In January we announced our plan to focus on teaching computer science with intention. We released a comprehensive set of Computer Science standards to aid schools looking to focus their instruction, as well as required a class to use Kodable. All of this so you can track what your students are learning. Today is the next phase of this transition!
New tools to teach CS with intention!
Pace your lessons and student content by grade
Not every computer science concept is appropriate for a kindergartener. They simply are not ready to learn about functions or object oriented programming. Fifth-grade students don’t need to spend 5 weeks learning about sequence, but do need a quick study of foundational concepts before learning object oriented programming.
Now, when you create a class in Kodable, you can assign a grade to it. This will automatically show you the appropriate pacing for your students. You’ll be able to see exactly what they should be learning and see the lesson plan to teach it. When your students are ready to move on to the next grade, simply change their grade level to modify the pacing.
Assign practice levels to your students
When teaching, it is crucial that your students are getting time to practice the skills covered in your most recent lesson. Including math equations, spelling practice, and reading new words. The same is true for computer science. Now, you’ll be able to assign students the practice levels that accompany your most recent lesson. When you assign levels, they will automatically appear on student devices. Students will be able to practice on any device using their class code, then Kodable will stop them from moving beyond what has been assigned. This gives you great control to make sure students are retaining the new concepts taught.
Monitor student progress learning important standards
Finally, the most exciting change in the coming update, is the ability to track what computer science standards students are learning. Our goal is to help you help your students learn to code. Now, you (and your administrator) can see exactly what they’re learning on their journey. Kodable will report their progress on the computer science standards associated with the lessons you’ve been teaching and the levels they’re completing.
When?? And what to expect in the coming months!
These features will be available to new Kodable educators starting this week! For existing educators, you’ll be able to migrate over the coming month. You’ll be able to easily sort all your classes and tell Kodable where to begin with lesson plans for each class. The migration tools will be released this week, and migration will take less than five minutes to complete. You will have one month to migrate your classes. If you do not migrate during the migration period, your Kodable account will be automatically converted to the new format.
Once you migrate your classes and set their grade, you'll be able to assign levels to classes. This means they will only see the levels you've assigned them. This gives you complete control over their pacing and progress in Kodable. When you're ready for them to move on to the next set of practice levels, simply assign them from your teacher dashboard.
This is the first of our gradual rollout of standards reporting. You’ll be getting more insights into what your kids are learning as we align Kodable to the computer science standards and begin to add assessment tools. These tools include more game based instruction aids, as well as formative and summative assessments. By the start of the 2017-2018 school year, you’ll know what computer science standards are being mastered, where students need more practice and Kodable will be able to give suggestions on how to review with them.
We’re thrilled to make teaching elementary computer science a smooth and enjoyable endeavor as well as adding legitimacy to the instruction the community of dedicated teachers have been working so hard to develop over the past several years.
