Secondary students are expected to begin using General Purpose Programming languages as they transition away from visual drag-and-drop coding environments such as Scratch and Blockly.
Two of the most popular typed languages in schools are Python and JavaScript.
Participants at this event will be given a hands-on introduction to using one of these languages in the classroom, with an emphasis on transitioning smoothly from drag-and-drop coding to general purpose programming. (Python and JavaScript will be presented in separate, concurrent sessions.)
Fundamental concepts such as branching (if-else statements), iteration (loops) and variables will be introduced and applied to solve computational thinking problems.
In addition, participants will briefly explore how these two languages can be used to code for some popular electronics or robotics tools, such as the BBC micro:bit.
The workshop is targeted at teachers of Years 7-10.
Outcomes:
By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:
- Describe and illustrate key concepts like data types, variables, loops and if statements,
- Apply loops and if statements to create programs that draw shapes as well as programs that do mathematical computations (times tables and factorisation),
- Use string functions to manipulate text and perform capitalisation, concatenation and various other string formatting operations,
- Use functions to generate random numbers for dice games and guessing games.
About the presenters
Sanjin Dedić has a B.Eng in Mechatronic Systems majoring in Robotics and Computer Vision and spent several years working in industry as an Engineer. He then retrained as a teacher and taught Systems Engineering and Digital Technologies at a secondary level. Recently he has been developing a series of technology programs for G.A.
T.E.WAYS (gifted and talented education) covering everything from coding, robotics, applied mathematics and microcontrollers. These programs have been delivered to students in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Queensland. As a head of eLearning at Techxellent he has combined his technological expertise with his educational experience to create innovative teacher training programs and resources.
Nathan Alison taught Digital Technologies, VCE Computing and Software Development in Victoria for 11 years before beginning work for DLTV.
He brings a background in Computer Systems Engineering and years of hobby coding, as well as a keen desire to help teachers with more complex Computer Science concepts through clear explanations and relevant activities.
