AACPS OIT Byte

This year Computer Science Education week runs from Friday, December 6th through the 12th. Hour of Code, one of their main events, kicks off Monday, the 9th. Hour of code encourages students to code for an hour to hone their skills, but it also allows teachers to discuss careers in coding and computer science how students can explore their interests and plan their path to achieve their goals. Below are several suggestions for how you can get your students involved in CS week or Hour of Code. Hour of Code Activities for PreK through high school. No coding experience necessary! Filter topics by grade level band and then by content to find something that works for your classroom. Topics include Art, Music, AI, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and more! Explore the Hour of Code library directly from Classlink. Minecraft Hour Of Code The 2024 theme is The Show Must Go On! Minecraft invites students to step into the theater to find the show’s missing star, unlock hidden gags, s...

You may have heard of The Hour of Code, a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org. The idea was to give students an introduction to coding through fun activities and videos. We hope you will participate this year for National Computer Science week, December 4-10 . Below you will find a resources and applications that we have in AACPS to facilitate an amazing coding experience. Hour of Code Activities for PreK through high school. No coding experience necessary.  Filter topics by content to find something that works for your classroom. Topics include Art, Music, AI, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and more! Explore the Hour of Code library directly from Classlink.  Minecraft Hour Of Code Resources for teachers and students on doing an hour of code with Microsoft’s new computer science tutorial specifically built for 2023. Microsoft recommends their tutorial for anyone age 7 and up.  New Minecraft Hour of Code at aka.ms/hourofcode R...

by Kerri Lambert, OIT Teacher Specialist Over the last several years, there’s been a push for students to learn coding in schools. Nationwide events such as the Hour of Code, held every December, have brought this valuable skill to the forefront and for good reason. Coding teaches children how to problem solve, fosters creativity, and develops computational thinking skills among a host of other reasons, including it’s just plain fun! Yes, I said fun. You read that correctly. Fun is still allowed in school. 😊 And what’s more fun than programming a robot? Instructional robots have been becoming popular in AACPS for several years, and while COVID put a damper on them for a while, they’ve been making a comeback this school year with several schools purchasing them for use in media centers, clubs, and in classrooms. There’s a robot for every grade level and comfort level that you can imagine, and AACPS has many robots that are approved for instructional use. Botley, indi and Beebots are pe...