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Lesson 11: Personal Protection and Data Protection

  In this lesson we are going to talk about important tips and information that we need to know when using our computer: Nowadays we use our devices for everything, and they contain a lot of private information that we need to protect against possible cyber attacks. Therefore there are som recommendations that we should consider: - Keep our devices updated. - Use safe passwords (there are websites where you can check how good your password is). - Clean regularly your devices from cookie information. - Try to hide your wifi so that only those who know its name can have access to it. - Beware of spam emails that you may receive and always check the information and the source, to make sure that nobody is trying to trick you.  In addition, because of the importance of technologies nowadays, we also spend a lot of time in front of our computers. This is why there are some recommendations that we should consider: - Maintain a proper posture. - Make sure all elements from your environment hav

Lesson 10: Variables & Inputs/Outputs (Scratch)

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05/05/2021 This is the last lesson of programming with Scratch and for this reason we made an exercise using variables and output. We saw how to use variables and input but now we are going to see how to code our program to let other users introduce their own variables and do operations.   We did an exercise with three characters who do things when you click on them: The ballerina asks the user to guess her name and her age. Then it changes the value of those variables to what the user introduces. And after the ballerin says them, she will keep dancing. The baseball player will ask you what her name is. If you introduce any name, she will say it and then, she will do her baseball routine. The last character is a boy who does mathematical operations. If you click on him he will say "Let's do some operations" and ask you for two numbers. Then he will do the sum, substraction, multiplication and division of those numbers.

Lesson 10: Animated Names, Create a Story and Chasing Game (Scratch)

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30/04/21 During this lesson we have seen how to customize Scratch elements to adapt our animations to the lessons we are preparing. In Scratch you can customise several elements and the webpage also provides tutorials to get the most out of the program.    Backdrops:   are the background images for your animation. The webpage offers a wide and free range of options but, once again, you can upload your own backgrounds from your computer or draw your own. Sprites: are the characters the webpage offers for you to animate. There is a wide variety of them completely for free: animals, people, objects, etc. When you have chosen your sprite you can change its color pattern and its movements. It is worth mentioning that the webpage also offers the option of drawing and uploading your own sprites, thus multiplying the customization options.   The first tool is to Animate names letting students customise their own names and make a fun animation with it such as changing the color of the

Lesson 10. Programming: LOOPS

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23/04/21 We are going to talk about Loops, which is the third basic knowledge children need to know in order to have a basic approach towards programming. Loops in programming are used to make the program repeat the code several times, it is very useful for animations and exercises!   To introduce the concept of "loops" we can tell the children they are like setting the table. One set of actions could be to set a plate, a glass, a fork and a knife in the table, but if you want to set the table for 4 people you can just repeat that set of actions 4 consecutive times. We can practice this basic concept by making use of Primary Code , since the coding is already done, and children will only need to understand it. Then, we can explain this same concept of repeating a certain action a number of times. To make the concept a little bit more hard we can add variables into the mix. In the following picture we have three variables: a, b and i (increasement). When the value of i is less

Lesson 10. Programming: CONDITIONAL CONCEPTS

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21.04.21 This is the second lesson on programming; today we are going to learn about conditionals and we are going to apply them to metaphor methodology, Primary Code and Scratch. We can tell children that if "x condition is true", the screen will show us "passed", if it is false it should write"failed". We could explain this better using a metaphor, such as spanish omelet: if there are eggs, then we can make spanish omelet. Then the conditional concept is the ability for the computer to make decisions.   In order to have a first approach to the concept, with the application Primay Code we can understand these examples clearly.  First of all, in the Figure 1, we have to variables, a and b. The students can assign a value to these variables. In figure 1 we assign the value 1 to the variable b, and then we ask the computer to show the larger variable. In this case, since the biggest number is 2, the computer will show the variable A. Figure 1. Primary

Lesson 10. Programming: CONCEPTS, VARIABLE, INPUT/OUTPUT

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16.04.21 We are going to start to learn programming. We need to teach metaphors to make kids understand programming. In this case they used cooking. For example, they say the memory is like the pantry of the computer. The measuring cup is the variable. Following a recipe is like programming. First, we are checking out a software created by a Spanish student that will help children to learn programming concepts: Primary Code. Kids in primary can learn three basic concepts: 1) Inputs and outputs 2) Conditionals 3) Loops As this first introduction is about inputs and outputs we will focus in these concepts: Input is anything you put into the computer like the mouse or the keyboard. Output are the things that come out of the computer like the screen or a printer. It will tell them how to write instructions on the screen. A variable is like a little box you put things into. The things you put into the variable will appear on the screen. Input is harder to understand, according to the

Lesson 9. Develop of digital contents: RESEARCHING IN EDUCATION

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14/04/21 The last topic of lesson nine is about the research in education. As teachers we have to stay updated and discover new applications and software that our students can use to learn everyday. To do research we have to follow these steps: 1) Think of areas where your students are having trouble in: maybe they are bored, they can't comprehend the lesson entirely, they could have some more fun with it, etc. 2) Think if you can solve this with technology or without it. 3) Explore the internet for resources or create your own 4) Create the interactive activity for your students. The exercise we did today consisted on following these steps and creating two activities related to the topic of our group (newspapers). Cerebriti  This is an online and quite intuitive app, which allows you to create different types of exercises. For finding this application you can type on your Google Chrome search engine "gamification for teachers". However, in some cases, it is difficult to