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Computer curriculum (Grade school)

edited August 2011 in Technology
Hey!

So originally I was going to aim this just at Rim and Scott, but I realized there are probably a bunch of you out there that would have some interesting input here.

I'm advising at a grade-school on computers and computer science, and will be helping to build a curriculum for the students. Not so much day-to-day lesson plans, but more benchmarks and specific target skills. There has been a lot of talk in the show, and a fair amount here on the boards (though I don't lurk as much as I should these days) on the necessity of computer skills in early learning. I wondered if there was anything specific that y'all had I'n mind.

To be specific, this school covers grades K - 5, and the students only get about an hour a week with the computer lab, so the time constraints are pretty limited. The first couple of grades (K-3 generally speaking) have concentrated mostly on computer use (Keyboarding, navigating a program, some educational websites) and the later grades (4 and 5) have used the computer lab mostly for project research on the net.

It is my opinion that by the time they're done with 5'th grade there should be at least some rudimentary understanding of computer engineering (this is how a microchip works, this is what RAM is, etc) and maybe the basics of a general compeer language, even if it's just the basics of language logic like the old LOGO program. What skills do you think kids should have by the time they're moving on to middle school?

Do you think that there should be more computer language, should I suggest something like Unix (which seems to me to be more generally helpful today than an object oriented programming language like C), a markup language like HTML for better understanding of the internet, or maybe a simple language like Ruby? The teachers do not have any experience in programming, and are only basically computer literate, so anything that they teach would have to be heavily supported by outside programs, websites, and resources like that that are kid-friendly.

Really I'm just throwing this out there to see if any interesting ideas or resources come up, but if you have any opinion to add I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

/Fox

Comments

  • Read up on what The Minecraft Teacher is doing. It's great for teaching kids both computer and non-computer skills, based on the results he's had.
    Some of the heavier programming might be inappropriate for the youngest kids.
  • Logo is fun. Python for the older kids.
  • My thoughts are that the most important things are emphasizing logic, problem solving, and basic computer knowledge. The first may be difficult for k-5,d depending on how good your math department is. The second, may be difficult for the young end of that. By basic computer knowledge I mean knowing how to read error messages, how to use basic programs, how to troubleshoot simple problems, how to use the internet safely, how to search for things. I could could probably list more but mostly just all the little stuff that makes it so that you can both use the computer "safely" and if something minor breaks they can work around it. Teach them that a computer is a machine that does exactly what you tell it to.
    As a computer engineer, I'd say anything really close computer engineering is probably too much. Teaching them what is in a microchip at this point isn't going to be useful, telling them what each part is as a black box will be. Along those they need to know somewhat about what some of those number mean. Also networking along the lines of super basic trouble shooting and the internet as a series of tubes is probably good.
    Languages and programming along the same lines for k-5 probably aren't useful. Maybe by the end have them know what they are, and be able to manipulate a simple language like python. My main concern is really being able to get kids this young to sit down and do something like programming. Command line stuff may work if you do everything on a Unix based system, if not switching to a Unix type system just to teach it probably isn't worth the confusion.
    Talking to my mother, I'm not sure she understood the question quite, but she suggests using resources like http://stemscopes.com/.
  • My thoughts are that the most important things are emphasizing logic, problem solving, and basic computer knowledge. The first may be difficult for k-5,d depending on how good your math department is. The second, may be difficult for the young end of that. By basic computer knowledge I mean knowing how to read error messages, how to use basic programs, how to troubleshoot simple problems, how to use the internet safely, how to search for things. I could could probably list more but mostly just all the little stuff that makes it so that you can both use the computer "safely" and if something minor breaks they can work around it. Teach them that a computer is a machine that does exactly what you tell it to.
    As a computer engineer, I'd say anything really close computer engineering is probably too much. Teaching them what is in a microchip at this point isn't going to be useful, telling them what each part is as a black box will be. Along those they need to know somewhat about what some of those number mean. Also networking along the lines of super basic trouble shooting and the internet as a series of tubes is probably good.
    Languages and programming along the same lines for k-5 probably aren't useful. Maybe by the end have them know what they are, and be able to manipulate a simple language like python. My main concern is really being able to get kids this young to sit down and do something like programming. Command line stuff may work if you do everything on a Unix based system, if not switching to a Unix type system just to teach it probably isn't worth the confusion.
    Talking to my mother, I'm not sure she understood the question quite, but she suggests using resources like http://stemscopes.com/.
    k-5 is the best time to teach a programming to language to kids, it's just like a real language which are easier for younger kids who haven't completely formed their structural bias. Computer knowledge is useful but all of the real important parts they will learn from just time spent with a computer that has an Internet connection, what should really be taught is how to find the answer to a problem not how to solve specific ones. You could give a specific tech issue and have the kids just try to find out what to do to fix it, the ones who grasp how to figure it out easily you know don't need the basic level taught to them so you can properly focus on the ones who need help and not annoy the ones who don't. There was nothing worse growing up then when a teacher would force me to stay back on material so that I wouldn't pass the others
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