An inspiring unplugged session on teaching computing for teachers.

Overview

Computing doesn’t need to be taught at a computer and in fact to get across key concepts it is often better (and more fun) not to. This is especially true of the early stages of learning programming and computing more generally. A core idea behind the new computing syllabus is computational thinking. We will give you a deeper understanding of computational thinking and give practical ways to teach both it and other computing topics such as programming away from computers. Computational thinking is a fundamental skill set that students learn by studying computing. We will demonstrate a range of activities that show how core ideas and concepts can be introduced using fun unplugged activities and games. We will show that computing can be fun for everyone and that it doesn’t have to be taught at a computer.

Session material

This session presents a variety of activities from the other workshops. It will cover:

• What is Computational Thinking?
• Inspiring ways to teach Computational Thinking.
• What is an algorithm
• Writing your first program

The activities in this session are chosen as being particularly suited for KS2 and KS3. In general though the activities are suitable for all age groups and can be adapted to fit your teaching needs.

Resources
This session comes with linked activity sheets and ‘story’ write-ups that you can download:

• KS2 and KS3 Activities and Booklets

Format
This is a self-contained interactive seminar session lasting 60-90 minutes.

Similar sessions on other topics
Want to get up to speed on computing concepts like computational thinking or ideas for how to teach computing in a fun, inspiring way? Teaching London Computing with cs4fn run as series of free one off sessions for teachers of ICT and computing such as this one.

For our programme of longer courses for teachers please see CPD courses.

Sign-up to be kept informed of future workshops and courses.

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