Hour of Code at New Dundee PS

December 12th, 2014

As a school board, our mission is to prepare, challenge, and inspire our learners to be engaged, connected and contributing global citizens. As society shifts to a tech-based culture, our teaching methods have needed to adapt.

Having identified this trend as an opportunity for growth and collaboration, many of our staff are finding ways to integrate technology into the classroom by using Chromebooks and iPads. This learning method allows students to contribute and express themselves in ways they may never have the opportunity to previously.

New Dundee Public School has embraced this concept and participated in a school-wide activity called “Hour of Code.” It is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to easily understand code and show that anyone can learn the basics. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity.

Students from Kindergarten to grade six, paired up and worked as a team to solve 20 different levels of code; Angry Birds and Zombies were a few of the familiar game coding formats they used. However, not every student relates to technology based learning, so a deviceless version of coding called “unplugged” was available in each classroom.

New Dundee PS teachers wanted to show their students that coding can be a tool to support them, as they create and express themselves through technology instead of just consuming technology (browsing, chatting, texting, gaming). It supports students in geometry, patterning and algebra, and contributes to building skills in literacy (reading code, writing code and providing verbal instructions).

This is the second year for the “Hour of Code” global movement, and to date 72,604,096 people have signed on. We encourage everyone to try it, Hour of Code.

For more information, please visit New Dundee PS teacher Mr. McKenzie’s blog.