Coding is, of course, a hugely important area of 21st century education. Whether they're as young as Pre-K or ready to enter college, coding is extremely relevant to almost every student's future. Thankfully, millions of educators and administrators realize the importance of teaching kids to code. Whether it's a curricular requirement or part of an informal school club, programming experiences are amazingly valuable for students. There's also plenty of options, so educators can find something without complicated or pricey features. In this section, you'll see a lot of different topics related to K-12 coding. These include features on particular STEM tools, insights on coding integration, skills students can develop and more. There's also something for teachers of all grade levels. Whether you teach the early grades or have students with the foundation to take the next step, you'll find helpful resources for teaching coding in the classroom.
Coding is truly an experience that all K-12 students can have. Starting in the early grades, students can code screen-free with a tool like the Cubetto Robot. Then, they can start to increase their coding skills and explore Blockly environments using tools like the Dash Robot, Ozobot Evo, and many others. From there, students can explore a bunch of different languages, like Snap!, Scratch, MakeCode, and more and, eventually, expand their skill sets by exploring text-based languages, like JavaScript and Python. All the while, the STEM solutions we advocate for also allow students to learn the most important coding concepts, like loops, variables, inputs, conditionals, and syntax. With a natural progression that leads to increased computer science competencies and enhanced future readiness, it's tough to understate the relevance of coding experiences in the classroom.
For homeschooling parents, EdTech may seem out of reach. Whether it’s too expensive or too complex, some of the most popular EdTech isn’t suited for homeschoolers. However, we’ve compiled a list of the best EdTech tools that work perfectly in a home classroom. These solutions are affordable and approachable, with curriculum that parents can easily integrate.
These days, not only can instructors utilize robotics tools to teach students coding and computational thinking skills, a lot of them have an engineering element within them as well. We think it’s great that educators and children can combine these two key areas of STEM by first building their robot (like any of these five prime examples) and then programming
When it comes to elementary coding experiences, Ozobot Evo projects, in particular, help educators facilitate STEAM learning that’s simple. Teachers can break up an Evo Classroom kit and distribute the components for kids to share in any educational setting. Plus, with the Ozobot Classroom LMS, assigning bots, tracking student progress, and accessing lessons is easy.
The Forward Education Climate Action Kit comes with everything a teacher needs to introduce green energy and environmental science concepts to students. Powered by the micro:bit, students will model sustainable energy solutions with robotic parts and building blocks in this kit appropriate for K-12 students. Kids will learn to invest in our eco-friendly future!
Many robotics tools also have virtual options, which help allow students to continue learning and programming while they’re at home or perhaps after school. In fact, many of those platforms often help improve accessibility of technology by removing the need for a physical robot, increasing equity in multiple ways. So, read on for our recommendations for virtual CS tools.
Did you know students’ physical activity levels have fallen by 40% in the past 5 years? Whether you attribute this change to social media, lack of third spaces for kids to gather, safety reasons, or something else, it’s definitely a concern. So why not integrate activity into other learning? The next installment in our spring webinar series shows you how
As educators, how can we teach students to engage with challenges like climate change and environmental health? Our spring webinar series tackled these questions with one of our favorite environmental education tools: databot 2.0. In our model of Ecological Education, EdTech tools like databot are key to facilitating students’ appreciation of the environment.
Coding with the Bee-Bot Emulator works just like programming your actual Bee-Bot Robot but is completely separate from the main Bee-Bot app. The digital platform even displays the directional buttons in the same ways and plays the same sounds to help create familiarity and continuity for children. Plus, the emulator is accessible online without downloads or installations.
The pi-top [4] empowers students to design, program, and create within the pi-top Further LMS platform. It helps them focus on exploring key physical computing concepts with a sprinkle of project-based learning along the way. And the new CS & Robotics Packs are perfect for building and coding in deeper detail, with interdisciplinary lessons for all grade levels.
Each of the UBTECH UKITS comes with its own curriculum. By following detailed project guides displayed in 3D on the UKIT app, kids can explore STEM topics in a hands-on way. Plus, in the lessons, educators can cover everything from force and motion to earth science and natural disasters with hands-on building and collaboration. Check out the new AI kits
