This week we are talking about computational thinking in education. If it seems like technology and computer skills have become a huge driving force of our world you would be right! All you need to do is turn on the TV to see that knowing technology and digital tools is the new thinking. So what exactly is computational thinking? This last week I had some exposure to a program from Carnegie Melon Institute called Alice. What I knew of Carnegie Melon is that my brilliant nephew went there and he now has an incredible job creating robots that go into remote places for the military. They search out potentially dangerous areas. Most recently he was working on a human robot which was featured in the Popular Science magazine. This robot was being designed to go into fires and rescue where a human couldn't. How does all that work? Computational thinking! That's right, we as educators are raising a generation of students who will be the next great computational thinkers of our time! You see, all the work my nephew David is doing requires a great deal of programming and skilled thinking of how to make his ideas come to life. So my thought is, that we as educators must become familiar with this kind of thinking in some form or the other if we are going to launch these brilliant minds into the future with confidence.
I created a learning experience on the Alice program that taught first grade subtraction. The game was centered around the story or song of the Five Little Monkeys. The work that went into this program was phenominal! The art of thinking through each movement of the monkeys and placing the right codes to get the monkey to roll or fall off the bed was challenging to say the least! I worked for hours to get the codes right. However I learned a tremendous amount in that time as well. I was continually thinking of what it was I needed to change and asking myself questions to reason out the next step. The amount of critical thinking that goes into this kind of work is tremendous.
So if you ever get the opportunity to sit down and play around on Alice I would highly recommend it. You will gain a whole new appreciation for the careers that involve computational thinking as well as improve your brain power!
No comments:
Post a Comment