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Computer languages for kids
Because I have a Ph.D. in computer science, and because my son started computer programming early, I often get asked about how to teach programming to kids. This usually takes the form of asking what...
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Build-Your-Own-Blocks extension to Scratch
I’ve been fond of Scratch as a first programming language for children and teenagers (particularly gifted children who may be able to program better than they can type), but have occasionally chafed at...
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New design for non-major programming class
A couple of weeks ago in his Computing Education Blog, Mark Guzdial posted about the pilot versions of a new AP course CS: Principles. If I understand it correctly, this is intended to be a...
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Math game competition
The Games for Learning Institute have announced a contest for games that teach 5 of the New York State geometry standards for 6th grade. There is a flier at if you want something to post on the wall....
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Scratch for programming appliances
Professor Michael Littman of Rutgers is using Scratch (the MIT graphical programming language for teaching programming to kids) to teach people to program household appliances. Littman teaches two...
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What should high school computer education be?
As a comment on the ComputingEd blog, Brian Law asked Given that many high schools have computer science programs—perhaps more here in Ontario than in the United States—what should they be teaching,...
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Myro robot programming interface
I was just pointed to the Myro robot programming interface, which seems to an API for the IPRE Robot,. They say The entire robot kit (robot + Fluke add on board) is available for $199.98 at Georgia...
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Ruby for kids
I’ve posted before on what computer languages I would use to teach children to program. Basically, the answer was Scratch first, then Python, though that is not the order my son learned languages in...
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Online Python Tutor
I have previously posted in Computer Languages for Kids and What should high-school computer education be? about my fondness for Python as an early teaching language (after Scratch). I was recently...
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Scratch plus Arduino
Small S4A (Scratch for Arduino) program that detects when a button is pressed. I used a pull-up resistor, so pressing the button pulled the signal low. Since that is a very standard circuit, I object...
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Scratch and the Arduino
Small S4A (Scratch for Arduino) program that detects when a button is pressed. I used a pull-up resistor, so pressing the button pulled the signal low. Since that is a very standard circuit, I object...
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Free ebook for learning Python
I just found out today about a book that is available free on-line (or $25 for a paper copy): Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python. Unfortunately, both my son and I are past the point with...
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Computer programming for preschoolers
One of my most-read posts is Computer languages for kids, because people are desperately looking for ways to teach computer programming to their kids (something the schools are not doing hardly at all,...
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Computer Science for Non-Majors
Mark Guzdial, in his Computing Education Blog (Weekend newspaper coverage on computing for all, especially kids), commented on the NY Times article by Randall Stross: Computer Science for Non-Majors...
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Embedded programming gap
It seems that there is a shortage of programmers who can do embedded systems (which is what computer engineering is mostly about these days). Critics lay much of the blame for the embedded programming...
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blockly – A visual programming editor
Google has created a browser-based block programming language: blockly – A visual programming editor – Google Project Hosting. The editor is clearly inspired by Scratch, both visually and in terms of...
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Why Python first?
On one of the mailing lists I subscribe to, I advocated for teaching Python after Scratch to kids (as I’ve done on this blog: Computer languages for kids), and one parent wanted to know why, and...
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ScratchJr
If you’ve been wanting to teach your child to program, but found Scratch too complicated for your 5-year-old, there is a new option: ScratchJr. On the ScratchJr – About page, the developers say What...
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