“It’s really cool because we’re learning, but it’s really a game,” said Angel Iriarte. A student in Stephanie Stern’s fifth grade class at Franklin School in North Bergen, Iriarte was teaching himself computer coding by dragging images on a screen to create blocks of code.
The resulting code commanded icons in games like Angry Birds and Frozen to behave onscreen in various ways.
“It’s very visual,” said Nelly Velasquez, mathematics department supervisor for the district. “You used to just see pure code. So to make it more user friendly they use pictures and icons.”
And the kids just ate it up. “I practice on my phone and tablet,” said Iriarte.
Every one of the 636 students at Franklin School takes a technology class once a week. Normally Stern teaches Microsoft Office on the computers, providing instruction in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. But for three weeks the agenda changes. That’s when Hour of Code takes place.
Hour of Code is an international initiative to encourage students to learn computer coding. Tens of millions of students in more than 180 countries participate. This year the campaign ran from Dec. 8 to 14.
“I started Hour of Code a week early,” said Stern. “With each of my classes only being about 30-35 minutes, I’ve covered an hour of code in two weeks.”
“It’s actually really fun and you learn how to use different controls of the computer and how creators learn to make programs like Facebook,” said student Roberto Felice.
Which is exactly the idea – to get the kids involved and interested while they’re young.
“When I became director I joined with Stephanie and the other tech teachers, looking at the future of how we can start programming at an earlier age so that by the time they get to the high school they’re avid programmers,” said Velasquez. “Stephanie is looking at the fifth grade as the group where we’re going to really look at future programmers that will be confident in using the technology.”
Tech to the rescue
“I believe that we are in a place right now where the children just want the answer,” said Stern. “It is instantaneous. And that has a lot to do with technology. So the leaders of technology have come up with the solution to their own problem. Hour of Code is all about the process. They have to think logically. It’s ‘if/then’ – IF the path is ahead, THEN move forward; if the path is to the right, you move right. And that’s basically how they solve this problem.”
Teachers, however, have to step back and let the kids come up with the answers themselves. “Part of the common core and the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) is that the teacher takes more of a facilitator role,” said Velasquez, referring to new school standards established by the government. “Yes, you still have direct instruction but the student is now more responsible for learning, and they’ll take more pride in it and be more interested.”
“It’s actually really fun and you learn how to use different controls of the computer and how creators learn to make programs like Facebook.” –Roberto Felice
____________
To help facilitate instruction, technology once again comes to the rescue. Teachers in North Bergen are using FaceTime video calling to communicate between classes, even between schools. Stern frequently collaborates in real-time during classes with Tasha Murphy, a technology teacher at Kennedy School.
“We actually make ourselves better teachers by being able to communicate,” said Stern.
“Two brains are better than one,” added Murphy via video.
The kids also get into the act, calling out questions over the link. “It’s almost like having two teachers in the room, which is great for the kids,” said Stern. “And the kids can understand that there are other children from other schools that are having the same exact problems with the same challenges that they are, so they feel better.”
“They don’t get to see each other very often,” said Murphy. “They’re only able to see each other at sporting events, not so much academic events. So this is a way for them academically to communicate with each other, which is important.”
“And it helps teach the children how to communicate via media in a positive way,” added Stern. “We all know there are so many negative communications out there. The bullying, the texting, the violent video games. This is a really positive model of how professionals communicate.”
Planning ahead
“Girls only make up 13 percent of all STEM career holders,” said Stern, referring to science, technology, engineering, and math. “And women make up 54 percent of the workforce. Girls tend to be very focused on math and science – until the middle grades. And then the social factors come in.”
Consequently Stern would like to promote computer sciences for girls. “I think it’s very important that girls have a sense of being with other girls, role models like [YouTube CEO] Sue Wojcicki or [Yahoo CEO] Marissa Mayer. And having that sense of ‘Yes, I can do this, even though I’m a girl.’ It’s a real phenomenon and I know that folks at NASA, real thought leaders in the STEM sciences have noticed that. If you Google ‘science clubs for girls’ you’ll see them all over the country. It is something I want to start here.”
Yasmeen Blanco missed the first week of the Hour of Code. “I was absent but my friend explained it to me and I started doing it at home. It’s pretty fun,” she said. Yasmeen was repeating the Angry Birds program before moving on to the more difficult Frozen.
“The more they cement their rudimentary knowledge, the better they’ll be in more advanced things,” said Stern. “So even if she didn’t come back here for two years and decided to come back and play Angry Birds just for fun or just to solidify a pattern in her own thinking, to me that’s wonderful.”
Each program consists of 20 levels, becoming increasingly difficult as they progress. Upon completion of the 20th level, the student receives a personalized certificate.
Efren Alvarez was the first to get through Frozen and receive his certificate. Which game did he prefer? “Frozen. Because of all the geometry, the degrees and angles you have to do.”
The rudimentary programming clearly appealed to him. “I want to go into some heavy programming when I’m older because I’m going to make games,” he said thoughtfully. “I want to do that when I grow up. So I’m going to have to learn more programming. So this is very helpful.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.