Ben B.
Computing Showcase Website
Computing Unplugged
Programming and writing algorithms involves thinking in a much more literal way than is normally done. Computers require specific and clear instructions for programs to function properly. A good example of this is the statement:
Please go to the shop and buy 2 loaves of bread. If they have eggs, buy 8.
A computer reading that would understand the instructions as follows:
Buy two loaves. If eggs are present, buy 8 loaves of bread.
Conversely a human would understand to buy 8 eggs and two loaves, regarding them as separate instructions. In order for children to undersand the systematic and specific instruction skills required to program from scratch before even touching a computer, an organisation called computing Unplugged has developed an example series of activities to be undertaken in the classroom.
In Key Stage 1, inline with the children's own development the activities are more concerned with the literal kind of thinking involved in the writing of algorithms rather than the more indepth processes involved in the generation of code.
To this end an example activity is to have children program their teacher to perform a variety of different tasks. In the example on the left, children have written their own set of instructions to direct their teacher in making a jam sandwich. This fun activity, with the teacher being as awkward as possible, promoting error correction in instructions, eventually resulting in the production of a jam sandwich,
I have also experimented in being a 'human beebot' with the children directing my actions to guide a 'blindfolded' teacher around a maze drawn on the floor in the school hall. This was also done in a highly pedantic way to promote precision in instructions.
For Key Stage 2 children, the website offers a further range of activities, teaching children some of the other core principles behind the way a computer works. This is in conjunction to the gradual increase in complexity of the instructional sets provided and generated with children. Amongst the activities offered on the Computer Science unplugged website, I felt compelled to look at the Error Detection activity seen in the video opposite.
This activity teaches children how to think more like a computer with regards to finding errors in data storage and subsequently can allow children to look for alternative methods for solving problems.
Other activities on offer from other websites include decision trees: representations of different lines of processing for children to play games. This links naturally with English lessons and can be done for a large variety of applications.
