Coding and Computational Thinking: Topic 8

During class today, we discussed computational thinking. I believe that computational thinking can definitely help students become better problem solvers. Problem-solving and computational thinking alike are about breaking down a problem or situation into smaller, more manageable pieces. Then, you can look at each individual piece, figure out how it works and start combining them together until you have solved the problem or made the situation functional once more. This is important for students because it helps them learn to work things through independently rather than being shown the way. Computational thinking can be put to use in all types of subjects, such as math, where you might be breaking a large number down so you can add, subtract or multiply it easier to get to the solution. In science, you have to break down the steps of an experiment to make sure it goes correctly (or figure out why it didn’t go the way it was supposed to). In language arts, breaking down the story into pieces and evaluating them to determine the overall theme, as well as the climbing action climax, falling action, and denouement. As has been demonstrated, computational thinking is advantageous across all subjects, and having the skill of problem-solving will set students up to do well in both middle/high school as well as in the working world when having to interact with people and unexpected problems regularly.

Once again, I have come up against something that I am not super familiar with, and although I find it interesting, I am not sure how comfortable I would be teaching something like coding. I do believe that coding has a place in education as it can be used in many ways and teach useful skills, but I personally do not understand it enough to feel ok teaching it, and unfortunately, I will admit I do not have a huge interest in becoming proficient in it. However, when we zoom out a little bit from coding and look at gamification, I am far more intrigued by the possibilities. Gameplay can be used in many ways, and in particular, it can be used to trick students into learning about the stuff they do not want to learn. Games can hold their interest in learning for longer than simply reading out of a textbook. I wish that when I was in school, we had the option to occasionally do math games or read/listen to an audiobook because I would have personally paid far more attention to subjects like social studies if it was a hands-on or a game version of what we were learning. Learning through games is also a great UDL tool for students who are new to English, struggling with reading or writing, or just need a new way to look at education.

I have included the Flappy Bird game that I have coded below as well as a link to a fake news game that is great at teaching the dangers of social media and the thinks to look out for when using social media.

https://studio.code.org/c/2347541880