European Schoolnet - How to Teach Computing: An Introduction to Concepts, Tools and Resources for Primary Teachers by Francesco Picca

Introducing myself

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-21 15:15:11 UTC

I am Francis Picca, I teach computer science in Taranto / Italy. My school is IISS Augusto Righi Taranto

My school IISS Augusto Righi Taranto/Italy

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-21 15:22:44 UTC

My institution has the following fields of study: informatics electronics mechanics aeronautics high school sports school of applied sciences

What is the situation of computing teaching in your country?

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-21 15:24:47 UTC

Depending on the school reform, in Italy teaching computer science and computational thinking takes place only in schools to address specific computer (I teach at one of these schools). In other kinds of schools the coding is tied only to the activation of specific projects financed by the funds MIUR (Ministry of Education University and Research) or the European Structural Funds PON (National Operational Programmes).

Identify one everday object, activity, situation, etc. for which an understanding of computing and knowledge of how to programme machines can help the students understand their world around them.

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-21 15:25:03 UTC

In the life of every day problems that we face concern sequences of operations, situations where we have to make choices or, finally, operations that should be repeated until the occurrence of a certain condition (work / go to school every day until not Sunday). We have listed the constructs of imperative programming: the sequence selection iterating

Identify a classroom activity or project that is designed to address one of the skills identified in the video in section 1.3.

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-21 15:25:20 UTC

A video of an activity with scratch

My app made with scratch simulation of the launch of a die

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-23 09:47:43 UTC

My work with Scratch and APP Inventor

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-26 19:45:51 UTC

One of my app written with scratch that allows the conversion from binary to decimal

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-27 08:40:29 UTC

How can we make links between computing and other subjects?

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-28 06:53:32 UTC

It is essential to link the computer science and computing the other disciplines. Here is a link to a design made by my students to approach the dog!!

What other methods can you think of to develop collaborative skills when teaching computing? OR How can we show our students that good communication is a key part of being a good programmer?

francescopicca1 — 2015-04-28 06:58:26 UTC

My pupils have followed with me a route with scratch, RoboMind, comics, timeline, cmaptool andcreated a website with google sities

Educational Robotics ActivitiesDo you have experience of using robots in the classroom? What activities work especially well with robots? Are you using Lego WeDo or the Bee-Bots in your classroom? What works well, what doesn't work well with them? And finally, what other robotic tools are you aware of that you can recommend for the primary classroom?

francescopicca1 — 2015-05-04 10:02:34 UTC

As part of a project PON I used the Bee-Bots with primary school children!!

The children have already learned to use the software and then apply the code to bee bots!!

Simple Game Design Tools

francescopicca1 — 2015-05-04 10:10:21 UTC

Drawing regular figures with scratch

My Learning Designs

francescopicca1 — 2015-05-11 08:46:07 UTC

We play with scratch!!!

Flipping the classroom with tablets

francescopicca1 — 2015-05-11 09:37:20 UTC

I'm a flipped teacher and I hope to use the flipped classroom with the use of the tablet

Getting started with tablets at school

francescopicca1 — 2015-05-11 09:42:09 UTC

I agree with the idea of creating in their school a standard for communications, sharing, transparency and the production of materials, choosing from the numerous possibilities that the web offers. Very interesting and deepen the appearance security and privacy and therefore the need to have a good network administrator or a team of teachers to tackle this problem. Another aspect that also in my institution ought to be reviewed is the technical support, related to the maintenance and upgrading of hardware and software.