The Hour of Code is a global movement introducing tens of millions of students worldwide to computer
science, inspiring kids to learn more, breaking stereotypes, and leaving them feeling empowered.
I started the class by asking the kids what they like to do on the iPad. They talked about different apps that they like. I asked them where they think the apps came from? They weren't quite sure. I told them people wrote those apps and that apps is short for "applications". People have to write out everything they want the application to do. For example, if you play a math game and you get the answer right, maybe you collect coins or your score goes up. Someone has to write all of that into a program. A program is a set of instructions that tells a computer what to do. Instructions tell you step-by-step what to do. Here is a set of instructions on how to play Tic-Tac-Toe. Here's a set of instructions on how to bake the best chocolate chip cookies. Another word for "instructions for cooking" is called "a recipe". Recipes are written in a way that no matter who picks it up, if they follow the instructions, they will get the same result. The same is true for computer programs. Watch this video to learn more (we didn't watch this video in class):
The kids tried their hand at coding by using the app "Box Island" where they write a set of instructions to help a "box" to collect 3 stars. I really like this game because it encourages kids to take risks. For example, what happens if you run into a red box? So what if you explode. If you don't try, you won't know. Then you take what you learn and try again. If you're too timid, you'll have a hard time advancing. For example once you know you can push crates around and it's not an immovable barrier, you can push them to block deadly laser beams. It really encourages critical thinking. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Here's a video that shows how Box Island works:
Here are photos of the kids playing Box Island: