#Our Hour of Code
I am sure you've heard of the Hour of Code. Wait, you haven't? OMG, I have to get you up to speed! Here, read this:
The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 40 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.
Ok, so I didn't write that, I just stole it from the Hour of Code website. Can you blame me? We just have an hour! Oh, wait, I'm being told that the Hour can be many hours, and it can even go all year long, not just this week. Sweet! fist pump high kick
Several of us at Skookum have been looking forward to the HoC (I shortened it b/c that's wot nerdz do. In fact, if I wanted to, I could reduce the rest of this article to (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥, but I don't want to lose any of you) like some kind of Super Nerd Holiday Recruiting Event (SNRE, pronounced sah-nuh-ree). We were a part of the Charlotte team of the SNRE, and there were many of us. Even so, the territory that we had to cover was enormous. How were we going to reach all the Nerd Candidates (NCs)? Will our message of code and geekery be heard be all the peoples? DO WE HAVE ENOUGH CAT VIDEOS (veows)??
OK, OK, so we panicked a bit. Thank goodness one of us was doing the Ice Bucket Challenge and was shocked back to lucidity. Also, we realized that there were always MORE than enough veows.
So, we cut up the assigned recruitment area and set off on our scooters to spread the good word of nerd. These are our stories. Law and Order sound
Glenn Goodrich's stop was Park Road Montessori. He visited two classes: Mr. Curt's and Ms. Christy's. Both of these classes are "Upper Elementary" (UE), which means grades 4-6. These kids were savvy. They immediately knew that Glenn was a nerd, simply by identifying the binary code on his shirt. Some of the kids also said he "looks like a nerd", which Glenn took as a complement.
The HoC session focused on how the internet works (Glenn's working subtitle was: "How veows get from the cats to you."). The kids talked about how they use the internet, which was mostly for research and learning, by which they meant "video games." There were mentions of Facebook, Netflix, Google, and, of course, CoolMathGames. Glenn's aims were to try and give the kids some idea of the techinical pieces of browsing the web through a series of questions:
Question: "How does the internet know where Google is?"
Answers from the kids:
- "Everyone knows where Google is. Duh."
- "What does your shirt say?"
- "Can you 'hack'?"
Although these were all fine guesses, the kids learned that every site on the internet gets an address, an IP Address, to be more precise. The class talked about what an internet address looks like and how randomly typing IP Addresses into your browser can lead to things that no one wants, like viruses and the Macarena.
Question: "How does a domain, like 'www.skookum.com' turn into an address?"
Answers from the kids:
- "Is it forged in the heat of the FireFox?"
- "Can you do the Macarena?"
- "What does Skookum mean?"
More fine guesses, followed by the introduction of the "Address Server." The Address Server is a magical being that all websites must register with before they can receive requests for veows. Comparisons to the Postal Service helped drive the points home, allowing the kids to focus more on what "Skookum" means. ("Is it what the Panthers do to other teams? Skook them?")
An exercise seemed in order to really compile the concept into their minds. One child was selected to be an "Address Server," and the rest of the class was split into users and websites. Each website had to register with the Address Server by writing their domain/address on a piece of paper alongside their host (their first name, in this case)
The users were then shown what websites were available, and encouraged to create a request to one of the sites. A "request" was a folded piece of paper with the website address ("google.com") on the outside and the data ("CAT VIDEOS!") on the inside. Each also had a string. Here's how the process went:
- A user hands their request to the Address Server.
- The Address Server looks at the address and finds the host (kid).
- The Address Server then takes one end of the string to the host (the user is holding the other end).
- Repeat for all users.
At the end, what we had was a real, honest-to-goodness web that spanned the classroom. A Class Wide Web, if you will.
The kids had a great time making this web. Glenn, exhausted and still nerdy looking, returned to the Space Volcano (SV), confident that his recruitment efforts had born fruit.
Agent Chirs Howie mission was to present to Great Falls Elementary. Great Falls is a Title 1 school, so Chris really wanted to show students that here are careers in technology that are as attainable as any other career. In short, Chris wanted the students of Great Falls to have a Great Rise around technology.
Chris meet with kids from Kindergarten through grade 5. For the younger kids, the focus was on how a computer works, along with the process of functional steps through critical thinking. The kids really picked up on the critical thinking bit, asking questions like "Do I have to go to school for this?" and "You play games all day?". Chris showed the kids that it is OK to fail, as it forces one to think more about the solution to the problem.
Online programming problems, such as Google's Santa Tracker, which gave kids puzzles to solve logically. This project also introduced them to loops and how to get a task to repeat over and over again so they did not have to keep dragging in multiple examples. Throughout the coding examples, Chris did his best to answer questions like "How much money can I make playing games like you?"
For the older classes, Chris wanted to show real code, which he compared to creating a recipe. Getting the kids to walk through actual recipes that they knew how to make really drove the point home. While there were many yummy (and odd) recipes, the best example was Chicken Salad. Several of the children did not really know what went into Chicken Salad (and really, who does?). Walking through the ingredients and combining them based on a recipe showed critical thinking is used everywhere.
Chris used the problems on Code.org/Star Wars to drag blocks of code that BB-8 move. The blocks of code can be shown in raw code form, allowing the students to see Javascript in the browser. Chris showed the Javascript program and Chicken Salad (which may also have Javascript in it) side-by-side to the kids. Many kids were able to compare the list of recipe directions to the instructions in a program for making games work.
Lastly, Chris facilitated an Hour of Code event with some parents. There is nothing in our mission statements that say potential recruits to the world of Code have an age requirement. In that session, Chris opened up a web page show the parents the code that makes the page. This is generally very eye opening and typically confuses those that see it for the first time. This is where Chris works some magic, starting with a basic HTML layout in Sublime text and building out a simple page in a browser. By the end of the hour, Chris had shown how easy it is to create a simple website based on something they are passionate about. Finally, the parents are taken through several different resources to use with their kids to teach them to code. The goal for parents is to spend time with their kids playing interactive games, and encouraging their kids to try new things.
Chris' passion for removing the barriers of technology show why he is one of our most successful agents.
One of Skookum's ongoing objectives is involvement in the community. From things like Night Shift and Giving Tuesday to hosting open Tech Talks to the Hour of Code, Skookum continues to help technology reach more people. The Hour of Code is a great idea and shows the thirst today's students and parents have for learning about programming. If you are a technical person and so inclined, reach out to your local schools and find a way to share your knowledge. The feeling is better than watching veows.