Virtual Learning Network

Thanks for your post. I've started doing Scratch with a year 5-8 class as well. I know very little about coding but am doing the projects with my students and learning as I go.

The students are loving it and so am I. Our students are using Scratch now to share their learning of other subject areas they are doing, so having students apply it to their other learning is fantastic. I hope others share the experiences and that we can see Scratch being used in more classrooms.

Thanks for this share Warren.  I've used Scratch a few times over the past few years but nothing to shout out about (just scratching the surface - hehe).   Looking forward to checking out your presentation and supporting my learners with their designs for the competition.  

Thanks for sharing your experiences about using flipped learning as part of a coding programme. I teach digital technology in a Christchurch Intermediate and are currently planning to introduce the flipped learning approach to our technology department. I am currently thinking about setting up a knowledge hub consisting of videos relating to simple computing tasks specific to our school computer set up and then expanding it to cover Scratch fundamentals, game design concepts and who knows from there. 

Your learning maze presentation was interesting in that it was very systematic/carefully sequenced. One challenge for me with teaching Scratch using a flipped learning approach was that there was just so much that students might want to do it was very daunting trying to find or make suitable resources to support their learning. It might be better to make a series of presentations similar to yours focused on different genres of video games that students usually wish to make (platformer, driving game, space invaders style shooter). I had never heard of doctor scratch, I am nervously submitting one of my own projects to see what feedback I get. 

Keen to hear from anyone else working in this area. 

Regards, 
Jesse Callaghan