Day 8-DFI-Computational thinking

Our focus for DAY 8 was computational thinking. We talked about the empowerment of our children and how we are shifting from Passive consumers to be the creators of our stories, music and films. We do more than just interact with our devices we are actually involved in the process. We become the innovators, the designers and the creators. We also got to look at the different elements that made up Computational thinking

I actually found a lot of this language helpful for myself in regards to making sense of things I use or do sometimes everyday.

We want to get to a point where the Digitally Fluent student is working alongside of the Digitally Fluent Teacher. We got the opportunity to explore different coding apps that students could use.

I wanted to focus more on Scratch Junior as this is an app that my class tend to use on a weekly basis. I must admit I always say to my class if I have given them free choice that that does not mean they can go on Scratch Junior (as I do think to myself that its not productive and they are not learning anything.) Yet when I was given the opportunity to investigate various sites under Scratch Junior I was v impressed.

So the above is a screenshot of the different tools the user has available to them to help them create and code. But I have attached a link for you to look at that tells you all about this amazing app for children.

I actually love what MIT Media lab (Creators of this app) have to say about Scratch. They state how young children get to express and create with their computers. How being involved in the "process" helps them solve problems, design projects. It also exposes them at a young age to math and language that is meaningful. This idea or concept is very impressive and it has changed my whole outlook to scratch and how I will use it in the future.