Screenshot from the Computer Science Unplugged Video

 I have learned over the years that I am a very hands-on learner. This is why I found today tricky learning coding on the computer! Because of this, I was really interested in learning more about Screen-free coding. The video Computer Science Unplugged demonstrated some benefits of screen-free coding:

  1. Hands on for Kinaesthetic learners
  2. Encouraged a lot of teamwork
  3. Encouraged learning with each other instead of a teacher-student lead lesson.

Computer Science Unplugged website

I have taken time to look through the Computer Science Unplugged (CS unplugged) website and found it to be an incredible resource that I would love to take the time to learn more in depth about so I can use it as a teacher. I want to share some amazing things I have noticed about the website that I think will help me and hopefully you as well!

  1. There are many different ways (topics) to learn about coding: Binary numbers, Error detection and correction, Kidbots, sorting networks, data structures for searching, image representation, and searching algorithms.
  2. There are lesson plans that connect directly to the curriculum!
  3. Free Printables!

An Example

Computer Science unplugged has a great lesson to teach “How binary digits work”.

  1. First they provide a video of the lesson in action! As a teacher this will be extremely useful for planning. To see the lesson in action will allow me to modify it to the students I am working with at the time.

2. The provide a detailed lesson plan: (This is a sneak peek directly from the website)

3. Printable’s to go with the lesson (already prepared… great for prep!)

Conclusion

I definitely would like to spend more time navigating Computer Science unplugged to gain some confidence in utilizing their lessons in hopes to use them in future classrooms! Coding is completely new to me, I have never heard it before which makes me think of the quote that Allie shared at the beginning of class today “We teach our kids to be consumers of technology, not creators of technology”. We need to learn how this amazing thing we have (technology) has evolved and come to be and bringing coding into the classrooms as early as Kindergarten is how we can do that!

Chelsea

References

Computer sciencewithout a computer. CS Unplugged. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.csunplugged.org/en/