Published in Grok Learning·Jun 27, 2018Grokking in Grades 3–6Interested in using Grok Learning’s resources with primary or elementary students? Here’s what we have on offer. — Years 3–4 In years 3 and 4 the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies requires students to learn about algorithms as sequences of steps which can be followed in order to solve problems, and to write programs with algorithms involving branching (decisions) and user input using a visual programming language.Education5 min read
Published in Grok Learning·May 2, 2018Web.Comp 2018: Grok’s Choice Awards!The Web.Comp 2018 Design Tournament has recently wrapped up and, once again, we were really impressed by the quality and creativity of student designs. In the Beginners stream, students designed a web page for a plant store, The Plant Warehouse. …Design4 min read
Published in Grok Learning·Jan 11, 2018Turtle Flowers Coding Project 🐢🌼Are you looking for a coding project for your class? Here’s an idea for a creative assessment, using the Turtle module in Python or Blockly. Grade level: Years 5 to 8 Language: Blockly or Python Turtle Assessed concepts: This coding task assumes knowledge of the below concepts. These concepts are…Programming4 min read
Published in Grok Learning·Nov 16, 2017Coding Lesson Plan: Monster Maker!Our lesson plans accompany our free short courses and are designed to help you get your students started coding in the classroom. Download a printable version of this lesson. About this activity This lesson plan accompanies our Monster Maker! short course. Students write their first programs and draw fun monster characters. …Education6 min read
Published in Grok Learning·Sep 15, 2017Is ELIZA human, and can she write a sonnet? A look at language technology.Jane Abrams writes about language and technology in ACCESS, the professional journal of the Australian School Library Association. — Questions of how, when and why to introduce coding and digital technology in schools have become part of a national conversation on how best to equip young people for their futures. …Education2 min read
Published in Grok Learning·Jul 27, 2017Programming in Primary School: Introducing if statementsPreviously, I’ve discussed introducing young coders to the concept of sequencing — defining a set of steps for a computer to follow in order. Our Monster Maker course teaches students to write their first programs as a specific sequence of steps that run the same way every time. Programs like…Programming6 min read
Published in Grok Learning·Mar 2, 2017Programming in primary school: Making monsters!Learning to program is more than simply learning to write code. This is why many school computing curriculums focus on computational thinking; developing skills such as logical reasoning, decomposition, algorithmic thinking, pattern recognition and abstract reasoning. To communicate with computers instructions need to be unambiguous and in the right order…Education4 min read
