The Hour of Code WorldWide Video!

I love it :)

Wondering what's this all about?

Check the Computer Science Education Week website.

And remember this date: December 8-14 (2014)

Soon!

[Hour Of Code] Lightbot Game

I found this game just a few days ago and I love it!

Lightbot is pretty, clean, challenging and helps kids improve basic programming skills such as abstraction and logic. All at once. I am sure I will use it this year in my primary computing lessons.

Lightbot Video!

The full game is available both in Apple Store and Play Store. There's also a free trial version more than enough for an Hour of Code activity (Certificate of achievement included!). You can play it right now clicking the image below.

Play the demo!

You can find some some interesting teaching resources here.

Thanks for watching.

Bye Bye ICT... Hello Computing

The new National Curriculum (UK) has arrived and with it a huge conceptual change in ICT, now called Computing.

Technology evolves constantly, changing our way of life, the world around us, and more importantly allowing us to drive the change. (Yeah I know, it's the typical thing everyone says...)

The students of today, adults of tomorrow, need much more than just a technical knowledge on how to USE devices and programs. Much of what they learn today will be outdated in just a few years. A deeper knowledge is needed. The type that gives tools and enough insight to help them adapt and learn whatever new technology awaits: It's how devices and programs WORK internally, and even more, how to CREATE their own devices and programs.

Computer Science, my friends, Computer Science.

That's what I studied in University, where I learned programming for the first time, and in the last year I had lots of fun programming Lego Mindstorms.

Believe it or not now students start learning those things at school... since primary... at a level suitable for their capabilities, of course, but at school nevertheless.

Big changes. Big challenges. Big horizons.

I could try to explain it further, but why try if a great communicator already did it and it's on YouTube? Lets hear Simon Humphrey (Computing at School Co-Ordinator) on why we needed a change from ICT to Computing.

Thanks for watching.