It must be a sign of the times. We are surrounded by technology and the youth of today grow up using it. They use it for everything, know everything about it and depend upon it…yet do they know how many dangers lurk behind it and are they really safe?

Just like when we were in school, learning about ‘Road Safety’ with squirrels and hedghogs to highlight ‘safety’, learning about e-safety in schools has become elemental, and the earlier it’s taught, the better.

The issues surrounding e-safety are monumentuous and very worrying. Schools teach children to be respectful, honest, hardworking, ambitous, positive and a good citizen, so they should be able to trnsfer these skills whilst online…surely..and yet behviour can change when you’re online…

The three main dangers are content, contact and conduct. Everything can be traced online, nothing is private, who are you socialising with?, is what you read true? what inappriopriate content are you watching…

The main principles of e-safety are:

-keep information private

-be aware of the long term implications of content posted online

-do not upload and post inappriopriate information

-read and adhere to the website’s terms of conditions

Filtering is not the sole solution!!! Kids are smarter than that!! They need to be taught how to use and access data safely and responsibily!

Children should know who to turn to if they have concerns, this could be a teacher/parent or CEOP (child exploitation and online protection).

Good websites include:

CEOP- Think u Know

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

COOPA (child privacy protection act)

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule

SWGFI digital literacy

http://swgfl.org.uk/products-services/esafety

BBC

Here’s the start of the presentation Fiona, Istiab and I started on Scams and Hoaxes:

scams-for-children

What is computational thinking? Do computers actually think?

What is an algorithm?

And what does it all have to do with odd socks and jam sandwiches?

In our session 2 seminar we explored the above questions in terms of computational thinking.

Computers can teach children (‘computer-aided instruction’), but what about if the child could teach or program the computer?

In 2013 the National Curriculum for computing was changed to address the key issue of understanding how computers actually work. now children get t explore the key concept of programming. If you miss out programming, you miss out on a huge chunk and creativity. Like learning how to drive but not understanding how cars work. Like Froebel who invented building blocks so children can play in order to come to an understanding of how the world works. It’s the same as with computer science.

Computational thinking is about getting computers to help us solve problems in a two part problem.

1. think about the steps or rules to solve a problem
2. use technical skills to get the computer working on the problem

For example: how does google work? Type in the key words in the search engine and the computer will come up with the answers.

This is where algorithms come in. An algorithm is a sequence of steps or set of rules to get something done, for example on the drive to uni, you follow a set of rules. If a child runs out, you stop. In order to program you need algorithms + the code. In key stage one children are taught what an algorithm is and use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs and in Ks2 children are taught to solve problems by breaking them down.

It’s about thinking about the whole, it’s about technical skills, it’s about logical problem solving. It’s about drawing a ‘crazy animal’. It’s about filling in a missing number. It’s about sorting weights. it’s abot converting between graphemes and phonemes. It’s about making jam sandwiches..

Wait a minute? Jam sandwiches? Crazy animals? Weights?

You can use these examples to teach the importance of using clear steps to solve a problem.

We had great fun testing some of these ideas! We listened to a set of instructions to draw a crazy animal. We asked questions to find a number in as few steps as possible (apparently according to the passport system it would take just 40 goes to find a number up to 1 trillion!! Fascinating fact!). We sorted eight weights in order. We talked about using a dictionary to find words. We used ‘Voki’ to create an avatar, who converts text into speech using different accents and languages. We wrote a step by step precise guide on how to make a jam sandwich and tested it out on Robo Miles. (see video example below).

All these processes highlight the point that the need for precision is absolutely fundamental when programming a computer.

By using some of these examples you can teach children about what an algorithm is in order to use clear steps to solve a problem.

And here’s what odd smelly socks have to do with it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/ Continue reading →