Month: July 2014

teach yourself to code

Four years ago, a friend lent me his Rails book and I took it with me on a family vacation and learned Rails. I was happy to discover that programming itself was fun, but also realized it was power. Anything I could imagine, I could build. Suddenly I was having new ideas about every problem I encountered, and the ability to act on them. It changed the way I thought.

Don’t believe people who say that learning to code is easy. Better to go in knowing that it’s hard and frustrating and that most of the time you will feel like you have no idea what you’re doing. There are a lot of people who will help you, at Meetups or on StackOverflow. But if you don’t know where to start, I made this site for you.

Have fun.

via teach yourself to code.

Adventures of Karel the Robot | NClab

This self-paced online visual programming course for beginners tells a story about the friendship of a little girl and a robot. It is being taught at K-12 schools, programming clubs, after-school programs, and in home-schooling families. The teacher or homeschooling parent do not have to know computer programming. Students progress at their own pace with the help of hints, video tutorials, and a textbook (preview PDF). Gamification and gently increasing complexity of projects ensure an exciting and fulfilling learning experience for all students. The course includes an optional algorithmic thinking pre- and post-test.

via Adventures of Karel the Robot | NClab.

Creating a Community of Learners With Coding – Edudemic

By Kate Wilson on July 7, 2014

Professional coders work collaboratively, and rarely does a computer scientist create a program solely on their own. Every successful programming project evolves as a result of Iterations of code, the merging of ideas, and the contributions of the individual team members. Not only does coding empower students to think logically and critically, to collaborate, and to create meaningful learning, but it also provides them an authentic opportunity to develop critical communication and collaboration skills.

via Creating a Community of Learners With Coding – Edudemic.