Teach coding with Book Creator

Dr. Beth HollandBlog, Math, Middle School, Science

This week is Computer Science Ed Week, so we've been thinking about ways you could incorporate Book Creator into your lessons on computer science and coding.

A few years ago, I was asked to lead a coding session at an iPad conference. Never having touched an app such as Scratch Jr. or Lightbot, I initially panicked. How could I lead a session on something that I knew so little about?

However, after speaking with computer science educator, Douglas Kiang, I learned that the real power lies in teaching computational thinking and creative problem solving - not any specific type of code. Armed with this new understanding, I decided to design the session using Book Creator instead.

Since most of the teachers already felt comfortable with Book Creator, and could imagine using it in their classrooms beyond a single coding activity, it provided a great opportunity to introduce the tenets and process of coding without having to introduce a new app or program.

The videos below walk through how we used Book Creator to introduce the concept of coding as a language and a logic.

For more ideas about how to introduce computational thinking, Douglas and I co-authored this article on EdTech Researcher. I hope that every teacher might find a way to participate in Computer Science Ed Week and Hour of Code; however, to make deeper connections to your curriculum, consider teaching thinking and not just coding.

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