Do you think you can confidently teach computational skills and coding to young children today to better equip them for tomorrow?
To be honest, I didn’t think I could. As a primary school teacher with five years teaching experience I felt that I have had professional up-to-date training on how to teach coding and using computers in schools – just a basic ICT lesson right?
Wrong, so very wrong!
Whilst I was a student at school (not that very long ago, thank you!) ICT was always the fun lesson at school where you can type on Microsoft Word and explore the difficult world of Excel and Publisher in order to make fancy tables and graphs so you can pass your GCSE ICT grade.
But we have to admit with the ever-changing technological world, having a basic understanding of using a computer or any technology will possibly hinder you in the future with all the new wonderful creative advancements of the 21st century.
As for children, it is so crucial that they are exposed to high-quality teaching and learning of computer knowledge including coding, robotics and computational skills. Children are the future, they are the next generation and with so much change and technological evolution that we have witnessed in our lifetimes, we can only imagine how much more there is to come.
Schools, educators and parents alike, need to act to ensure that our children are not hindered by our lack of expertise and knowledge in this area and they have access to rich, diverse experiences which will deepen and ignite their curiousity and love of learning about the world of computers.
RoboBrain equips children and educators with the knowledge and confidence to teach and learn about computational thinking and processes, providing children with stimulating problems that include using coding and robotics to allow them to apply their knowledge as well as develop key skills that can be transitioned into other subjects. The course is designed in stages with step-by-step progression to ensure effective learning is taking place.
Through practical and contextual lessons children will be able to gain new information and fully understand concepts thus enabling them to interact and explore in their own way. They are provided with advanced technology and excellent resources to support them in understanding these fundamental skills.
The informative and clear teacher’s file really helps me to understand:
– the main objective I need to teach for the lesson
– the resources I need to teach to be able to teach the lesson
– what children would learn from the lesson
– the common misconceptions children may have
(and a nice glossary for me to understand some quite difficult terminologies)
The fact that all lessons are taught either through a fun, engaging story context or a hands-on approach gives me a sense of satisfaction that I am not just allowing my class to be sat staring at a computer or iPad. When I see how the lessons link with each other and how each skill is progressed and developed upon in the next stages, it is clear to me as an educator that this is what real learning should be.
When preparing for the lesson, I do not feel the need to spend the time I do not have to gain materials, resources or a clearer understanding of the lesson as this is provided for me in the detailed file.
Overall, I am pleased to have found an educational tool that I feel is needed in the classroom. Long gone are the days of only teaching coding through BeeBots or a one-off coding game online. I feel more confident in teaching computational thinking and coding skills, I truly believe that a clear innovative method is what is drastically needed in schools in order to effectively and correctly teach this critical and important subject.
Plus, I am very happy to be learning a little coding too along with the kids!
