To program or not to program? That's the question!

Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science since it helps foster problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. Steve Jobs claimed that “Everybody in the country should learn how to program a computer... because it teaches you how to think”. There is no need to be an expert or to start big in order to program, the only need is to be willing to accept challenges!

It is the purpose of this presentation to explore Selby and Woollard (2013) suggestions about teaching which support the XXI c skills our students need to develop computational thinking  (algorithmic thinking, evaluation, decomposition, abstraction, generalisation). Then, I will delineate an authentic teaching practice I carried out with my 6^th form students at Colegio Newlands, which proved successful for the attainment of these strategies.

Learning how to programme in the classroom becomes an authentic and meaningful task conducive to language learning (Breen1985: 61, as cited in Mishan). Students are engaged in real world activities, such as the ones experts carry out. The only difference is that the context that is used is meaningful for them at their age, and the final goal is an authentic one: to design their own videogames using Kodu, a visual programming language tool.

In this talk I will also share different experiences that teachers can carry out in order to include programming in their lessons. I will demonstrate how language, technology and content can be integrated effectively in authentic tasks which require students to develop critical thinking. For instance, students can learn about Victorian England designing the city with Minecraft. Even when there is no technology or connection at school, programming can occur in meaningful authentic contexts. The final objective is to create a PLN (Personal learning network) to create connections and contribute to our professional development for the benefit of our students.

Bibliography

Jobs, S. (2012). Interview: Steve Jobs says everyone should learn to program. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCDkxUbalCw. [Accessed 25-04-2017].

Mishan, F. (2005). Designing Authenticity into Language Learning Materials. United Kingdom: Intellect Books.

Selby, C. & Woollard, J. 2013. Computational Thinking: The Developing Definition. Available: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/356481 [Accessed 25-04-2017].