CPU Dingbats

Here's a fun activity to display on the board as students are entering the room. It gets them thinking about the subject and engaged with the lesson straight away. I used it with my GCSE Computing class.

A Coding Concept: Video Worksheets

I've been making increasing use of video in my teaching of Computing and have put together a number of "How To" videos. Also, I've previously blogged about the LAWS and VOTE teaching models that I've been using as a means of encouraging students to work more independently. A problem that I have encountered with "How To" videos, however, is how to assess students, apart from the obvious method of assessing the quality of their final coding outcomes.

The "How To" Video


What I wanted was a means of throwing in some higher level questioning, a means of gauging just how much students were understanding about what I was teaching them. One idea I came up with was the "Video Worksheet" -  a set of coding-related questions that are posed for students as they watch a video which is paused and talked through by the teacher at various points. Take a look at the example below and let me know what you think.

The "Worksheet"

Short Format Scratch Videos

Continuing on from my previous post, there are many videos that describe in detail how students can create their own games using Scratch. Most of these, however, are broken into multiple parts each lasting approximately 5 minutes. Some students find it difficult to quickly access the information they need and consequently opt not to watch these long format videos. For this reason I have experimented with this new 60 second video format where students can quickly find the information they need, pausing the video as they develop their Scratch game. I have 2 examples of this format here. Take a look and let me know what you think

Bat Blast:


SoccerSaves:

LAWS for Independent Learning

In one of my previous posts, Bank of Mr Bilton, I described how I use the acronym VOTE in my teaching. The "V" stands for Video, something that I have been making increasing use of through my 60SecondMindMeld project.

An additional acronym I will be using from September is LAWS:

L	Listen	Listen carefully to the teacher's demonstration.
A	Attempt	Attempt what the teacher has demonstrated
W	Watch	Watch the short video if difficulties are encountered
S	Succeed	Fully complete the task that is set

The LAWS for independent learning are designed to encourage students to develop skills to learn more independently from the teacher. Let's say that we have a Computer Science coding activity using Scratch 2.0. Here is how LAWS would work:

Listen - It is important that the teacher is an Computer Science/ICT specialist as s/he starts by demonstrating the coding activity to the class.

Attempt - Students work independently on the task. If they are struggling they should turn to the video.

Watch - There are many videos that describe in detail how students can create their own games using Scratch. Most of these, however, are broken into multiple parts each lasting approximately 5 minutes. Some students find it difficult to quickly access the information they need and consequently opt not to watch these long format videos. For this reason I have experimented with this new 60 second video format where students can quickly find the information they need, pausing the video as they develop their Scratch game. Take a look at this format and let me know what you think.


Succeed - Students work on the task through to completion. Important principles of Succeed are that the task is fully completed and that students attempt independent extension activities

60SecondMindmeld Project

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of flipped learning and how I can get it to work for the benefit of both myself and my students. The use of videos is central to the notion of flipped learning and so I started using them in my lessons. Experience quickly showed, however, that longer videos - say more than 5 minutes - did not hold the attention of students and they quickly opted out of them.

One strategy I have employed to deal with this is The Bank of Mr Bilton. Another idea I had was to develop shorter and more succinct videos. It was from this idea that the 60SecondMindmeld project was born. Take a look at the latest from this project: a 60 second introduction to the Raspberry Pi.

Bank of Mr Bilton

Yesterday I was moderating a #ComputingHour chat session on the topic "Successful teaching of coding - where to start?" The point was made that it was ok for students to make mistakes when coding because they will learn from their mistakes and ultimately improve their understanding.

The first lesson I learnt when teaching coding, however,  was that I needed strategies to avoid the constant need to firefight - i.e. the need to answer 30 questions all at the same time. I thought it would be interesting to see what strategies other teachers employed and so I posted this tweet:

If students are making lots of mistakes, how do we deal with the "sea of hands"? #ComputingHour

— John Bilton (@jonbilton) July 11, 2013

It was great to see the excellent strategies that were suggested - all designed to encourage students to learn more independently, to not always rely on the teacher to answer a question as soon as it arises.

1. Peer Teaching

The ball was set rolling by @Coding2Learn who suggested that teachers make use of peer teaching -those that succeed help those who struggle. Only when they cannot help each other do they ask the teacher.

2. SNOT

A great acronym, SNOT, was suggested by @SharplesICT. SNOT stands for Self, Neighbour, Other, Teacher. In other words, students consult all help available in the classroom before they ask the teacher.

3. C3B4ME

Based upon the "language" of texting, @SuzanneCulshaw suggested C3B4ME, indicating that students should, again, consult all help available in the classroom before they ask the teacher.

4. Q Tokens
Another strategy suggested by @SuzanneCulshaw was Q Tokens, or Question Tokens. Here students in the class each have 3/4/5 tokens per lesson and have to hand over a token every time they ask a question that has an easy answer. This strategy has proven to be a great way of making students think up decent questions that they can to ask the teacher.

In my case, I am currently using the acronym VOTE:

V	Video	Watch the video
O	Other	Ask another student to see if they have the answer - their neighbour first of all, followed by someone else in the class
T	Teacher	Ask the teacher for the answer
E	Execute	Show progress by completing the work now that you have the answer

The VOTE acronym works hand-in hand with other strategies I have written blog posts about. Here's how I use it:

When they enter the room, students are given 2 bank notes issued by The Bank of Mr Bilton. When they leave the room they exchange the bank notes for a Growth Mindset and/or Effort stickers. See my Badges, Stickers and Achievement Points posts for more on these.

The bank note is shown below. The fact that it has my photo on it gives it real value for the students. An editable version of the note can be downloaded if you would like to add your own photo. Every time students fail to go through the VOTE process they have to hand over one of their notes, ultimately earning fewer stickers than students who were able to work more independently.

Download the editable .PNG file here

This system works really well for me. It is great at eliminating superfluous questions and definately encorages students to become independent learners. An important part of the acronym, however, is Video. This aspect of VOTE will be the subject of a future post. 

Moderating #ComputingHour

I had fun and busy time on Thursday 4th July hosting the first #ComputingHour discussions. The 1 hour live chat session takes place on Twitter every Thursday between 9pm-10pm. Anyone can take part - all you need to do is use the #ComputingHour hashtag when you tweet.

The topics of the two discussions that took place were:
"Ideas for using the Raspberry Pi"
"Which programming language to focus on?"
Follow the links to read the summaries of the discussions I posted on the #ComputingHour website.