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
    • Pedagogue
    • Edupedia
    • 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
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • P-20 Ed Careers

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
    • Pedagogue
    • Edupedia
    • 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
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • P-20 Ed Careers
  • After a Crisis, How Can We Help Students?

  • Product Review of PocketPhonics Stories

  • Product Review of Interactive Alphabet

  • Product Review of LetterSchool

  • Product Review of Easy Stop Motion Studio: Introduction to Animation

  • Product Review of Native Numbers

  • Product Review of Speakaboos

  • Product Review of Mystery Math Town

  • Product Review of MathCoach Interactive

  • Product Review of Motion Force

Uncategorized
Home›Uncategorized›9 Tips for Teaching Coding in the Classroom

9 Tips for Teaching Coding in the Classroom

By Matthew Lynch
June 17, 2017
36559
0
Spread the love

As coding becomes an increasingly coveted skill, schools all over the world are deciding to teach their students how to code. This is a excellent idea, as having coding skills could pay huge dividends later on in life. However, pre-service teachers do not usually learn how to teach coding in their college teacher education programs. Many teachers have difficulty learning and then teaching coding skills to their students. In response, we decided to write an article that gives teachers some practical suggestions on how to teach coding in a classroom.

  1. Do your research. There are literally thousands of organizations that promote or provide resources for teaching coding in schools. One of the best websites to find comprehensive resources for teaching coding in schools, www.code.org is the gold standard. To find more resources and support for adding coding to your elementary school curriculum, do a basic google search. Just type in “coding resources” or “coding in the classroom,” and you will get hundreds of thousands of articles. Also, the cool thing about a Google search is the fact that Google search results are listed in the order of perceived importance. Meaning, if you click on the first 30-50 search results on coding, you can be sure that collectively these sites will provide a comprehensive view of the subject.
  2. Your students can handle it. Some people operate under the opinion that teaching young kids to code is not a developmentally appropriate activity. This could not be further from the truth. Teach your students the basics of coding, guide them through increasingly challenging activities, and get out of the way. Do this, and you will be surprised at what they can accomplish.
  3. You don’t need a 1:1 classroom. To teach coding in your classroom, every student does not need a device. This should be good news for schools that are short on funds but want to provide a top notch coding experience. As a matter of fact, several coding activities don’t require a device at all. Coding is a skill that relies on problem-solving, so it is fine for students to work in pairs. This is actually an excellent way to teach teamwork and develop leadership skills among your students. Collaboration and teamwork is a skill that is needed in the adult world, so you actually kill two birds with one stone.
  4. Don’t be the Lone Ranger. If you are a teacher who wants to add coding to your curriculum, don’t go it alone. Ask around and see who else in your school is teaching or is interested in teaching coding. This way you can share ideas, resources and celebrate successes. The road to becoming an innovator is lonely, but with the support of your colleagues, that changes.
  5. Learning to code should be fun and engaging. We all know that kids learn best when what we are teaching is fun and engaging. When most people think of coding, they think of monotonous repetition. Thankfully, there are a lot of online resources that turn coding into an exciting activity that kids can’t get enough of. All of a sudden, something boring and monotonous is transformed into an amusement park activity.
  6. Don’t just talk it, do it. We know that it takes a lot of brainpower to learn how to code, but the skill is fully realized without hands on practice. That is why when teaching kids to code involves one part teaching and one part hands-on practice. After you teach them about variables, functions, and loops, staring at a blank editor is a bit scary. You may have to hold their hand and teach them how to code line by line. If you choose to use online resources, find the source code for simple games. Find something with less than a hundred or so lines of code.
  7. Once you take the training wheels off, leave them off. When teaching students how to code, you can provide them as much one on one help as possible. However, once you take the training wheels off, and allow them to practice and complete problems on their own, keep them off. Why, because if you are always coming to the rescue when they get stuck, it will take them longer to learn how to code. Something magical happens when we tackle activities and problems that are just outside of our comfort level. We usually rise to the occasion and push through until we conquer the task. This doesn’t mean that you cannot offer advice and intervene occasionally, you will know when it’s appropriate.
  8. Remember, kids, learn at different rates. In a normalized classroom, you will have students who at different levels intellectually. Some students are gifted, and learn to code quickly. Most students will be of average intellectual ability and will learn to code at a steady pace, just not as fast as the gifted students. The below average students in your classroom, some of whom may have one or more learning disabilities. Can they learn to code? Absolutely. However, you will need to be patient with them. This also means that to pull all of this off, you will need to know how to differentiate instruction. This just means that you will need to provide instruction, activities, and assessments to at least 3 groups at various times. Differentiating instruction is a requisite skill for any teacher who wants to teach coding or anything for that matter. This is easier said than done.
  9. Don’t position yourself as an expert. It is very easy for teachers to think of themselves as experts. As a matter of fact, it’s the reason why we entrust them with educating our children. However, when teaching children how to the code, you should not position yourself as an expert. Instead, position yourself as a guide or even better a coach. Teach them the fundamentals of coding, and let them play the game. Think of the activities that you assign them as plays, and when they complete them, everybody wins.

Did we miss anything?

TagsCodingEdtech
Previous Article

What Are the Benefits of Learning to ...

Next Article

The Tech Edvocate’s List of 88 Amazing ...

Matthew Lynch

Related articles More from author

  • EdTech NewsHigher Education EdTech

    Kids teaching robots: Is this the future of education?

    July 1, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechHigher Education EdTech

    7 Edtech Tools That I Would Use If I Was Still in the Classroom

    November 6, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • EdTech Policy & ReformEdTech Startups & Businesses

    How Education Policy Shapes the Edtech Market

    September 13, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Uncategorized

    Trailblazing Companies in Edtech: CK-12

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

    Students Should Learn to Code Because it is the Language of the Future

    March 15, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Personalized Learning

    Personalized Learning Should Start in Libraries

    November 24, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • EdTech & InnovationEdvocatePD

    The A-Z of EdTech Literacy: Letters A-B

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechProduct Reviews

    Product Review of Affinety Child Care

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    How to Design Spaces that Amplify Learning

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

  • After a Crisis, How Can We Help Students?

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 21, 2022
  • Product Review of PocketPhonics Stories

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 20, 2022
  • Product Review of Interactive Alphabet

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 20, 2022
  • Product Review of LetterSchool

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 20, 2022
  • Product Review of Easy Stop Motion Studio: Introduction to Animation

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 20, 2022
  • 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
  • 4 Ways EdTech Companies Can Involve Faculty in Research - WGU Labs | Advancing Innovation in ...
    on
    May 17, 2022

    25 Ways that EdTech Benefits Teachers and Students

    […] EdTech products can ...
  • What is a professional learning network? - What Type Degree
    on
    May 16, 2022

    What is a Personal Learning Network?

    […] What is a ...
  • Digital Branding is Key for Everyone In Education | Edtech Magazine
    on
    May 15, 2022

    Tips To Conduct A Gap Analysis For Your LMS Marketing Strategy

    […] How do you ...
  • 7 Ways to Approach Financial Decluttering in Your Life - Amida Wealth
    on
    May 15, 2022

    The Best External Hard Drives Of 2022: All The Best Options For Backing Up Your Device’s ...

    […] and updating your ...
  • Top 18 g suite for education là gì mới nhất năm 2022 - tophoidap
    on
    May 15, 2022

    What is G Suite for Education?

    […] https://www.thetechedvocate.org/what-is-g-suite-for-education/ […]

EdTech Policy & Reform

  • 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 Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    How to Teach Kids to Communicate in This Digital Age

    Spread the loveWhen even the youngest children are spending the equivalent of a full work day looking at screens, it is perhaps no surprise that parents are wondering how to ...

EdTech Startups & Businesses

  • 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 ...
  • EdTech Startups & BusinessesProduct Reviews

    Product Review of AptaFund

    Spread the loveAptaFund is a business management software that provides essential functions to educational institutions, such as web access to educators, parents, and learners. It allows elementary schools and other educational ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Understanding the Fundamentals of a Sales Script in Your Customer Interaction Journey

    Spread the loveSales scripts are crucial to any business and can be the main difference in achieving the set targets. A well-written sales script that factors in customers from different ...
  • Digital & Mobile TechnologyEdTech Startups & BusinessesTeachers

    Top 5 Things to Consider When Designing an LMS

    Spread the loveCovid-19 has changed many things in our world, and education is one of them. More students lean toward using online schooling. Therefore, learning management systems (LMS) are becoming ...

Digital Equity

  • 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 ...
  • Digital Equity

    How OER Can Help Overcome the Higher Education Equity Barrier

    Spread the loveThe cornerstone of the American dream is the ability to succeed in life regardless of one’s family of origin. And, for most people, that requires a college education. ...

EdTech Futures

  • 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 ...
  • Adult EducationEdTech & InnovationEdTech FuturesEducation LeadershipEducational LeadershipHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechThe Future of Education

    Education Technology and the Future of Higher Ed Leadership

    Spread the loveEducation Technology (EdTech) has had a more significant impact on education than anyone expected. Now its effects are reaching into the field of higher education. In this article, ...

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 © 2022 Matthew Lynch. All rights reserved.