Cross-Curricular Coding

for Inquiring Minds

Research Articles

The research process into cross-curriculum coding was as illuminating as it was frustrating. I did manage to find a few articles pertaining to cross-curricular coding; however, most were geared towards Elementary curriculum rather than Secondary. The articles themselves provide a great basis or start to coding within the classroom. Concepts and main ideas are adaptable to British Columbia’s new curriculum guide.

The articles also focused on the technological side of coding in the classroom. If a school doesn’t have the technology, then it would be far more difficult to integrate coding or Computer Science in general into the classroom environment. One article talked about the role gender plays in Computer Science. Though not in my direct inquiry, it was important to understand the disparity present within the field of Computer Science.  I do believe that if coding was cross-curricular, it would not only create more opportunities for all diverse students to express themselves.

Coding Curriculum Literature

The general idea of coding in schools was covered quite well, but not specifically to cross-curriculum application. The one book I did find did describe the best way to implement coding in a variety of subject ares, but, once again, this was geared towards Elementary and Middle grade demographic. The lessons provided could be changed quite easily. In conjunction with websites like Scratch and Minecraft, which provide ample resources and education tools, lessons can be created for English, History, Art, or any subject desirable.

I found the particular absence of literature for coding in Secondary School rather frustrating. While there was literature on the importance of Computer Science in Secondary Schools, the cross-curricular approach was in more abundance in the lower grade levels. The literature available does suggest that the teachers should try to learn coding basics, not in an extensive way, but in a general sense so they can teach adapt it to their lesson plans. This poses some difficulty. Teachers are already stretched pretty thin in my district. I could see the benefits of having a Teacher-Librarian learn to implement code across all departments, but TL’s are stretched pretty thin as well.

Key Learning, Takeaways and Deeper Exploration

I learned that coding was used for storytelling.  In Scratch, a student could take their story from English and animate it, create sound effects and even a dialogue. Minecraft has similar opportunities where students could create a world based of their fractured fairy tales. The possibilities are plentiful. However, it all pertains to technology within the school and funding.

The greatest takeaway was how important coding and Computer Science is to 21st century literacy and digital literacy.  The integration of technology in the classroom and teaching students how to use coding in their daily lives might encourage students from all backgrounds and genders to pursue that as their chosen field of study. It prepares them for careers they might not have thought about before. It opens doors.

I would love to explore Scratch and Minecraft on a deeper level and try and create a fractured fairytale, or create a retelling of a great historical figure. Exploring  how Python is used for coding would also be a great asset. There are different coding languages and finding out how each could be used to deepen Computer Science as a field of study in Secondary schools would be wonderful.

The research process also made me assess the critical thinking and problem solving aspect of coding. As I learn how to code, the critical thinking aspect is quite deep. When you miss an attribute or don’t know why an application isn’t running the way you want, you have to go back and find the problem and solve it. You rely on your instructor and other students in the class. This extends to how I would implement coding in one of my classes or as a Teacher-Librarian. I could see using both Scratch and Minecraft in a Humanities 8 class.  I could also see the prospect of collaborating with an art class, where the English class would create the stories, the Art class would create a background or characters, and then they could use that to create a visual representation using a coding program. The possibilities are endless and I look forward to pursuing them.

Works Cited

Cross-Curricular Coding

What if a student could animate a poem? What if students could code an interactive game to learn grammar? What if students could create a game from their story?

Questions such as these have been floating in my mind over the last couple of years and have become more concrete since I started this LIBE 477 and my Computer Science courses.  After starting my research, I realized that my inquiry is rather general. While I’m deciding my focus (possibly English, History or Art, diversity in coding for cross-curricular coding, robotics), or the grade level, here are some of the resources I’ve found. These sources have given me a great starting point to narrow my focus for my Inquiry Project.

Coding Resources

Scratch is a coding website for educators and students.  It is geared towards a younger audience because it uses block coding, but I don’t see why some of the lessons could not be adapted or even used for grade 8. If grade 8’s do not have experience in coding, then this is a great place to start. This site is a great resources for my Inquiry project because there are cross-curricular lessons. So if I choose a specific course, like English, I could teach them how to animate their names as an ice-breaker, or to animate a poem, or create games. I plan on creating a few to see how interactive this site can be. Here is a list of resources by subject area.

Code BC is a resource for teachers and students who want to teach and learn code. It is based on the new BC curriculum and it is an approved by BC Ministry of Education.  It has a wealth of coding resources from grades K-12 for computation thinking activities and cross-curriculum lesson. This site is a great starting point for my inquiry in to cross-curriculum coding. I’ve used its grade level search to find specific programs for the high school level.  It provides a great basis to see what is out there for my Inquiry project, since my knowledge in this area is still formulating.

Articles

“Coding in English Class? Yes! And In Your Class, Too!” by Laura Bradley explores the implementation of coding in an English class. She draws connections between English Class, storytelling and computer games. She uses Scratch to code stories into games and uses Hour of Code, Code Academy, and Khan Academy, other websites for coding tutorials on how to code. If I want to zero my focus on coding in English, then this article is a great place to start. It provides concrete examples and how to successfully implement coding the English curriculum.

“Integrating Art and Animation in Teaching Computer Programming for High School Students Experimental Study” by Hadeel Mohamned Jawad et al. is a comprehensive study out of University of Michigan that proposed the benefits of integrating Art and animation together. The Study found that integrating art and animation in high school fostered a student’s interest and pursuing a post-secondary education in Computer Science.  The study also implicates that integration of animation and art also encouraged more diversity within the software field. This article shifted my Inquiry focus to dig deeper into the the gender gap in software. Maybe if coding was integrated into all curriculum on a regular basis, girls would want to code more.

TED Talk 

Brian Aspinall is a blogger, motivational speaker and educator who strives to “hack” the classroom. He wants coding to be commonplace in classrooms so it creates more opportunities for students to pursue education in Computer Science. Both his website and his TED Talks revolve around the importance of coding and how it can change lives of students. Not only did this Ted talk motivate me, his website is a wealth of knowledge about the different kinds of coding. Python, block, text are examples of the different coding languages may be curriculum specific.

Overall my Inquiry Project is off to a strong start. As I sort through more sources, I hope to narrow my focus to a grade level and specific subject area. I will endeavour to apply my knowledge and share some coding examples later on.

Digital technology and literacy are a vast pools to dive into. Issues that will arise in the near future would be two-fold. Firstly, the integration of technology with in the classroom and or learning commons will pose a series of challenges. Secondly, bridging the digital literacy gap between those who are well versed to not so well versed.  My interest in technology, especially Computer Programming, coding (websites, apps), robotics and digital media,design, runs deep.  So I am interested is the integration of new technology and how to make it accessible for all teachers and students. Opportunities to test new ideas and to implement technology will come up in the future (within the next 5 years or so) due to schools in my district testing a STEM program with in the high schools.

Curriculum related to this issue would be Computer Programming courses, app coding and website design, which should be in school, and not just as an elective. While reading Will Richardson’s Why School? I was struck by the idea of utilizing Minecraft. I have seen students use it and get excited about it. I’ve seen the books available and even some of the worlds they create. I do believe that new curriculum should be introduced to provide better opportunities for students to flush out future career opportunities or just have a base line of knowledge that would benefit in the changing technological landscape.

The pedagogical aspect of this area of interest will require some thought. I can’t see a traditional stand and lecture technique working here. A more collaborative approach where the teacher is a facilitator would be best. Student learning from each other and creating something individually and then using that to create something collaboratively might be a good option.

Digital technologies such as apps, online games, blogs (vblogs) or even have students program their own application for testing in collaboration with another subject are (coding a multiple choice test from humanities, but are graded on the coding, not the answers to the test).

Some key words that I would use to identify elements of digital technologies would be: coding, html, CSS3, window application, practical application, collaboration, problem solving and creativity. Key words for interest and opportunity: apps, games, life-long inquiry, life-long learning. I would like to research different ways to implement computer programming and coding into classrooms. For example, when coding a Windows application, you could do a small multiple choice quiz. Now this isn’t about testing for knowledge on the quiz, but it is about coding and imputing the right answers in to the quiz code. The students will still have to know the answers, but they are applying it in a new way. They could even code a small game or animation as a project for one of their classes.

Possible topics that would broaden my understanding would be to inquire about apps that other teachers have used in the classroom, or online games that are available to implement some digital technology aspects within the classroom or as a class itself.  Understanding computer programming and coding would be helpful as well. I would focus on grades 8-12, but it may narrow to grade 8, since they are the right age for certain apps and games.  The school setting would have to be high school. However, it might branch to middle school as well. Resources at school might be an issue. It depends on what technology a certain school would have or could have access to and budget constraints.  Aligning it with current BC curriculum guidelines, or identifying ways it could be cross curricular would be beneficial.  How to teach this topic would focus on the teacher being a facilitator of knowledge and not a standard lecturing-testing model.  Creating webpage or code must have a basic understanding first, but then student can branch off to create something all their own. Also, digital literacy would have to be addressed at some point. A basic foundation needs to be established first.

For professional practice, I would love explore the current uses of digital technology and literacy, such as blogs, and understand how they are used, and then branch off into ways I could incorporate computer programming and coding to be cross curricular. I’m not sure how that would work exactly, but that may be where my focus should be.

 

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Richardson, Will. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere [Kindle Single]. TED Conferences.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton