Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Interesting Links 24 May 2017

It’s been a while since I posted one of these collections. And I’ve been blogging a lot less lately. Call it a sort of blogging vacation. I just needed to prioritize other things for a while. We’ll see how things are going forward. In any case I felt like I had a lot of things I should share so here we go.

I know a lot of people are using Python these days and with summer coming you may be looking at projects for next year as I am. So I thought I should share this Collection of free Python lessons (Shakespearean Insult Generator, Magic 8 ball, Sorting hat, Mad Libs, and more) I’ve used similar projects with students in other programming languages and they work well with students.

Announcing Microsoft MakeCode for Circuit Playground Express – From Microsoft Education. The really cool thing about this online development tool is the variety of interesting and inexpensive hardware it can be used with. Combining programming with “making” opens some really interesting possibilities.

Speaking of making – this look at what Doug Bergman is doing with his students is really impressive. A spirited teacher reshapes the computer science classroom for 21st-century makers He has a very interesting computer lab with movable tables, lots of interesting hardware (think several kinds of robots plus Kinects) and really lets students get creative.

Researchers unveil new password meter   - security is getting more and more attention lately so this information about good passwords may be a good discussion starter. The source code for this password meter (it’s in JavaScript) is available.

The ACM Code of Ethics, Draft 2 is now available for comment. Deadline for Input Is June 5th, 2017. This update is designed to make sure that the code is current with the technology. I plan to have some discussions about ethics based around the final document with my AP CS Principles class. I will at least bring it up in the rest of my courses though. Ethics is VERY important and getting more important to teach all the time.

From the UK there is a new edition of Hello World magazine out *now*. Download via   Brought to you by Raspberry Pi, CAS and the BCS Academy. Lots of awesome in this edition. Things are really moving in CS education in the UK and the rest of us should take advantage of the resources.

Check out the Computational Thinking Interview Series from  CSTA “The CSTA's Professional Development Committee is gaining perspectives on computational thinking by meeting with leaders in the field. In this interview series, we are asking, ”What is computational thinking?””

Designing a Computer Science course with constraints  by Mike @zamansky is a good look at how teachers often have to deal with constraints outside of their control when designing a course.

Three Computer Games That Make Assembly Language Fun – They’re not free but they’re not all that expensive either. Some interesting possibilities for some classrooms I think.

Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset Developer Edition is one of two mixed reality headsets offered by the @MicrosoftStore Available in August when birthday comes. Seeing these inspired a blog post of mine. A post with some ideas and questions I am still looking for feedback on.

Using Virtual Reality for Teaching Computer Science


    1 comment:

    Garth said...

    I really like the ideas in the Python lessons. I really hate the methodology. As soon as I see "type this code" I think "wrong approach".