Learning to Code with Screencasts

8th Grade Coding

Liz Reale

Jaime Castro's Website

Problem Identified: At the end of the 2014-2015 school year last year, it was determined by our administration that we were going to offer a Coding class to our 8th graders for the first time in our school's history. They felt it was important to expose our students to coding given the push by Mayor DeBlasio to develop computer science programs at the secondary level. When I decided to switch to teaching all grades Computer Technology over the summer, I was anxious about teaching a Coding class because I had had zero experience programming prior to that moment in time. However, like all teachers presented with a new challenge, I put on my student hat and tried to learn as much as I could about HTML & CSS from Jared Sutton, who is well-versed in many different types of coding languages, and attended multiple workshops on programming. I quickly saw the challenges that learning to program presented and new I had to figure out the best medium to use that supported all my students as visual learners while allowing them to self-pace their instruction.

Hypothesis: If we use screencasts created in QuickTime Player for different HTML coding skills then students will be more self-sufficient and engaged in completing tasks as measured by performance on mastery checks.

Data Collection: Students were assessed using both paper mastery checks and Edmodo quizzes for various HTML & CSS skills. The progress they've made on their websites also exhibits their HTML & CSS skills!

Actionable Step: Any teacher could use QuickTime Player to record screencasts of specific skills or tutorials on the computer. These videos can be updated onto a YouTube or Vimeo channel and then embedded in a Livebinder digital notebook. It's super easy to share the link to your Livebinder digital notebook via Google Classroom or Edmodo and with enough consistency, students become acclimated to following the instructions in the videos in order to be successful.

Overall Impact/Findings: Students were able to successfully execute specific actions and skills required to design websites from Scratch using the Livebinder screencasts and Google Scripts app. Students were able to asynchronously work on different skills, which was helpful especially since students are pulled for Earth Science and SDI. The screencasts also act as an archive that students can potentially use to student from and it's beneficial because the screencasts act as another co-teacher in the classroom giving the teacher more freedom to conference with students.