CIC: Computing in the Classroom

Judy, Lego cat, Kate

 

Welcome from Judy and Kate

Welcome to Computing in the Classroom!

I'm Professor Judy Robertson (pictured to the left of the lego cat above), and I'll be teaching this course with Kate Farrell. (You can call me "Judy", by the way). I'm based in both School of Informatics and School of Education here at the University of Edinburgh.
My email address is Judy.Robertson@ed.ac.uk. That's the best way to get hold of me just now because I mostly work at home due to a health condition. You can also message me on Teams if you like.
You'll also get to work with various friendly and fun colleagues of mine from university, schools, and industry. I'll introduce them to you as the course goes on.
 
I'm Kate Farrell (pictured to the right of the lego cat above) and I'll be teaching this course with Judy Robertson.  I'm based in the School of Education in the Data Education in Schools project. 
I've taught Computing Science in schools for since 2005 and have worked in both mainstream and special education schools and further education too.  I've supported Primary and Secondary teachers in professional learning across Scotland.  I'm a big believer in learning being fun - for kids and adults too!  
My email adress is kate.farrell@ed.ac.uk. I'm also @Digitalkatie on Twitter and Discord, if you prefer.  I'm not working from my office at the moment but I'm very happy to meet up in person.  I'll be doing in-person office hours from Bayes Cafe, so please do join me if you fancy a cup of tea and a chat about education!  Judy will be doing online office hours, so hopefully there's an option that suits you.

This is always such a fun course so I look forward to the classes every week!  There will be plenty opportunities to play with toys and robots and to make games in order to teach computational thinking and computing science concepts.    

Course Outline

The purpose of this course is for students to learn about the theory and practice of computer science education, and to make a positive contribution to learners and teachers in schools.

During the course, students will design learning materials for a portfolio based on discussions with education professionals, analysis of the appropriate school curricula, assessment of pupils' interests. 

Course topics include:

  • Computer science in schools curricula in Scotland and other countries
  • Good practice in computer science pedagogy from research evidence
  • Effective teaching techniques
  • Giving and receiving feedback
  • Inclusion
  • Lesson planning

 

Your portfolio will contain contributions you have made towards children’s learning about Computer Science alongside a reflective commentary about the learning design choices you made. As you work through the weekly tasks, you should take a note of blog entries or creative work which could be useful in your portfolio. At the end of semester 1, you will select which portfolio entries you want to submit for Report 1. You’ll get feedback on these which will help you to work towards additional portfolio entries for Report 2 and the Presentation at the end of semester 2.

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