An article by Jillian Brown (Nov 23, 2015) http://diglearning.global2.vic.edu.au/2015/11/23/teaching-coding/
Recently I came across this image that highlights ‘10 Reasons to Teach Coding’.
Coding is a great skill to engage students in creating projects such as animations, games, and websites. It is an important skill for students across all year levels to support the development of problem solving, critical thinking and creativity, and helps to prepare students for the digital age.
The argument for coding was also featured in a recent article in The Age, ‘Students tackle programming, but is it only for maths geniuses? that explores learning in programming and coding with vice-president of Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria and e-learning teacher Roland Gesthuizen from Keysborough College.
The article quotes Gesthuizen: “Programming gets students to think…(It) is a high-level skill that gets them thinking about solving a problem, and there is more than one way to solve a problem. When students are learning maths, they are learning individually, but programming is very social and collaborative.”
In 2017 AusVELS will be replaced by Victorian Curriculum F – 10 (http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/). The new Victorian Curriculum introduces Digital Technologies. In Digital Technologies, students use computational thinking and information systems to analyse, design and develop digital solutions. The Digital Technologies curriculum recognises coding (programming) as one of the skills to support learning in this area. An increasing number of resources and professional learning opportunities are also available to support learning in this area.
For support in Coding see:
- 10 Reasons to Teach Coding, Brian Aspinall http://brianaspinall.com/10-reasons-to-teach-coding-sketchnote-by-sylviaduckworth/
- Code Club http://www.codeclubau.org/
- DET Digital Technologies support pages and upcoming professional learning opportunities http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/digital/Pages/default.aspx
- Digital Australia 2016 – http://www.igea.net/2015/07/digital-australia-2016-da16/
- FUSE https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/pages/Results.aspx?s=coding
- Victorian Curriculum http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/
