Why coding?

Coding gives students the opportunity to practice computational and higher order thinking. opportunities for computational and higher order thinking. Coding isn't merely a doorway to strong career prospects; it can also lead to expansive cognitive benefits, no matter what a student's goals might be. 

 

Also, as we move toward what UNESCO terms the "Knowledge Society," learners and teachers alike face the daunting prospect of shifting away from centralized, authoritative knowledge sources and toward an open, more fragmented future where everyone can be an expert. Education researchers as well as the B.C. Ministry of Education increasingly recognize the need for teachers to transform their practice in light of these changes.

 

Despite all this, however, many teachers today do not know how to effectively integrate technology into their classrooms (Howard and Mozejko, 2015). Coding is complicated! Intro2Coding’s aim is to empower its learners -- in this case, K-8 teachers -- to create their own lesson plans, remix others’ plans and share the resulting projects online.

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Technology we use

Intro2Coding lessons focus on the following coding programs: Scratch, ScratchJr, and Hopscotch. These platforms are free, engaging for all learners, and run on common devices such as iPads, laptops, and desktop computers. Each lesson clearly lays out which technology is needed. In addition, each of these programs has their own community of learners where you are able to collaborate, remix, and learn from each other. They are all quite similar so once you have learned to use one of them, you'll find that picking up the others will come pretty quickly!

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Here are some simple introductions to these programs:

 

 

 

 

 

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Today's students

The new generation of learners in our schooling system is very different from previous students in terms of both learning preferences and habits. Traditional teaching methodologies may not reach these students as effectively, since these new students are accustomed to using technology to independently find answers as well as to collaboratively create knowledge (Kalantzis & Cope, 2010).

 

Calling these new students the “Net-Generation,” Tapscott writes that educators need to have a deep awareness of the N-Geners’ digital lived experiences (2009). N-Geners have a number of key distinctive attitudinal and behavioural characteristics:

 

1. To prize freedom and freedom of choice.

2. They want to customize things and make them their own.

3. They are natural collaborators, who enjoy a conversation, not a lecture.

4. They'll scrutinize you and your organization.

5. They insist on integrity.

6. They want to have fun, even at work and at school.

7. Speed is normal.

8. Innovation is part of life.

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Our pedagogy

Intro2Coding is a Constructionist pedagogical framework after Seymour Papert’s understanding of the term. That means that we aim to engage you, our learners, as meaning-makers yourselves; rather than simply offering you sample lesson plans, we encourage you to collaborate in our community by remixing our plans (or others'!), sharing your own creations, and produce your artifacts of learning with other participating teachers through our discussion forums. 

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In this way, we model ourselves after the New London Group exhortation that teachers become "designers of learning processes and environments, not bossing what those in their charge should think and do" (73). We don't want to tell you how to use Intro2Coding; instead, dive in and explore according to your own goals, needs and interests! If you think a topic is missing or incorrect, we hope you will contribute your knowledge to our discussion forums so that this becomes a truly collaborative endeavour. As Intro2Coding matures, it will serve as a globally accessible knowledge bank built by and for teachers. 

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Inspired by Kalantzis and Cope's The Learning Element, Intro2Coding hopes to fill the particular niche surrounding the use of and familiarity with computer programming in the K-8 classroom. We focus primarily on Canadian curricular requirements, but anyone -- including students themselves in K-8! -- is welcome to explore and contribute to our continually growing body of knowledge in this area via discussion forum.

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Meet the team

Intro2Coding is maintained by Nathan Lott, Emily Chen, Natalie Roberts and Caleigh Minshall, all students at the University of British Columbia. While this site began as a final project for ETEC 510, a core course in UBC's Masters in Educational Technology, we hope that it will continue beyond the course's completion to support teachers and anyone else interested in technology but unsure where to start.