A field trip to Orion Health

Last Thursday we went on a trip to Orion Health. Since the beginning of this term we've been learning about programming. The kids learned to code with Kodu and Scratch. They learned how to make apps and had a play with Turtle, a learning environment for Python for children.
What could be better than visiting the professionals to see how real programmers work? So we did just that.

We had a 10-minute walk, then on our arrival, Michael from Orion was there to welcome us.

At the headquarter we found the programmers at work. Our curious kids had a closer look.

The children seated themselves around the boardroom table, where they learned about some of the developers' projects. We learned that design is as important as programming and that every project gets chopped up into manageable parts. Each team works on a separate project. The kids asked lots of questions and when Samantha wanted to know the names of the teams they took this on as a new idea and will bring it to the meeting next time.

 

Having had a productive time, we took a photo of ourselves and the programmers before we left.

Coding a game and an app for your mobile phone

The IT Tech Kids at Addington.net have dived straight into 2013, taking on a ton of new and exciting projects.

This past week, Levi, one of the students, has been involved in making a video of the game he made with Scratch. It’s a game he has been working on for three weeks, and this is the final result. He’s rated it an impressive 5/5. Check it out:

Our kids use Scratch/BYOB an extended version of Scratch. It is an easy to use programming language. The children can drag and drop blocks of code to build their game or story. It stimulates their creativity, thinking skills and of course it teaches them the basics of programming or coding.
 

The kids were also introduced to Thomas Suarez, the tech-whizz whose app-creating powers can’t fail to inspire. Thomas’s eagerness, interest and ability are a reflection of what kids are capable of if given the right opportunities. 

After watching the video, the IT kids are rearing to get started on their own apps, and have set their sights on the MIT App Inventor as their next goal. They are going to follow the first tutorial to make a cat which meows when you point to it with your mouse. This app will be shown on a simulator once finished.

The kids are also working with Kodu, so there are more exciting results to look forward to.
Stay tuned to see what the IT Kids will be coming up with next!