The Tech Edvocate

Top Menu

  • Advertisement
  • Apps
  • Home Page
  • Home Page Five (No Sidebar)
  • Home Page Four
  • Home Page Three
  • Home Page Two
  • Home Tech2
  • Icons [No Sidebar]
  • Left Sidbear Page
  • Lynch Educational Consulting
  • My Account
  • My Speaking Page
  • Newsletter Sign Up Confirmation
  • Newsletter Unsubscription
  • Our Brands
  • Page Example
  • Privacy Policy
  • Protected Content
  • Register
  • Request a Product Review
  • Shop
  • Shortcodes Examples
  • Signup
  • Start Here
    • Governance
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • The Edvocate
  • The Tech Edvocate Product Guide
  • Topics
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise

Main Menu

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Lynch Educational Consulting
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • The Tech Edvocate Product Guide
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • Post a Job
    • The Edvocate Podcast
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • School Ratings

logo

The Tech Edvocate

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Lynch Educational Consulting
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
        • My Speaking Page
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • The Tech Edvocate Product Guide
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • Post a Job
    • The Edvocate Podcast
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • School Ratings
  • How Machine Learning Will Transform the Classroom

  • Milestones of Development: Everything You Need to Know

  • Partnerships Between IT and Physical Security Improves Campus Security

  • Tips for Using Twitter in the Classroom

  • Writing and Reading Goals For the First Grade: Everything You Need to Know

  • Trends That Will Help Your EdTech Startup Succeed

  • Why Cultural Appropriation is Wrong

  • Differentiated Reading Instruction: Everything You Need to Know

  • 13 Ways to Differentiate Instruction

  • Assessing Your Students’ Reading Progress: Everything You Need to Know

Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
Home›Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech›10 Reasons to Try Coding in the Classroom

10 Reasons to Try Coding in the Classroom

By Matthew Lynch
June 16, 2018
1
Spread the love

Written By Danny Summerell,  STEAM Educator and Innovations Leader at Hazel Glen College in Northern Melbourne, Australia

When I talk about coding to other teachers, I always sense a fear that they too would have to one day do this in their classroom. The reason I have created this list is to help those teachers that are new to coding to relax a little and to just give it a go. Here are ten reasons I think everyone should give coding a go in their classroom:

Releasing Control

Most teachers would agree that they don’t know a great deal about coding. In fact, I would dare to guess that most teachers would have some fear about introducing it to their classroom. The best thing about coding is that everyone, including you, can go on the learning journey together. Coding in your classroom is the best opportunity for you to let go of control and see what the students can learn with only your guidance in the form of questioning.

Problem Solving

Students very quickly learn that because they are in control, that they need to solve problems themselves. It’s a great way for the teacher to explicitly teach some new problem solving strategies that students can utilise if they get stuck. I tell students they can look up similar games and see their code, look up tutorials on websites or YouTube, ask classroom experts, etc. There are many ways to ‘debug’ and we need to help our students work out for themselves ways to do it.

Collaboration

Some people think that because a child is engaged with a device that they still can’t collaborate. In my experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When children are coding, the conversations in the room because very constructive. There are always questions like “What are you doing?”, “Wow! How did you do that?” or “Can you help me fix this?”. I have noticed new friendships form with students that normally wouldn’t interact much and I have noticed students respect each other more for the hard work and knowledge they have learnt.

Creating Experts

I love how students become ‘accidental’ experts when they code. You can have an expert on creating backgrounds, creating a scoreboard, creating lives, characters, movements, levels and the list goes on. The best thing about these ‘accidental’ experts is that you can talk about them when discussing problem solving strategies. List those experts on the board that are willing to help others and students won’t need the teacher to solve these problems. It makes learning more student centred.

Student Choice

It’s wonderful to see students engage with coding because they are the designers of their own learning. When coding with my Year 4’s, it has been great to see the variety of games/ programs students make based on their own interests. I’ve seen students make simple games but spend a lot of time on appearance because that is important to them. I’ve also seen some students create amazing games with varying levels of complexity based around their own themes. Kids love to express themselves creatively and this is one way you can engage them in coding; giving choice.

New Learning Opportunities

One of the best games I’ve seen one of my students make this year was a simple Maths game. The game was a basic quiz with multiple choice answers all to do with addition and subtraction. When I asked this student why they created the game, she answered, “Well, I don’t ever feel very confident in maths, so I wanted to make a game to help me”. This has been one of my favourite ‘teaching’ moments (and I use the term ‘teaching’ loosely here because I didn’t do much teaching; she worked it out herself). Imagine the possibilities for other Mathematical concepts or other learning areas? What a great way to strengthen learning.

Developing Resilience

I have found coding to be a constant problem solving task. Everything is trial and error right from the start. Students begin to realise that the mistakes they make are an integral part of their learning journey and as a result, develop resilience and coping skills. I haven’t seen one student give up yet because it’s been too hard.

Cross-Curriculum

I like to think of coding as a tool for learning. I’ve already talked about the student that made her maths game as one example. I’ve seen others use code to publish a procedural text (they made a ‘goo’ making game); what a great way to publish a text. Think of other text types you could publish with code; narratives (coding characters to act out a story), persuasive texts (make a game with code and create a persuasive text to get others to play it). What about other curriculum areas? History and Geography (code a game about a historical event or geographic location), Languages (make a language learning game), Science (re-create scientific experiments with code). The possibilities are endless and if you can see that, then you can understand how code becomes a ‘tool’ for other learning.

Embraces all Levels of Learner – Creates an Even Playing Field

I remember a teacher being surprised when I told him about one of his students creating such a great game with code that linked to literacy. He was surprised because this child struggled with reading and writing. This highlighted to me that when students get to code, because of the student driven nature, students can succeed in ways they normally can’t. Students are all learning this together for the first time and it creates a level playing field.

Fun

I think when you consider the first nine points, you can gather that students enjoy coding. They love the freedom to explore and the choice to program what they want. This is fun to them. We don’t always afford our students this level of choice, so when you do, they love it. I am constantly told that my classes are their favourite. I don’t think that is because they like me but more so that they are given a lot more freedom.

Contact Information:

Twitter and Instagram: @ponderingdan
Linked In: Dan Summerell
Website: ponderingdan.com
Email: [email protected]

Previous Article

10 Reasons to Become a Google Certified ...

Next Article

What’s Missing in Your Digital Citizenship Curriculum?

Matthew Lynch

Related articles More from author

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    How to promote real inquiry in mathematics classrooms

    April 14, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    Teaching Digitally Distracted Learners

    November 3, 2020
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Child Development TechEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    Do Kids Need to Digitally Detox?

    March 9, 2018
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechFeaturedFreshHigher Education EdTech

    How Edtech Can Boost your Social Mobility

    January 3, 2019
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Policy & ReformTeachers

    Why We Need to Get Rid of Anti-Tech Teachers

    March 16, 2018
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    How to Use Edtech to Plan, Teach, and Assess

    March 23, 2018
    By Matthew Lynch

1 comment

  1. 10 REASONS TO TRY CODING IN THE CLASSROOM | Passnownow.com 12 July, 2018 at 12:50 Reply

    […] and Innovations Leader at Hazel Glen College in Northern Melbourne, Australia and posted on Techedvocate by Matthew […]

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Search

Login & Registration

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • How Machine Learning Will Transform the Classroom

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 27, 2023
  • Milestones of Development: Everything You Need to Know

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 27, 2023
  • Partnerships Between IT and Physical Security Improves Campus Security

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 26, 2023
  • Tips for Using Twitter in the Classroom

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 26, 2023
  • Writing and Reading Goals For the First Grade: Everything You Need to Know

    By Matthew Lynch
    January 26, 2023
  • 20 Top Virtual Reality Apps that are Changing Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 11, 2017
  • 7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 4, 2017
  • Why Mobile Technology Enhances Instruction

    By Matthew Lynch
    December 14, 2016
  • 7 Roles for Artificial Intelligence in Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 5, 2018
  • Digital Literacy is the Most Important Lifelong Learning Tool

    By Matthew Lynch
    December 30, 2017
  • Where to Find Dyslexia Support for Adults - Case Training Services | Registered Charity #1051587
    on
    August 2, 2022

    11 Must-Have Apps and Tools for Dyslexic Students

    […] recorders Electronic flashcards ...
  • What Types Of Posts Can You Make In Google Classroom? - The Tech Edvocate - Gossip ...
    on
    July 31, 2022

    How to Integrate Google Classroom with the Power of YouTube

    […] of your posts. ...
  • Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Google Classroom - The Tech Edvocate - Gossip Buz
    on
    July 31, 2022

    Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Google Classroom

    […] Answers to Frequently ...
  • 10 Important YouTube Channels For Teachers - Kiiky Wealth
    on
    July 29, 2022

    10 Incredibly Useful YouTube Channels for Teachers

    […] Thetechedvocate.org – 10 Incredibly ...
  • Teaching Learners Digital Content Curation Skills - Fab Lab Connect
    on
    June 30, 2022

    Teaching Learners Digital Content Creation Skills

    […] Read More… […]

EdTech Policy & Reform

  • Curriculum & InstructionEdTech Policy & ReformEducation Leadership

    Why We Should Leave Behind the Cookie-cutter Education

    Spread the loveChange appears to be the only “constant” factor in the educational field. However, what happens when a more significant shift becomes necessary? To provide students with the best ...
  • Adaptive LearningCurriculum & InstructionDigital & Mobile TechnologyDigital Age TeachersEarly Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & ReformInstructional Technology

    Exploring New Ideas: Student-Driven Remote Learning

    Spread the loveRemote learning is taking its toll on our students. They miss the social side of school. Not seeing their classmates or teachers is leading to nervousness, anxiety, and ...
  • Digital & Mobile TechnologyEdTech & InnovationEdTech Policy & Reform

    Implementing Education Technology by Pursuing Technology Education

    Spread the loveTechnology is used for many great things in our world. It’s a powerful tool when used correctly. As such, this powerful tool can be used to transform learning.  ...
  • EdTech Policy & Reform

    How Much Bias Is Okay in Your School?

    Spread the loveThe algorithm has proven itself to be a handy tool when it comes to solving education problems. It’s also not without bias.  You may be wondering how some ...
  • EdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    Edtech Should Complement Good Pedagogy, Not Attempt to Replace It

    Spread the loveThe newest generation of edtech is downright amazing; it’s no wonder that various education stakeholders might be a little excited about its potential to transform education. However, edtech ...

EdTech Startups & Businesses

  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Trends That Will Help Your EdTech Startup Succeed

    Spread the loveIf you want to thrive in the destiny of learning and self, shorten, tailor, and gamify. The bulk of EdTech businesses believes that digitizing conventional learning methods and ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    How to Sell Your Edtech Product

    Spread the loveDevelop a profile of the perfect consumer, target clients that meet that description, and plan on a long sales cycle. Selling to schools takes a different sales process ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Edtech Companies Can Learn What Not to Do From Delta Airlines

    Spread the loveIt seems that edtech companies still have a lot to learn about their business models and practices. With that being said, there is a lot they can learn ...
  • Digital LeadershipEdTech Startups & BusinessesProduct Reviews

    Product Review of Collegix

    Spread the love This is a comprehensive ERP solution for colleges and universities that provides modular, totally integrated learners services, finance, HR, and advancement. Collegix provides online and offline workarounds ...
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Startups & BusinessesProduct Reviews

    Product Review of Discovery Education

    Spread the love Discovery Education is a big player in EdTech. The company has established itself as the leading provider of digital curriculum resources, digital content, and professional development for ...

Digital Equity

  • Digital Equity

    How to Create an Equitable Digital Culture in K–12

    Spread the loveDigital equity is vital in our schools. After all, it can help close the achievement gap. However, there is one prevalent problem concerning digital equity. That is the problem ...
  • Digital & Mobile TechnologyDigital EquityDigital Literacy

    Teaching Learners Digital Content Creation Skills

    Spread the loveContent curation is nothing new and has always been a coveted skill. It has been this way for hundreds of years — think of art galleries, museums, or ...
  • Digital & Mobile TechnologyDigital EquityEdTech & Innovation

    Promoting Online Access With Hotspots, Laptops, and Planning

    Spread the loveWhen becoming a leader in the field of education, it is important to consider equity. Some students may not have access to devices or the internet from their ...
  • Digital EquityDigital Leadership

    How Can You Assess the Tech Needs of Your Students Outside of School?

    Spread the loveToday, I received an email from the middle school principal in Los Angeles. She explained to me that the school that she ran was in one of the ...
  • Digital Equity

    It Is Time for the Edtech Industry to Stop Denying Its Equity and Race Problem

    Spread the loveThe EdTech industry is dominated by white employees, white leaders, and white entrepreneurs. If you doubt this statement, just attend an Edtech conference. Admittedly, educators and others don’t ...

EdTech Futures

  • EdTech Futures

    The IT Investments Securing the Future of Higher Education

    Spread the loveThe future of higher education still seems uncertain after the massive disruptions of the last two years. Universities and colleges are struggling with budget difficulties amid cybersecurity threats. ...
  • Adaptive LearningAssistive TechnologyEdTech FuturesInstructional TechnologyTeachers

    Will AI Replace Teachers?

    Spread the loveThrough the years, robots have taken over many jobs. First, they replaced horses and wagons and horses and plows, then they started to replace people. A few examples ...
  • EdTech FuturesHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechUncategorized

    The Future of Higher Education Must Avoid Returning to the Past

    Spread the loveColleges and universities can make higher education safer, smarter, and more accessible through automation and collaboration technologies – if they commit to it. Author: John Hulen, Director of ...
  • EdTech FuturesOnline Learning & eLearning

    IT Trends To Watch As Higher Education Moves Into a New Decade

    Spread the loveEdtech couldn’t have hoped for a better launch into the new decade than the push the industry received from COVID-19. Even the most tech-resistant institutions and individuals have ...
  • EdTech Futures

    4 Emerging EdTech Trends in 2022

    Spread the loveCovid-19 has not only changed education as we know it, but it has forced education technology (EdTech) to up its game. EdTech has been crucial since the start of this ...

About Us

Since technology is not going anywhere and does more good than harm, adapting is the best course of action. That is where The Tech Edvocate comes in. We plan to cover the PreK-12 and Higher Education EdTech sectors and provide our readers with the latest news and opinion on the subject. From time to time, I will invite other voices to weigh in on important issues in EdTech. We hope to provide a well-rounded, multi-faceted look at the past, present, the future of EdTech in the US and internationally.

We started this journey back in June 2016, and we plan to continue it for many more years to come. I hope that you will join us in this discussion of the past, present and future of EdTech and lend your own insight to the issues that are discussed.

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

Contact Us

The Tech Edvocate
5322 Markel Road, Suite 104
Richmond, VA 23230
(601) 630-5238
[email protected]

Follow us

Copyright © 2023 Matthew Lynch. All rights reserved.