How Coding Projects Promote Design Thinking

Written by Mo Qureshi, BSD Education

When it comes to Technology Education at BSD, we hope to inspire students to create with technology but also highlight the importance of developing solutions that solve real world problems. We believe that creating any new technology should be rooted in a strong purpose to help people. We help emphasize this by weaving technology education projects into all subjects and infusing them with Design Thinking skills. 

Design Thinking is a process for solving problems creatively. The three core pillars of Design Thinking are: 

  1. Empathy — Understanding the needs of those you’re designing for.
  2. Ideation — Generating a lot of ideas. Brainstorming is one technique, but there are many others.
  3. Experimentation — Testing those ideas with prototyping. 

Design Thinking helps capture the needs of the people, gives insights into the opportunities that are available and gives clear ideas for a refined human centred solution or product. 

Let’s see how we prepare students on their Design Thinking skills via BSD programs of learning. 

All of our courses end with creating a project for a specific use. This encourages students to listen to their end users and find out who they are, their demographics, why and how will they use the project effectively. This helps foster students’ empathy – starting the process of Design Thinking. 

After understanding the end users, students will start to code their project. Depending on the topic and level of the course, students are introduced to the basics of coding or other additional coding concepts. Based on the requirements of the project, students may learn additional technical skills like designing characters or logos, understand color theory or branding or even writing copy for their project. 

As they work towards finishing their projects, students are guided to share and test their prototype with their peers and, if possible, with some end users using an automatically generated URL or QR code. This helps them get real time feedback and adjust their project based on the response.

For instance, in our Game Development course, after creating the first version of the game, students are asked to demo their game and share it with their peers for testing and feedback. Based on feedback, the students may enhance their game by adding additional challenges, levels, additional characters, updating the scoring system or even re-writing the gameplay. 

As in any game, the experience of the users is key to its success. While their peers are trying the game, they are asked to observe how it’s being played and request for feedback.

Students will then need to consider the feedback they receive, and learn to exercise their judgement as to what will ultimately be a compromise between the features they like versus the feedback they have received on what the users want. Based on the observations and peer feedback, students can determine how they can continue to improve their projects to test it again. This testing and feedback cycle is not limited to a single cycle, it is repeated as often as needed to make the game perfect – emulating the Design Thinking process of prototyping -> testing -> tweaking -> testing. This is great preparation for their lives as a whole as and an excellent exercise in giving and receiving feedback.

With technology becoming ubiquitous it is an increasing and urgent responsibility to teach our students that technology is not the solution to problem but tools used by people to solve problems. To effectively solve problems, technologies should be built with keeping the people using them at the center; and employing Design Thinking skills helps achieve precisely this.

Advantages of Real World Technology Camps: Build a 2D Mini Game Camp

Written by Gabo Tse, BSD Education

In the current digital era, there is no denying that video games are among the most popular pastimes for people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. For children, many of them will tell you that playing games is one of their favourite hobbies! However, many have only ever experienced games as a player.

By attending a camp to Build a 2D Mini Game, not only will kids get to work on a project related to one of their interests, but learning to build a 2D mini game helps foster both tech skills and soft skills that will greatly benefit them in the future – both in school and beyond.

Let’s take a look at some of the real-word skills your child will learn if he/she/they enroll for an 2D Mini Game Camp here at BSD Education:

Coding

To build a 2D web game, students will learn to code using languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Our 2D Mini Game camp focuses heavily on JavaScript, a programming language used to add logic, interactivity, and behaviour to a game. For example, JavaScript is used to add a point system, create animations, or to make images on a screen that respond to a mouse click or keystroke. Learning to code fosters patience and helps develop computational thinking skills.

Problem-Solving

Building a 2D mini game with code means that children will commonly run into challenges with their game, such as points not being added correctly, a button not responding to a mouse click, or a character on the screen is moving up instead of down. Kids will quickly learn that encountering bugs is a common process when coding, and that they will need to be organized, adaptable, and resourceful in order to come up with a variety of solutions. This will include checking their coding syntax, researching by themselves online for a fix, or rearranging their code in a different way.

Design (User Interface and User eXperience)

Building a 2D Mini Game encourages children to develop their skills in design. Children must think about how and where to place components – such as text and buttons – on the screen in a way that makes for a visually pleasing interface. They must also think about the emotionally rewarding and challenging aspects of their game that may encourage or discourage further gameplay. This design process helps to nurture empathy and adaptability in kids, as they will need to place themselves in the mindset of their players.

Attention to Detail

Throughout the process of building their 2D mini game, kids will learn that they will need to be diligent, thorough, and focused when working on every aspect of their game. They must make sure that their coding syntax is correct, or map out the game flow and logic of to account for all the different scenarios that players will encounter.

Technology camps are a unique, eye-opening, and engaging way for children to pursue their interests in  a collaborative environment and make new friends, learn new skills, and be exposed to a variety of disciplines. At the end of a camp, children will leave with a greater appreciation of the technology that is so deeply ingrained in their daily lives, and will get to proudly showcase to their friends and family, a game that they programmed by themselves.

The gaming industry is among the fastest growing industries today that will be even bigger in childrens’ futures. Learning to build games helps equip children with digital skills that are the foundation for exploring other areas of tech, such as app development, animation, graphic design, and web development.

If you are interested in bringing our Build a 2D Mini Game Camps into your school, let us know by contacting us here.

Advantages of Real World Technology Camps: App Development

Written by Gabo Tse, BSD Education

Technology camps are a creative and inspiring way to expose children to a variety of real-world skills that will benefit them in the future. Not only will they be learning something new, but technology camps also allow children to explore areas of interest that they may not have experienced at home or at school.

In our current digital era, people of all ages use apps every day intrinsic to their ways of life in their daily lives. However, what is an app exactly? Why do people choose to build apps instead of websites? What does it take to build an app? What makes an app “great”? These are all questions that kids will have the opportunity to explore by attending App Development Camps.

Beyond simply learning how to code, creating a mobile app also encourages children to foster skills in a variety of areas. This includes tech-related skills such as programming, UX (user experience) design, UI (user interface) design, and soft skills such as creativity, resilience, computational thinking, and communication.

Let’s take a look at some of the real-word skills your child will learn if he/she/they enroll for an App Development Camp:

Coding

To build an app, students will learn to code using languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, as well as using coding “libraries” and “frameworks” (these are large bodies of code create by teams of professionals to make complicated but frequently used things we want to create easier and faster to build). Learning how to code teaches kids computational thinking, adaptability, organization, and also how to be focused and thorough when completing tasks – that’s because one small error in your coding syntax might cause a bug in your app!

Problem-solving

Throughout the process of building their app, children will encounter challenges such as their code not working, not knowing how to make their code perform a specific action, or not understanding specific parts of their code. This means that they will have to devise different solutions, whether that’s collaborating with their peers, researching online, or figuring out how to synthesize the coding syntax that they’ve learned to test a different approach.

Fosters empathy

Deciding to create an app means that developers must place themselves in the shoes of their users, and adopt a variety of perspectives. Developers must consider a number of questions, such as: “Will my app be easy to use?”, “Why will people want to use my app?”, “Who will want to use my app?” and “What problem(s) will my app help solve?”. The success of an app depends on the experience of its users, and kids will learn that app development is not about creating an app for themselves, but rather, apps can be solution and community driven, and are built to solve problems and help others.

Communication

At the end of a BSD App Development Camp, all the kids are required to present their app – what they built, why they built it, and how they built it. Not only does this allow them to reflect on their entire camp experience as a whole, but presentations help build confidence by showcasing their hard work, improve their public speaking skills, and demonstrate to them that their work is valued and recognized.

Technology is ingrained in nearly every aspect of our lives today. Learning to build apps is a fun, engaging, and unique activity that exposes children to a variety of disciplines, empowers them with digital skills required to succeed in the future and deepens their understanding of the world around them. They are able to socialize and make new friends in a fun and collaborative environment, and create an app that they can take home to show their friends and family that might even solve a problem for their community, or be a unique portfolio piece for a school, college, internship or job application in the future.

If you are interested in bringing our App Development Camps into your schools, let us know by contacting us here.

3 reasons you should bring technology learning into your subject

Written by Charlotte Brearley, BSD Education


1. Kids need digital skills to succeed in the future

Technology is already fundamental to every industry and this will only increase. We can’t ignore the way the world is going and the facts: computer-related employment will grow 22% by 2020 and 65% of children entering primary school today will do jobs that don’t yet exist.

For students to succeed in the future, it is therefore critical they learn digital skills. Some schools believe that this can be done through a computing class or an after school club, but in the real world technology touches everything and impacts everyone. It cannot be isolated to one subject area or a group of self-selecting people and the school environment must reflect this. It needs to be infused across everything so that students can make connections, follow their interests and understand how to use and apply technology to build solutions across contexts.

2. It increases engagement

As well as giving your students the skills they need to succeed in the future, teaching digital skills will increase engagement with your subject. Teachers we have trained have reported that students are more engaged in classes using BSD Online and our curriculum. It can enable a more interactive learning environment and helps make the learning more authentic. Students can struggle with the real world context of some topics and a common question is ‘Why are we learning this?’. Bringing technology into your subject and giving your students the opportunity to explore, build and create with it makes the connection to the real world much stronger and helps to pique students’ interest.

3. It develops vital soft skills

Point 1 highlighted the importance of learning technical skills to help students succeed in the future. However, the skills developed by bringing technology learning into your subject don’t stop there. Technology learning expands the mindsets of young people by developing ‘21st century skills’. By focusing on designing and developing real-world products, learning how to apply technology nurtures a range of critical competencies for young people. For example:

Communication and Collaboration

When working to create a solution or product, students often have to work together to combine complementary skills and must always consider whether the end product is actually going to work for the end user. Students therefore need to work with others to: determine who will do what; understand potential users’ requirements; request and act on feedback; and share information about what they have designed and built. None of this can be done without communication and collaboration skills.

Creativity
Creativity links to building with technology in two main ways: Creativity in problem solving and creativity in design. When solving a real world problem, students need to think creatively about how to solve it using a technological solution. Once students have decided on the product or solution, they need to think about the best way to design it. Thinking about the end user, they need to consider user experience and user interface – nobody wants to use a poorly design product.

Computational thinking
Computational thinking is about taking complex problems and breaking them into tiny pieces, which is exactly what students have to do when they are deciding how to use technology to provide solutions. In a rapidly changing future, students will have to solve problems constantly to adapt to the world around them.

Bringing technology learning into your subject is a win-win. It will make your classes more inspiring and engaging, whilst also giving your students the skills and competencies they need to succeed in their futures.

To find out how BSD empowers all teachers to bring technology learning into their classroom and give their students the tools of tomorrow, get in touch!

 

Code Your Holiday Cheers: Create Your Own Digital Greeting Card

Written by Eva Yeung of BSD Education

At a school we currently partner with in the UK, Dr. Taylor and his Code Club students shared their holiday cheers with their school community and the BSD Education team by including student coded digital holiday cards in their recent school newsletter!

This is such a thoughtfully refreshing and environmentally friendly way to spread some holiday joy. Try out this sandbox as a cool digital “arts and crafts” activity!

We have prepared a fun activity (approximate duration: ~ 60 minutes) with resources and video tutorials so that you can do the same with your students just in time for the holiday season. We recommend this activity for ages 8 and above.

For younger students, you can do this as a class activity. For older students, you can print out or display the instructions from step 7 to challenge them to figure out and tinker with the code.

Below is the sample output that we have created at BSD:

Follow the 8 simple steps below and check out the video tutorial on how you can introduce this activity into your classroom.
Step 1:

Login to BSD Online

If you and your students already have a BSD account, simply login. If you are new to BSD Online, click on “Sign-up” to create a new account. It is advisable to login as this will allow you to save your work.

Step 2:

Introduce HTML and CSS

Spend 5 to 10 minutes to introduce or recap about the use and syntax of HTML and CSS with your students. Use these resources to help you.

Step 3:

Open sandbox mode

Direct students to sandbox mode as shown below:

Step 4:

Copying code into HTML and CSS file in sandbox

To help introduce the code to your class, we have put together the coding snippets from below. Direct students to copy and paste each of the relevant code into the correct files.

Paste this into the HTML file:

<div>
     <h1>Happy Holidays!</h1>
     <h2>Wishing you all the joy in the world!</h2>
     <img src=”https://image.flaticon.com/icons/svg/1066/1066181.svg” />
     <h3>From, BSD</h3>
</div>

Step 5:

Paste this into the CSS file:

@import url(‘https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lobster|Raleway’);
body {
    background-color: #3e4e88;
}

h1 {
    color: #e0fcff;
    font-size: 75px;
    font-family: ‘Lobster’, cursive;
}

h2 {
    font-size: 36px;
}

h3 {
    font-size: 30px;
}

div {
    width: 500px;
    height: 750px;
    background-color: #1a2c5b;
    text-align: center;
    border-radius: 5px;
    border: 6px solid #b8dff0;
    margin: 30px auto;
    padding: 20px;
    box-shadow: 10px 20px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);
    font-family: ‘Raleway’, sans-serif;
    color: white;
}

img {
    width: 300px;
}

 

Step 6:

Save your work!

Click the “Save” icon under your profile picture to save your work! This is very important so that you won’t lose any work. Remind students to keep saving regularly.

Step 7:

Time to customize!

Follow this video tutorial to learn how to customize the different parts of this digital holiday card!

  1. Customize the content in HTML file:
    1. Find <h1>, <h2> and <h3> to update the text
    2. Find <img src= “ URL”/> to update the image. Use Flat Icon to find a suitable royalty free icon.
  2. Customize the styling in the CSS file:
    1. Find the “body” selector to modify the background color.
    2. Find the selector <h1>, <h2> and <h3> to style the font by using:
      1. color to change the font color. Simply type in a color and sandbox will make some color suggestions
      2. font-family to change the font style. Below is a video to show you how to use Google Fonts.
      3. font-size to control the size. The “px” stands for pixels.
    3. Find the “div” selector to modify the following:
      1. width to adjust the width of the card
      2. height to adjust the height of the card
      3. background-color to adjust the color of the card
      4. border-radius to adjust the rounded corners of the card
      5. border to adjust the thickness and color of the border
      6. font-family to apply a different font style (remember you must have included this font when you import from Google Font)
      7. color to change the font color

Step 8:

Share with your community.

Once students have completed their digital cards, ask them to click on the link icon and click the toggle for “share with others” on the top right corner of their sandboxes. Alternatively, you may want to share the cards using the QR code. Simply take a screenshot of the QR code and share via a communication application of your choice.  

 

This project is so versatile that you can easily repurpose it after the holiday season as an event poster, invite or any other context for students to try out.

If you have any questions about this activity, reach out to us via our Intercom system located on the bottom left corner of the screen. Happy Holidays!

 

Bring Digital Skills into Your Classrooms All Year Round

Written by Charlotte Brearley of BSD Education

 

The Hour of Code is a great opportunity to bring coding into your classroom and to introduce your students to some vital digital skills. You’ll see your students’ eyes light up as they discover what they can build and create and the likelihood is they’ll want to do more. With this in mind, it will benefit them to have opportunities to develop their digital skills throughout the school year as well.

So, how do you bring digital skills and coding into the classroom on a more regular basis?

 

Here are three ideas that can be used in your classroom immediately:  

1. Encourage your students to “go digital” when doing assignments and class projects. Rather than drawing a poster, they could design a website or do a video presentation using Flipgrid. Bringing in digital approaches will not only develop students’ skills, but will also more closely align school projects with what students will have to do in the workplace.

2. Prompt students to think about how technology links to a range of subject areas. It is vital that students see how technology relates to almost everything in the real world and how it can be used to solve real problems. Ask questions to prompt their thinking. Covering biology? Ask how technology is used in medicine. Studying art? Look at digital artists. Technology is present in every walk of life and the sooner students connect their digital skills with the real world, the better.

3. Set up specific time for digital activities in your classroom. This could be weekly or monthly but make the time!

a.) You could use the slot for a combination of mini on-screen and unplugged activities throughout the semester.

b.) You could set your students a challenge that they can work on across the semester as a passion project.

 

Whatever format you choose, give students the opportunity to be creative and explore the many ways technology can be used by introducing them to a range of different resources.

At BSD we advocate for the use of real world technology projects in every classroom throughout the school year. We believe that regular exposure to technology in a range of different contexts is the best way to prepare students for using technology in their futures and to understand how to apply it in connection with their interests.

To see what BSD can do for you, contact us here.

What you need to know about the “Hour of Code”

Written by Mo Qureshi of BSD Education

 

All Your Questions on the “Hour of Code” Answered

 

What is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code is designed to show that anybody can learn the basics of code and to broaden participation in the field of computer science and technology.

 

When is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. This year Computer Science Education Week will be from 3rd to 9th December. But you can host an Hour of Code all year-round by registering on the Hour of Code website.

 

Why is the Hour of Code important?

Learning to code helps develop problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. Coding requires attention to detail, patience, and develops computational thinking skills and creativity.

 

There must be more to the “Hour of Code” than picking up skills?!

The skills are really not what we think is important about the Hour of Code, and you have likely already heard and read all the information extolling the virtues of the mindsets and methodologies of technology development before.

The important part about the “Hour of Code” is about giving as many young people the opportunity to try creating technology for themselves.

 

Why is it important to try creating with technology?

It’s true that most students won’t become programmers, and the reality is that only a small minority of jobs are even full-time programming jobs.

The important point is that all students will not only be using technology in their jobs in the future, but that it will be a fundamental requirement to become employed in a majority of cases.

Trying to create with technology is critical for everyone to have equal access to opportunity in the future.

 

How can understanding technology start a student’s pathway to opportunity?

Understanding the building blocks of technology, learning to code as we say, is a huge help in being able to understand the world around us and how technology is used and applied. Through this, it’s easier for young learners to think about what their greatest interests are for the careers that they will pursue in the future, as well as the technology that will evermore surround and be ubiquitous to every aspect of their lives. Identifying interests is an important first step to developing the passion to pursue them.

 

Why is technology so crucial to equal opportunity in the future?

For many years, the aspirations and dreams of young people have often been predicated on their grades, having a degree and even sadly the name or brand of the institution where they studied.

 

Fortunately, a world that is being driven by technology can be a world of innovation and creativity. You might have heard of the “Innovation Economy”. This will be driven by technology. Through technology, opportunity will be driven not by where it was learned or what grade was achieved, but by what has been delivered and whether it is something people like or choose to use. Opportunity in our future technology reality is not even about being present, people will be able to deliver from anywhere.

What unifies careers and access to opportunity for as many people as possible and particularly those that struggle to realise their dreams because they are in underserved communities, is technology. The ability to create it, apply it and solve problems for others with it.

Without experience of technology at a young age, without the ability to try to create, write a little code even, the door to these opportunities might never seem open and the reality of success might seem unattainable and distant.

The “Hour of Code” being experienced by everyone is not about groundbreaking new discoveries during an hour next week, it’s about levelling the playing field, making a future with tech seem less frightening and more attainable, and laying the groundwork for everyone to have the opportunity to all work towards groundbreaking and exceptional futures together. For the simple chance of realising this, an “Hour of Code” is an excellent investment.

What do I need to know to join the Hour of Code?

How To: Make the Most of the Hour of Code

Written by Brandon Berthrong of BSD Education.

The Hour of Code is a world-wide grass-roots program built on the principle that everyone can code. They report that more than 640,000,000 people have participated in the program!

While Hour of Code can be done any time of the year, during computer science education week (December 3-9th) organizations from all over the world come together to participate in the program. Participants can do projects on the Hour of Code website or through several affiliated programs, through which they’ll complete various code-focused activities and projects.

The idea behind the program is to take an hour (though reportedly 87% of participants end up spending more time than that) to introduce people, particularly students, to the idea that they can code. While Computer Science can seem like a daunting field, through the hour of code students of all backgrounds are able to dispel some of the mystery surrounding it.

There’s a lot more that can be gleaned from the Hour of Code than just code though. Teachers and educators can also use different aspects of the Hour of Code itself as a teaching tool.

 

The School Demonstrating Technology in Action

As a school, it’s not just the participation, but also the way that you demonstrate your own use of technology in running your “Hour of Code” that can impart important concepts to the students.

  1. The way you share about your school’s participation within the school’s network as well as through external digital media can set a strong example about digital marketing, and conveying messages to different groups of people.
  2. Setting up video links and having students and staff in different schools work together during the hour of code can illustrate both the potential for and the power of collaboration in a digital age.
  3. Polling students about their experience and how it can be improved next year can make them think about user experience and the importance of data.

All of these examples highlight the opportunity to give a far deeper real world context to the Hour of Code and allow students the chance to experience technology being applied.

 

Students Demonstrating Technology in Action

As well as participating, students can take simple steps themselves that reinforce the ways that technology is used in the real world.

  1. Students can get experience with principles of digital marketing through the sharing of their completed projects with both peers and parents.
  2. By interviewing each other before and after the program, students will be able to consider how the program can be improved for the following year, exposing them to user experience.
  3. If some students formed an Hour of Code Committee, they could present the feedback from the interviews, giving hands-on experience with data analysis.
  4. If you collaborate with another school, students could even compare the data from their respective schools.

In the real world, it’s not all about code, it’s about how technologies and humans come together to drive solutions. The code is, however, often the starting point, the consistent ingredient to mindsets and products.

In the same way, the “Hour of Code” can also be a lot more than just an hour of learning code. It can be the first ingredient in a hearty recipe for a broad and authentic experience with technology for both students and schools.

With computer science education week coming up, from December 3-9th, the hour of code is definitely something everyone should have on their radar. We’re going to have more articles next week with ideas and examples to get the most out of the Hour of Code, but for now, you can find more information about the Hour of Code program here, and find statistics and testimonials from last year here.

Why Coding Has a Place in Every Classroom

Written by Charlotte Brearley, BSD Education

What is the role of educators? Fong Ly, an educator from the US, sums it up well in his article for eSchoolNews: ‘it’s our job to figure out how to equip students with the skills they need to be well-prepared for college and careers’.

What do we know about the careers we are preparing students for? Industries are changing like never before so this is a challenging question and actually the answer is fairly unknown. But we do know that the world is digitizing and technology skills are becoming increasingly fundamental to the world of work. We also know that ‘softer skills’, often termed as 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, curiosity and creativity are being held in higher regard than ever before.

Given what we know, one of the best ways teachers can help kids to prepare is to give them relevant future skills that also develop softer skills. Introducing coding to the classroom does just that. Here is how:

Frequent misconceptions of coding are: It is only for students who are good at math, want careers in technology companies or for ICT Class. Irrespective of what your interests or hobbies are, you will not only use code but also the skills and thinking that is developed through programming (like computational, design thinking, logic and reasoning skills!).

Scenario:

A few restaurant owners are deciding what to put on their new menu. Before they make their decision, they need to consider what customers generally purchase from their restaurant. Technology enables people to collect data to make data-driven, tactical decisions. Using the Point of Sale (POS) system, it allows the restaurant owners to see which menu items were popular among their customers. They find that the pastas were the most ordered type of food and so they start brainstorming on more pasta options, cooking and testing out which ones perform the best. This is an example of design thinking being used in daily life: 

Coders may use computational and design thinking every day, but so do restaurant owners and any other person regardless of their backgrounds or industries they are in. This is why coding is the gateway to digital skills and the creation of solutions – it helps you become future-proof.

So what does more integration of technology learning in a school look like? Of course it can be an after school code club or it can fit into the computing curriculum, but at BSD Education we believe it should be present in all subjects. Not every student will sign up for a code club or computing course so not all students are given the opportunity to develop these skills. However, by bringing technology projects into all subjects we align these vital skills with the interests of all students thereby helping to prepare them for their future. The subject becomes the context and the projects create a more engaging way for students to either learn the concepts of the subject, or become a content vessel to present what they are learning in the class.

Fong Ly and his school, Amana Academy, have the same ethos. He shares their approach to their curriculum in his article – it is ‘based on an expeditionary learning framework, meaning that teachers develop curriculum that involves all content areas and encourages collaboration across subjects. This means we’re training multiple skills at the same time. We identified that coding was a great asset that could be integrated into all subjects…’ Find out more about Long Fy’s approach here. Students can use it and benefit from it at school, home and in daily life, even after their formal education and into their workspaces.

Are you bringing technology projects into a range of subjects at your school? Tell us more by emailing us at info@bsd.education and have a chance to be featured in one of our newsletters!

Interested in learning more about coding in the classroom? Feel free to read more articles here.