magazine.T4L Issue 04

ISSUE 4 TERM 4 I 2019

magazine.

CODING WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? Tips on how to get started in the classroom

PLUS: TERM 1, 2020 DOWNLOAD YOUR T4L CALENDAR YOUR MINECRAFT JOURNEY | PART 4

Our school journey wraps up

Welcome to issue 4

T4L team update

It’s been a big year for us at T4L and no doubt, for

Congrats – you’ve made it to the end of the year!

you at school. We hope that you can enjoy some

The holidays are now in sight ... but before you go,

well-deserved time with friends and family over the

there’s still a little time left for coding!

break – and recharge for the coming teaching year.

We’ve dedicated this issue to coding, in order to

We’d also like to send our thoughts to those

celebrate the worldwide movement known as Hour

affected by NSW’s recent devastating bushfires.

of Code held in December.

Our North Coast tour in November was postponed and we look forward to working with some of those

To keep you inspired, we’ve included plenty of

communities in the new year.

resources and activities from our partners that are

Thanks for coming on the T4L journey with us this

courses on LinkedIn Learning that are literally at

year online, at events and through the magazine.

your fingertips.

suited to your classroom. There are also some fab

Stay safe and see you in 2020.

Don’t forget to check out our T4L Term 1 wall calendar on the back page and share the

Mark Greentree

love with your faculty and classrooms. All our big

Director

professional learning events for Term 1, 2020 are

Technology 4 Learning

loaded onto the calendar. See you there.

ITD

Did you know?

•

Hour of Code takes place between 9-15 December

•

Over 100M students have participated in Hour of Code

•

This year there are 98,522 registered events around the world

•

There are 1,598 events registered in Australia

•

Watch our Hour of Code livestreamed event with Microsoft, Google and Apple here

@T4LDoE

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Subscribe to

@technology4learning

We’re on

Hour of Code events

@T4L_DoE

Visit our T4L website

Como West Public School The results are in!

Minecraft Journey with Como West Public School Como West Public School have come a long way. This issue, Deputy Principal Russell Taunton and teacher Kristy Browning give us the lowdown on their Minecraft journey. Follow their story in Issues 1, 2 and 3 here .

The results are in – and it’s good news! Students not only embraced the learning experience, but teachers

Changes in attitude

pushed their own boundaries. This set the school

STAFF

up nicely to continue with Minecraft as students

•

Staff became more open-minded as the project progressed

other areas of work and Minecraft experiences.

•

More than 50% of staff elected to learn more about Minecraft:Education Edition (M:EE)

Successes

•

Students’ final work had a powerful influence on staff

responded incredibly well – such as, using the metalanguage from the Sustainability program in

•

Students loved it

•

Teachers embraced the challenge

•

Expansion plans are in place for 2020

PARENTS None of the initial concerns around safety and ‘gaming versus learning’ materialised. ‘Through clear and explicit communication by classroom teachers and identifying clear links to the syllabus documents, parents were supportive of staff using M:EE as a learning tool,’ says Russell. ‘Parents were surprised at how structured activities were in our program and how explicit the learning outcomes were,’ says Kristy.

Real-world applications Creativity and

Developing digital literacies e.g.

design of worlds

the metalanguage of Minecraft

Kristy, Como West Public School Student creativity continued to impress me. I was surprised by the clarity with which students were

2020 plans •

Expanding into new learning areas such as Mathematics

•

Building Minecraft into a Gifted and Talented STEM program for Stage 3

able to explain their understanding of sustainability and apply this understanding to other aspects of their life and world. This was a BIG win as they took their learning out of a digital, game-based situation and have continued to apply their understanding to the real world.

Thank you Como West Public School, for allowing us to share your journey!

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Road Test

Coding and Computational Thinking

Coding and computational thinking are essential skills of the future. We look at how the development of these skills will create the digital workforce of the future.

About the expert Joachim Cohen is a HSIE teacher and teacher librarian by profession and has spent time working in the tech industry. He is now a full-time T4L tech guru.

What comes first? Coding or computational thinking?

How you can encourage computational thinking?

Computers and digital systems are part of almost

Coding is a great way to engage students in developing

everything we do. They will form a part of every

their computational thinking skills. It has quick and tangible

sector our students will work in. These systems are

outcomes providing students with instant feedback and an

useless without the programs humans create to

introduction to working with digital systems. I especially get

make them work. Coding is the language or ‘code’

excited when coding and digital systems can be integrated

that connects humans to machines. Learning to code

as part of solving a bigger problem in another or multiple

these systems to get the output you need requires

curriculum areas! Sounds a little like real life?

a new way of thinking – computational thinking.

This unique skillset can also be used to solve other problems beyond the digital realm. While individual coding languages may come and go, computational thinking and its mindset are here to stay.

Links to the curriculum Want to learn more about how coding and computational thinking fits in to the curriculum? Check out our micro:bit story in Issue 3 where we look at the links with Digital Technologies in Stage 4 and Science and Technology in K-6.

Computational thinking defined: A problem-solving method that involves various techniques and strategies that can be implemented by digital systems. Techniques

Jobs in demand

Relevant skills

Virtual Reality Developer

Problem-Solving

Mobile App Developer

Prototyping

Game Developer

Design

Cyber Security Expert

Presentation Skills

Digital Marketer

Critical Thinking

User Experience Designer

Digital Literacy

Social Media Manager

Creativity

Multimedia Designer

Adaptability

and strategies may include organising data logically, breaking down problems into parts, defining abstract concepts and designing and using algorithms, patterns and models.

Australian Curriculum Glossary .

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Want to know more about the difference you are making today for their careers in the future?

Read more here .

Resources

Get coding with MakeCode

Microsoft’s MakeCode is a great tool for entry-level coders with creative, fun and stimulating challenges.

Micro:bit Fun, free and requiring no equipment, you can get coding straight away with an array of challenges.

For more information, check out our huge feature in Issue 3 on micro:bit challenges .

➚ Rock Paper Scissors is a firm T4L favourite.

Difficulty: Low

Minecraft There are loads of great tutorials to get you coding in Minecraft. Here’s some of our favourites:

➚ Chicken Rain – ever wanted to make it rain chickens? Now you can!

➚ Zombie Pig – pigs gone wild ➚ Cats versus dogs – an ancient classic brought to Minecraft life

Difficulty: Low

Lego Mindstorms EV3 Power your Lego EV3 with code! There are loads of tutorials including brick, motor, touch and colour sensor tutorials to get you going. T4L loves the realworld applications of coding with EV3. Code your EV3 to perform the following tasks:

➚ Autonomous parking ➚ Object detection ➚ Line detection Difficulty: Intermediate 5

Resources Celebrate Computer Science Education Week with an Hour of Code. moveForward() with Swift Playgrounds The new Hour of Code Facilitator Guide from Apple can help you introduce coding to your students

See how students around the globe are building skills and learning to code with Swift Playgrounds.

➚ Watch the video

with iPad. If you’re new to coding, these resources give you the perfect place to start. If you’re already teaching code, you can deepen understanding through open-ended activities in the guide.

➚ Download the Hour of Code with Swift Playgrounds Facilitator Guide

➚ Sign up for a coding session at an Apple Store near you

A new approach to teaching code Apple is pleased to announce an update to the Everyone Can Code curriculum with the all-new Puzzles guides designed to make learning to code even more approachable. The student guide allows learners to work at their own pace, while the teacher guide helps you support all your students, from extra help to extra credit.

➚ Download the student guide

Start a coding club The updated Swift Coding Club kit has everything you and your students need to start your own club, including tips, inspiration and guides for after-school learning.

➚ Download the Swift Coding Club kit

➚ Download the teacher guide

Stay up to date with Everyone Can Code Sign up to join the Teaching Code group in the Apple Teacher Learning Centre. You’ll get helpful tips, inspiration and updates for teaching Swift in your school or in the community.

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➚ Join the Teaching Code group in the Apple Teacher Learning Centre

Get coding with Tynker is a great platform to get students of all ages coding. It’s a tool that allows coding to be strategic, deliberate and integrated.

Tynker in the DoE environment This online platform is an ideal tool to support teachers

Stages 1-3

learning alongside students. Users can log in with a DoE

The ‘drag and drop’ coding blocks mean

school email (Office 365 or Google) account, so there is no need to remember a new password. The iPad app even includes a QR code sign in option.

Tynker accounts are free and the coding environment and classroom management tools are included. As with many quality online services, there is a paid component that unlocks extra content. The stem.T4L project has

students can meet all the required outcomes no matter which KLA you choose, so coding can be cross-curricular.

Stages 4-6 Tynker has courses to help students become proficient in Java, HTML, CSS and Python.

a pool of Tynker Pro-licences that schools can apply for to explore the full suite of Tynker tools.

It’s user-friendly!

Meeting the new syllabus requirements

Tynker includes structured support materials

The NSW Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus

your students. The support section of their site

presents teachers with new challenges. It requires

also includes comprehensive guides to help

students to:

teachers make the most of the tool, including

• •

and clearly identifies courses that are right for

answer keys for all their courses. use visual programming languages to develop algorithms create digital solutions in order to foster computational thinking

In 2020, Tynker resources will be mapped to the NSW curriculum.

Build your coding skills with

Teachers can group students into classes, assign projects as templates and then monitor their progress in the Grade Book. The class function also provides flexible privacy features, giving teachers control over galleries, comments and community content.

Coding is awesome and powerful ... so why should students get all the fun? Now’s a great time to start using LinkedIn Learning to grow your personal coding knowledge.

Read more here !

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Term 01 2020 Week

Monday

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School’s back!

Australia Day

update.T4L

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stem.T4L online PD 10 - 13 Feb

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T4L PowerUp + Twilight [Moree East Public School]

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T4L PowerUp + Twilight [Bega High School]

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27 T4L interactED [Bardia Public School]

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stem.T4L online PD 16 - 19 Mar

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stem.T4L online PD 23 - 26 Mar

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T4L Expo [Bella Vista Primary School]

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DOWNLOAD THIS CALENDAR HERE!

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Events legend:

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@T4LTV

PowerUp: Full day T4L PD workshops for beginners to experts.

5 hours 15 mins NESA Registered PD

PowerUp Twilight: After school express PD tech training.

1 hour per session NESA Registered PD

interactED: Our biggest technology event with presentations and interactive PD.

4 hours NESA Registered PD

Expo: Try before you buy! Get hands-on and test the latest tech for your school.

Expert advice and spotlight sessions

Disclaimer: Please note all event dates are subject to change.

@T4LDoE @T4L_DoE @technology4learning

t4l.schools.nsw.gov.au