We’re excited for Computer Science Education Week!
Access Vidcode’s Hour of Code tutorials: https://about.vidcode.com/hour-of-code
Share your Hour of Code tips and questions here!
Hour of Code Tips
Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week (the 2019 Computer Science Education Week is December 9-15).
It’s a week to build and learn with code - anyone can do it. CS Education Week is meant to provide a time for schools, teachers, and communities to set aside a small amount of time dedicated to exposing students of all backgrounds to the world of CS opportunities.
On Vidcode, we offer a multi-hour, self-paced Hour of Code tutorials in JavaScript for your students to learn the fundamentals of programming and beyond! We teach programming through the lens of art. It’s collaborative, social, and creative.
Overview: Hour of Code with your Class or Library
The Hour of Code activities are going to be full of creativity, technology and fun! Below is an overview of what Hour of Code can look like, and what you can do with your students before and after.
Before Hour of Code
Planning
The best experience will be with wifi-enabled computers to access Hour of Code’s web-based tutorials. A webcam or mobile camera is suggested but not required. There will be no downloads or sign ins.
You don’t need a computer for every student. Here are a few options:
- In the computer lab: Bring your class to the computer lab for one period so students can do the Hour of Code together.
- In your classroom: If your classroom already has Internet-connected computers,tablets, or laptop carts, your students can take turns doing the Hour of Code throughout the week.
- Work in pairs: This requires fewer computers, and students collaborate to learn more.
- On the board: If you have access to a classroom that has a web-connected projector, the entire classroom can do an Hour of Code together on the shared screen.
- Engage parents to bring hardware: Ask parents to bring in tablets or laptops for the class to share (in spaces that have WiFi).
Off the Computer
What is programming? Before Hour of Code on the computer starts, have a discussion with your troop, and see what they think about code. Do they know that coding can be creative and collaborative?
As an introduction, we recommend choosing one of the unplugged Hour of Code activities to introduce the concepts of programming before they start working with their computers. No computers or internet connection needed!
During Hour of Code
Setting the scene:
- Laptop, paper, pen, Optional (print storyboard, note, cheat sheet)
- Webcam or camera phone recommended (not required)
- We recommend 2 students scouts per computer if possible so that they can engage in pair programming. That being said, Hour of Code tutorials are also built for a self-guided individual experience. We encourage students to discuss their aesthetic and technical choices with each other, brainstorm together, and record their video together.
Starting the Hour of Code
We recommend showing one of the introductory Hour of Code videos to the entire troop at once, since they’ll all be in the same place in regards to the activity. This will set the stage, and inspire students before they start coding!
First 30 mins
With Vidcode, students can record and upload short videos of themselves. If they have a video they want to upload instead, that works great as well! The main point here is that they are working with content they created or found instead of our sample content.
We’ve found it’s powerful for students to be able to code their own photos and videos. It helps them relate what might be foreign to them, computer science, to something that is familiar, a video they created!.
At 45-55 mins
Some of the students may be done or finishing up their activities. At this point, you can have students share their projects and talk about them using some of the prompts in the meeting guides.There is no need to be an expert to teach others - encourage your students to teach/ tell someone else what they have learned.
The other option is to start a more advanced Vidcode project.
After Hour of Code
Wow! At this point the Hour of Code is complete! Pat yourself on the back because you just introduced someone to an entirely new way to apply and create with technology in their lives.
After the Hour there are plenty of new art + technology coding projects for your students to pursue on Vidcode. They are free of charge, collaborative, technical and creative.
We encourage you to talk to the students you’ve been working with about what they’ve learned.
We encourage students to create an account once they’ve completed Hour of Code, to save their progress and all of their videos. They can share their videos and code with family and friends.
Security & Safety on Vidcode
Site safety
Vidcode is Https secure site. That means that we have secured our servers and user data to industry standards.
Do they need to sign in with their email?
For the Hour of Code you don’t have to sign in at all to participate. If anyone wants to save their video + code at the end of the lesson they can download it without signing in or sign in then save it online.
FAQ
Who can do this?
EVERYONE! You don’t need to have any experience with computer science previously to participate in our exercise. Hour of Code is a self-guided experience.
What are students doing?
Today your group will be creating videos and coding them with the most popular language for the web: JavaScript! They will be flexing both their creative and technical muscles in a project-oriented way. It’s easy, simple and they can do it on their own. For parents who want to get involved we have provided a cheat sheet for you.
Creating videos
About midway through the Hour your group will have the chance to create or upload their own video to code. They can be as creative, social (or anti-social) as they want.
Coding
They will be learning the fundamentals of computer program as they edit their videos with code. Instead of press the “play” button they will be writing the movie.play(); command (or method!) to the video with code. It’s pretty powerful stuff!
Pair Programming
Pair programming is a technique in which two programmers work together on the same code, typically side by side. Schools also employ these techniques in the classroom. Pair programming is a great way for students to teach each other new tricks. As everyone learns through the Hour of Code we encourage them to work together in pairs on one computer, and switch off for every quiz or coding project.
Logging in
You can log in as a parent or teacher, or create an account for a students to use. Create an account at http://vidcode.com/signup
This is NOT necessary to complete Hour of Code
Publishing Videos
At the end of the Vidcode Hour the participants will have the opportunity to “publish” their video. When they publish it is not automatically public, similar to YouTube, they can select “private” and their video will not be shared. They can ‘download’ their videos, save the url, or create an account to access all of their videos at any time.
Still have questions?
Contact us at info@vidcode.com with questions, or learn more at vidcode.com.
