Tech Task #5

The resource I wanted to tell my classmates about is actually an app called Kodable. It is a coding app used to help younger student with the beginning step of coding. I got to see it in my placement in Strathclair, and the students loved when they got to spend time doing their coding. The app has different levels and customization options that help to keep students engaged!

You start out as a basic fluff and begin your adventure through the mazes in the first level. While you are going through the maze you have to use coding techniques to make your fluff turn, go straight, stop, start, etc. The students of course didn’t know how to use these skills, so we had a coding coach come in an work with the students to develop the skills to help them continue through the mazes. At the end of each maze they can unlock a new fluff which is really exciting for the students and keeps them excited about finishing a level that they might be stuck on. My favourite part of this app is that it scaffolds the information for the students. At the first level you are just doing the basics such as learning how to make their fluff go straight to the finish line and stop. Then the next world the unlock they will learn how to make their fluff go left and right and make turns. The next world adds colours so it may ask your fluff to turn when there is a red square so the students need to learn how to make their fluff do that. It just continues to get harder once the students have mastered the skills and again we had a coding coach come in and help the students by showing them the skill they would need for that world.

I love that this app is a starting point for talking about coding with our students and it seems like a game so they are having fun doing it while developing the skills. We used it as a first step in which the next step was using the robots Dash and Dot. Once the students finished enough levels they got divided into teams and got to work with the robots, taking turns, so everyone got a chance to try the skills they learned in Kodable and applying them to the robot.

Kodable is a great learning tool for coding and is really easy to use. As a teacher who had no idea how to teach coding, I was able to walk around and assist students who needed it. I definitely recommend that you try them out!