Java course for kids, taught via Minecraft

Teaching coding skills to children is being adopted more and more as coding encourages higher order thinking skills.

http://boingboing.net/2015/09/28/an-online-java-course-for-kids.html?utm_content=buffer105a8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

This example offers a creative way of teaching Java through Minecraft.

At the beginning of the summer my son Ronan, age 12, and I built him his first high-powered gaming PC. Me being a dad and all, I did so happily, but with one proviso -- he’d have to dedicate time every day to learning a programming language. He was slightly sceptical of this, having taken a few less-than-interesting intro to programming classes in the past. Prepared for this, I recommended that we enroll him in Youth Digital’s comprehensive Java course called Minecraft Server Desgin 1. This got his full attention, as he had dreams of creating his own custom servers and gameplay modes to host Minecraft sessions with his friends.

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What Comes First, Education or Technology?

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3 Tips for Classroom Discussion Backchannels: Class Tech Tips

A backchannel is a space where students can post questions, respond to prompts and participate in a discussion without raising their hand. You might set up a backchannel for students using the free tool Today’s Meet or have older students set up a Twitter account and tweet using a shared hashtag for a virtual class discussion. If you haven’t used backchannels before you may want to check out this post for a quick overview. So what does this have to do with BrainPOP? BrainPOP is a favorite resource for helping students dive into a range of topics. Read more on the link below. http://www.techlearning.com/blogentry/12230

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