Coding for Kids
Discussion
Davie_GLA said:
Morning all.
I seen an advert on the telly last night touting a project that Barclays are running which aims to get kids into code.
Is there anything out there similar but not affiliated with Barclays?
David.
The OP states - aims to get kids into codeI seen an advert on the telly last night touting a project that Barclays are running which aims to get kids into code.
Is there anything out there similar but not affiliated with Barclays?
David.
So if I write some code to operate something electro/mechanical do I then need a programmer to programme that something with my code?
Good point, web development is where the lines get blurred a little...
- programming for young people (writing programs)
- website development using HTML, CSS and PHP (writing web pages)
Things like PHP blur the lines slightly as it is actually a programming language designed to generate the dynamic content that is marked up by HTML and a PHP file generally will contain both PHP code and HTML markup.
In simple terms, what actually happens is that the PHP bits are executed by the server and replaced by the output they generate (it could be reading text from a database, getting the users name to display etc...) resulting a pure HTML document which is sent to the browser to be displayed.
Hope that sort of explains it
Doctor Volt said:
programming for young people and website development using HTML, CSS and PHP. Dojos also work with JavaScript, Python, Ruby and Node.js, work on game development,
This refers to two separate things IMHO:- programming for young people (writing programs)
- website development using HTML, CSS and PHP (writing web pages)
Things like PHP blur the lines slightly as it is actually a programming language designed to generate the dynamic content that is marked up by HTML and a PHP file generally will contain both PHP code and HTML markup.
In simple terms, what actually happens is that the PHP bits are executed by the server and replaced by the output they generate (it could be reading text from a database, getting the users name to display etc...) resulting a pure HTML document which is sent to the browser to be displayed.
Hope that sort of explains it
My 8 year old daughter has been going through this and really enjoying it:
http://tryruby.org
She didn't get on with Scratch at all
http://tryruby.org
She didn't get on with Scratch at all
SlidingSideways said:
This refers to two separate things IMHO:
- programming for young people (writing programs)
- website development using HTML, CSS and PHP (writing web pages)
Things like PHP blur the lines slightly as it is actually a programming language designed to generate the dynamic content that is marked up by HTML and a PHP file generally will contain both PHP code and HTML markup.
In simple terms, what actually happens is that the PHP bits are executed by the server and replaced by the output they generate (it could be reading text from a database, getting the users name to display etc...) resulting a pure HTML document which is sent to the browser to be displayed.
Hope that sort of explains it
Thank you that is a good explanation - I didnt know that PHP is classed as programming- programming for young people (writing programs)
- website development using HTML, CSS and PHP (writing web pages)
Things like PHP blur the lines slightly as it is actually a programming language designed to generate the dynamic content that is marked up by HTML and a PHP file generally will contain both PHP code and HTML markup.
In simple terms, what actually happens is that the PHP bits are executed by the server and replaced by the output they generate (it could be reading text from a database, getting the users name to display etc...) resulting a pure HTML document which is sent to the browser to be displayed.
Hope that sort of explains it
I use other peoples PHP Scripts and MYSQL Databases and really enjoy getting it all to work but have only modified a PHP Script and never modified a Database after installing
One day I may learn more about PHP and MYSQL, the problem I have is that my brain is close to full and I cant delete anything from it, when the human was designed and built a delete button was overlooked
I'd say look at Scratch first (scratch.mit.edu), then move onto Sniff (www.sniff.org.uk) which is Scratch in text. There are a lot of Scratch-like visual languages like Blockly and Hopscotch too. If you're pre-Scratch then Daisy Dino on iPad is great for pre-schoolers.
After that, once you understand 'computational thinking' a language like Python or Javascript is pretty easy to get your head around and there is loads of support out there on the web for either.
Of course, all this is now part of the national curriculum (as of Sept 2014, and many schools were teaching coding as of 2012) so children at state schools will be getting taught this alongside traditional ICT.
After that, once you understand 'computational thinking' a language like Python or Javascript is pretty easy to get your head around and there is loads of support out there on the web for either.
Of course, all this is now part of the national curriculum (as of Sept 2014, and many schools were teaching coding as of 2012) so children at state schools will be getting taught this alongside traditional ICT.
hondafanatic said:
That site is good for kids, isn't it! Just had a go then realise I'm a bit beyond that level. 
Hoofy said:
hondafanatic said:
That site is good for kids, isn't it! Just had a go then realise I'm a bit beyond that level. Try the very last levels and it does get tricky, as in you have to look at it and give it a couple of minutes thought.
hondafanatic said:
Hoofy said:
hondafanatic said:
That site is good for kids, isn't it! Just had a go then realise I'm a bit beyond that level. Try the very last levels and it does get tricky, as in you have to look at it and give it a couple of minutes thought.
Problem is that HTML is still not a programming language and thus useless for learning how to code. PHP is a programming language however.
HTML is conceptually very simple as is CSS; getting them to work together to produce something nice is much harder and is more a graphic design challenge than a coding challenge.
Things like scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/ are much better for kids as they teach the concepts and allow quick delivery of a thing.
When the kids get older something like http://unity3d.com/ will enable them to produce something amazing that I could only dream of when I was young.
If its skills for a future career a 4 day SQL training course at Oracle University is all that is needed.
HTML is conceptually very simple as is CSS; getting them to work together to produce something nice is much harder and is more a graphic design challenge than a coding challenge.
Things like scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/ are much better for kids as they teach the concepts and allow quick delivery of a thing.
When the kids get older something like http://unity3d.com/ will enable them to produce something amazing that I could only dream of when I was young.
If its skills for a future career a 4 day SQL training course at Oracle University is all that is needed.
Davie_GLA said:
Thanks all, my daughter is too young just now at 6 but was more a question for some of the older kids in the family.
Had a friend's 6 year old girl start on this... http://studio.code.org/s/course1
then very quickly moved to
http://studio.code.org/s/course2
She sat for two hours solid...
Edited by hondafanatic on Thursday 29th January 09:57
ATG said:
w3schools is good for learning HTML and related webpage look and feel stuff, but I really wouldn't recommend using that as a starting point for teaching kids about "coding". HTML and the related technologies are not very well structured at all. They weren't designed cleanly; they've just sort of happened. Better to use a clean well-designed language as a starting point so the kid will learn key concepts rather than just have to memorise a load of hacks and fudges.
When I was a kid there were loads of "home computers" that shipped with various dialects of BASIC; a pretty ropey language, but still a heck of a lot better as a learning tool than HTML or Javascript. If I was teaching a kid, I'd use Python, and probably on a raspberry pi as then we'd be able to easily plug into stuff like lights and motors.
BBC Basic was a pretty decent start and stood me in good stead when moving to Fortran at Uni and then work. Now trying to get my head round Object Orientated, and it isn't straight forward, I keep writing code that looks somewhat procedural.When I was a kid there were loads of "home computers" that shipped with various dialects of BASIC; a pretty ropey language, but still a heck of a lot better as a learning tool than HTML or Javascript. If I was teaching a kid, I'd use Python, and probably on a raspberry pi as then we'd be able to easily plug into stuff like lights and motors.
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