The best learning experiences are the ones where students have fun in the process. Consider a recent article for the Florida Times-Union titled “Coding computer games class is not all fun and games.”
Denise Smith Amos of the Florida Times-Union writes, “The Duval County School Board will vote next month on whether to change Andrew Jackson High into a technology magnet, which would offer computer coding and gaming among other career options. And Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said last month he plans to introduce computer coding next year into elementary school curriculum. Duval so far has taught coding through video game design at Kirby-Smith Middle School, a science, technology, engineering, arts and math magnet. There James Vail, a former natural science educator, teaches several coding languages as students build video games. It’s an elective nearly every student takes, he said, and some take multiple classes, using several languages. In a given semester he may have 240 students in six classes, or an average of 40 students per class. On a recent Thursday, his eighth-graders were finishing newly created two-player video games, using their imaginations, knowledge of coding and a few prods from Vail. Luke Underwood, who Vail said is one of the more advanced students, used a commercial grade programming language to create a game featuring a spaceman walking up inclines while dodging deadly dots from a green fish. Earlier he created an ‘Old MacDonald HAD a Farm’ game, where tanks shoot at cows and elephants fleeing a barn. His classmate Oscar Vargas used a different advanced language to touch up a Capture the Flag game. Both students say they want to master 3-D modeling and animation. Vail told Vargas: ‘This is commercial-level stuff. If you get good at this, there’s a job for you.’ Recently Florida legislators endorsed bills to let schools count coding as a foreign language, but the measure passed in the Senate and died in the House. Across the country, schools are being encouraged to add computer science classes, including coding. It’s needed if graduates will be ready for tomorrow’s careers, some experts say.”
If you’re looking for the best in hands-on, customized coding education, your best bet is CodeRev Kids. At CodeRev Kids, our lessons focus on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide variety of programming languages and concepts.
Our lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise. Thus, the entire curriculum is customized. We are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there, but we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.