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Impact Virtual Learning
Concurrent Online Classes for Grades 9-12                
Build Capacity.  Stay Creative.
  

Intro to Coding

Students spend the first 4 weeks with programming fundamentals and Scratch (a visual, block programming developed at MIT).  Then we do 4 weeks each with JavaScript and HTML/CSS, working with Khan Academy and Codecademy and other sites that offer tutorials.  Then students brainstorm and execute a final project.  
  • Scratch and programming fundamentals
  • JavaScript
  • HTML/CSS
  • Independent Coding Project
This is a hard class.  There's no margin-of-error in coding, and that necessary level of perfection causes lots of frustration (and sometimes tears).  But the kids that have taken it often tell me it's the best class they've taken.  It's the good kind of hard.
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(This class is coded NCES 11002)
"Our policy at Facebook is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find. There just aren't enough people who are trained and have these skills today."
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)

"Whether we're fighting climate change or going to space, everything is moved forward by computers, and we don't have enough people who can code. Teaching young people to code early on can help build skills and confidence." 
Richard Branson (Virgin Group)

Sample Project Checklist  (from Week 5 of Intro to Coding)

5-15 (30pts)  TED *hearts* programming

First, watch all 10.5 minutes of Genco's TEDx talk:  http://christian.gen.co/

If you feel like you need to watch his talk about making colleges go crazy and pay you money to attend so you graduate debt-free, that's your business.  I watched it, and was mesmerized for 40 minutes.  But it's on your time, because this assignment is about programming, not hacking the college system and making lots of money.

Now, then.  

We want you to watch several more TED Talks on the topic of programming.
Google the words "ted talks programming" and explore any of the top links.  Watch several--take a couple of hours, even.

 
Annotating with EdPuzzle "Quizzes"

Then choose the BEST two TED or TEDx talks that you saw, and use edpuzzle.com to annotate them. When you go to EdPuzzle, please sign up as a TEACHER instead of as a student.  This will give you rights to annotate your own video.  Then skip the first three phases of the edpuzzle sequence (Crop, Audio Track, Audio Notes aren't useful for this assignment) and go right to the QUIZZES section on the far right.  In Quizzes you can make several types (open ended, multiple choice, or comments), but it's only the Comments feature that we're after.  Your annotations are comments.

Your annotations can be reflections, connections, or applications.  A reflection would be a meta-comment about the presentation.  If the guy on stage says that we're going to need a million more programmers in the next 30 years, you could reflect on that by writing "a million is something like 2% of the working-age US population!" or "I wonder if he's just exaggerating or if he has some statistical reason for saying one million?"  A connection would be "I have been noticing how many college-age adults I know are getting into programming" or "the guy in the other TED Talk (mention the name) said the same thing!"  And an application would be personal: "I think I could get ahead of the curve and be a team-lead for some of that influx of programmers."

Sorry, no guidance on how many annotations you need to make.  Just know that we need to see significant evidence of your thoughtful watching of TED Talks.  If you write a whole bunch of one-liners, that will probably work.  Or if you go off on one side-note that the speaker says and write a mini-paper in the notes, that's good, too.

When it's time to embed your EdPuzzle, just select your video from your gallery and Assign-Share.  You'll be "sharing" rather than assigning--that's how you get your embed codes.  

PROJECT CHECKLIST

____  Watch Genco's talk and other TED Talks.  Choose two (not including Genco's) to annotate.
____  Create two EdPuzzles of your reflections, connections, and applications, and embed them into a page on your Portfolio, giving enough info on your Portfolio post that a visitor would know what's going on.
____  Copy and paste this Project Checklist into the submission area, marking each line with an __x__ to indicate completion.
____  Under the Project Checklist, in the submission area, provide a hyperlink to the post on your Portfolio website where you have created the project and met the criteria.
____  Under the Link to your Portfolio, please add a comment about this project, including an estimate of how long it took you from start to finish.

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