22/6/2014 CAS Conference 2014Yesterday was the 6th annual Computing At School (CAS) National Conference. The conference, which was attended by more that 300 delegates, provided an opportunity for teachers to find out about the new curriculum. It also gave teachers the chance to meet and learn from other experienced educators about how to introduce computer science in the classroom. As well as attending a number of inspiring and thought provoking workshops, I was asked to deliver a workshop of my own. I can honestly say it felt an honour to be delivering a workshop along side the likes of Paul Curzon, Mark Dorling and Phil Gardner (to name but a few). It was also great to chat with other educators about how they plan to and, in some cases, how they are already using TouchDevelop to support the delivery of the new curriculum. Unfortunately, due to reasons out of my control, not everyone was able to attend. This was a little disappointing, especially given the size of the computer labs. However, at the request of those who were unable to attend, below is attached a brief synopsis of the workshop along with resources used in the session. If you have any further questions about the resources in this session, or want to find out more about TouchDevelop, please don't hesitate to ask! What is TouchDevelop? TouchDevelop is an online app creation tool from Microsoft Research. Originally designed to develop Windows Phone 7 apps, the TouchDevelop Web App now allows you to develop Windows Store apps suitable for Windows 8 touch screen devices and runs on iPad, iPhone, Android, PC, Mac, Linux. There is also a dedicated TouchDevelop app on the Windows Phone 8. Why use TouchDevelop? No installation required
Workshop Synopsis I started by introducing TouchDevelop and explaining the benefits of using TouchDevelop in the classroom. I then directed delegates to the TouchDevelop Web App and demonstrated how to get started. I followed this with a simple (step-by-step) tutorial using the Turtle library in TouchDevelop. The turtle library is a great tool for introducing students to algorithms. It's also great for introducing iteration as well as discussing the benefits of optimising code. Once everyone had got to grips with the turtle library, I challenged them to try out some of the tutorials (below). Resources Resources used in the session: Links
Tutorials Dice app tutorial
Tap a mole tutorial
Flappy Bird tutorial
TouchDevelop Turing Test (Chat bot tutorial) Lesson plan to support "chat bot tutorial"
Other useful resources touchdevelop hour of code – official tutorials from the touchdevelop team. Build your first app - free online course from Microsoft. touchdevelop challenge hour of code – step-by-step tutorials created to support the UK hour of code. touchdevelop Challenge - series of lessons and challenges to get students building games and apps with touchdevelop. games4learning - Created by David Renton (Extended Lecturer in Games Development: Reid Kerr College, Scotland) A series of YouTube tutorials which introduce students to game design using touchdevelop. Ray Chambers' touchdevelop Scheme of Work - A complete scheme of work for touchdevelop which sees students design and create an app from scratch. Comments are closed.
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AuthorSimon Johnson Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert / MIE Trainer
Minecraft Cert. Educator / Global Mentor
CAS Master Teacher
Raspberry Pi Cert. Educator
Tickle Ambassador
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