Helping students to be creators, not just consumers

Some students and staff in the College’s Gateway to College program joined with 18 million learners around the world recently in the Hour of Code initiative, which seeks to introduce newcomers to the basic concepts of computer science.

On Dec. 12, students and staff used computers for a self-guided, one-hour online tutorial sponsored by Code.org and Computing in the Core, cosponsors of the Hour of Code initiative, which was held during Computer Science Education Week.

During the online session, coders learned to write simple computer programs to help Angry Birds video game characters move through a maze toward a goal.

Carol Smith, Ph.D., the director of Gateway to College, said the learning activity was just another way to enrich the classroom experience. “We always look for ways to enrich the lives of our students,” Dr. Smith said. “We just decided we are going to do this, even though it was during finals. We just got a new computer lab so we had the space. I made every staff member do the hour of code as well. Coding is a digital language that they (young people) speak. If we can’t speak their code, we can’t understand their world.”

Gateway to College is part of a national model that seeks to reengage high school students who have left without earning a diploma. It helps them to earn a high school diploma while also earning college credits. The College has 100 students enrolled currently in the Gateway to College program. Seven students participated in one of two sessions.  Another student couldn’t attend but he accessed the hour of code tutorial via phone. The tutorial can be found at http://csedweek.org.

“They (students and staff) loved it,” Dr. Smith said. At one point the group taking the coding tutorial became stuck at the same place. “We all had to work together to get the last problem solved,” she said. “Everything they touch is digital, phones, TVs, even cars. I want our students to know the technology behind it. I want them to be creators of the digital world, and not just consumers.”