8 of the best KS3/4 resources for Computer Science Education Week
This December 4-10 is Computer Science Education Week, so start processing your digital lesson plans with these eight great resources…
1 | Computer science is changing everything
The description of this video simply states: ‘No matter what field you want to go into, Computer Science is changing that industry. Start learning at code.org.’
That’s basically all you need to know.
It’s a short but inspiring look at how technology is at the heart of so much in our modern world, and how great a force it can be.
If you ever need to convince students that studying computing isn’t just for people looking at careers in programming, this is a great place to start.
It’s also a perfect introduction to Computer Science Education Week for your class.
2 | Inspiring students
Talking of getting students motivated, you’ll find loads more videos at csedweek.org.
You’ll find videos and motivational posters featuring the likes of Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, Mark Zuckerberg, basketball superstars Draymond Green and Chris Bosh and expert professionals from various technology fields.
There’s information on finding a guest speaker to come to your school, learning about careers in tech and growing the number of girls studying computing.
Check out all this and more, here.
3 | Hour of code
And for something a bit more hands-on The Computer Science Education Week site also offers a wide range of coding activities to try in one-hour tutorials that are designed for all ages.
You’ll find popular topics like Minecraft, Star Wars and Wonder Woman plus activities like creating your own Google logo, storyboarding and programming with The Sims and building your first webpage in an hour.
And for teachers you can find guides on host an hour of coding and a how-to guide.
4 | Getting animated
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to put together their own animated cartoon, using characters they create themselves and simple paint tools.
They translate a storyboard idea for their animation into a series of scripted instructions for graphic objects on the computer.
You’ll find this PDF download here.
5 | BAFTA Young Game Designers: Gameplay Types
In this lesson, students will investigate some of the important aspects that make an enjoyable game, and the skills that are gained through playing them. They will be introduced to some of the questions they need to consider when developing their own game.
Better yet, this is only part one of five lessons on gaming from Bafta.
You can also find lesson plans for characters and story, platforms and controls, marketing and programming for games.
6 | Digital footprints
This KS3 computing lesson plan address online safety by getting students to consider their digital footprints on social media.
It’s important for students to think carefully about their online activity, and this lesson will help to improve their critical skills by demonstrating just how hard it is to delete something from the internet and easy it is for personal details to be discovered by others.
7 | Computer science webinars
As part of Computer Science Education Week, Seesaw Coders is running a series of webinars which you can register for, giving your students access.
There is one snag – it’s an American site, so the webinars will take place outside of our school hours (once you go to the register page though it will convert to your time zone so you know exactly when each one is).
But if your students are interested in things like jobs in computer science, building an app or girls who code then the opportunity is there.
8 | Computational thinking
Spreadsheets are a great way into computational thinking and a good vehicle for teaching abstract concepts like conditional statements.
They can also put a completely new spin on other subjects too, such as English and geography.
