WHAT IS THIS "PROJECT"?
About the Project
This project was started by me, Cindy Kim, when I was a Year 11 student (now Year 12) through a Connected Learning initiative that allowed students to pursue a project they would like to create with the help of various teachers and other connections. I came up with the idea after experiencing learning how to code on my own in the Robotics Club. I wanted to make sure that no other student felt so frustrated in the beginning, just like how I felt during that time. I also wanted to create a bridge between the Primary and Secondary sectors because I felt that even though the two sectors were only several footsteps apart, there were no sustainable connections between the students. After teaching some students at another Hong Kong local school, I also wanted to make sure that students from other schools would be able to start their own initiatives in teaching each other how to code. This method would allow for students to bond with each other while developing skills that are most likely needed in the future. In case you're curious, I've written a few detailed blog posts of how I started this project.
Now, back to the project. During the first session the students who participated in the classes were all from Year 5, and they stayed after school on Wednesdays from 3:15 to 4:15 pm to work on various projects that they created using the MIT App Inventor. It ran for one semester and a half, and allowed students to create a game of their choice and finish it during these sessions.
This year, with the help of a Year 11 student (Kevin), I've expanded the class to both Year 5s AND 6s, and had more students. The aim of the class remains the same - to develop your own game. Through learning from my mistakes from last year, hopefully this year's session will run a little smoother!
About the Blog
After some sessions, I had the amazing chance to meet two of the developers for App Inventor (Mr. Josh Sheldon and Mr. Mike Tissenbaum), and they suggested that I write a blog to record my progress, so here it is!
This blog will mostly be about how I created a project for the current Year 5s to learn programming through MIT App Inventor. I’ve created it not only to document what I’ve done with my students throughout the year, but to guide those who need some inspiration in creating their own coding project; it's almost like a manual. If you wanted to create a similar project, this blog outlines the process and journey I went through and will hopefully help you.
I’ve called the blog ‘The Connected Classroom’ as the whole project branched from a Connected Learning initiative from our school, Chinese International School, based in Hong Kong. The Connected Learning initiative allows students to create a project and receive help from various teachers and other connections. The people I’ve mostly worked with for this project is the Head of Innovation and Staff Learning and the Head of Year 5 from the Primary side of our school. Both teachers have helped me immensely in not only arranging the classroom and the communication with the parents of the students I was teaching, but also provided me with guidance throughout the year.
On the ‘Blog’ page, there will be many more updates and posts of what I’ve done to create the project.
Hope you enjoy!!
Link to the MIT App Inventor that I’ve used for the project can be found here.
