code.org Coursecode.org is an organization working to provide all school children a reasonable experience with computer science. Programming/coding is a key aspect of computer science. Part of code.org's effort has been to create courses for elementary students. This assignment asks that you complete one of those courses—the 20-hour accelerated course—and reflect on the experience and on programming.
The course should not actually take 20 hours. I expect it might take 5-10 hours. To access it you will need to:
code.org site (https://code.org/)At the right you should see "Haven't joined yet? Sign up". Click on the "Sign up" link. Be sure to sign up as a teacher so you can access the lesson plans. I would use something simple for a password. It would be useful to use a display name that I will be able to associate you, e.g., initials, first or last name, ... Eventually, click the Sign up
code.orgAs you work on the course, keep track of the time spent on the course, particularly time outside of class.
Keep in mind that this course is meant (I believe) merely to expose folks to programming, not to "teach" or develop skill at programming or even to accurately show what is involved. As you work through the course (and explore other material on the site), be thinking about what programming is and whether it is useful to include in our schools. Also, keep in mind that you are to reflect & report on this activity.
If you have questions or encounter difficulty, please let me know.
As you do the course, keep track of any noticeable thoughts, reactions, and wonderings/questions you have so you can include them in your reflection about this activity.
Most assignments may be done in partnership, but this one should be done individually.
On most course assignments grading will occur as I examine the the TARR (task activity and reflection report). For this assignment I will check both the course progress chart and the submitted TARRs. The whole course is to be completed on time and a good TARR submitted to receive a grade of A. The TARR quality depends on sincerity and depth of reflection; breadth of thought; quality connections to personal experience; effectiveness of communication; lack of troubling grammar, asides, duplication, trivial connections to experience, ... Not completing all indicated elements of the course or demonstrating little thinking/reflection in the TARR will merit a lower grade.
Students always ask "How many pages?" and I always reply "As many as it takes to provide a good answer." I usually add a range, in this case, if you submit only a few (1-3) short paragraphs, you probably are not including enough and if you use much more than a page or so you may be overthinking it, rambling, duplicating, etc.