This unit is an introduction to block based coding, using the free apps hosted by Google blockly.
The apps themselves are hosted online, but there is the option to download them free of charge (with the exception perhaps of the Anrgybirds app), which might be useful if:
- You need to run the unit offline or with an unreliable internet connection.
- Appspot take the apps down off their site for some reason.
The lessons can potentially be done in any order, but I have ordered them from easy to difficult, based on my students’ general experience of the lessons.
Each lesson starts easy but usually the last couple of challenges are a challenge even for experienced coders.
Weekly Assessment
I assess the work by getting the students to upload the javascript for their solutions on to my assessment site and I give a level depending on how many challenges they have solved successfully.
End of unit assessment
This will take the form of a short answer / multiple choice test, assessing the students’ knowledge of the different bits of code.
Currently there are the following issues that you should be aware of:
Screenshots of the solutions are available online, so it is quite possible that students cheat. The only way to address this issue is limit challenges to classwork only, or to tell the students that every time they cheat a pixie dies.*
*Please note this strategy may result in students deliberately cheating.