Curiosity + Imagination Drive Students’ Acquisition of Coding Skills

Mendham Township, NEW JERSEY (November 7, 2022) – Imagine an assignment where more than one answer may be correct. Where the limitations on what you create is your own imagination. Where you may be growing your knowledge base and not even be aware you are learning. This is the academic environment for students completing their Technology & Computers Curriculum in Mendham Township Middle School’s (MTMS) Technology Lab. Students may be enhancing their coding skills and even building a portfolio of completed coding projects, but many are not focused on the technical aspects. For them, they are creating something - a story, a game, a challenge.

Mrs. Donna CasaGrande, MTMS Technology Teacher/Technology Integration Specialist, explained that she likes to structure her lessons so that the students are engaged early in the project. For example, at the beginning of an assignment, the direction may be that each student will have to create their own video game and be required to complete the coding to operationalize the game. Each student is told to start thinking about designing a game, populating it with an animated character that interfaces with a background, and choosing one or two objects to find in their game.

To facilitate “producing” their game, Mrs. CasaGrande provides the students with some basic instructions of how to use the Bloxels application, which is a hands-on platform for kids to build, collaborate, and tell stories through video game creation. With a little practice of understanding some of the capabilities of the application, the students must then think through the objective of their individual game, design the environment, and create rules.

Using the Bloxels game board and blocks, students create their own characters, layouts, and art for their games. The students use three story builder cards to help structure their project, one each for character, environment, and collectibles. Imagination and creativity are highly encouraged. Students are responsible for creating their own story plot, main characters/enemies, action, etc. The application uses color-coded behaviors to help step students through the coding process when they are designing their game. These supporting structures help students “organize” their approach to programming the game. Given that a common application is used in class, students are able to share and collaborate with each other on their work in a classroom setting. Mrs. CasaGrande provided the additional perceptive insight that, “Coding isn't just for ‘techies.’ It teaches students to become digital creators – to create their own websites, apps and programs. It allows students to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.”

Time flies in Mrs. CasaGrande’s class and the energy level is extremely high as students complete their assignments. However, there are also other elements included in their computer technology education. As students build their computer programming skills, it is important to balance that growth with an awareness and appreciation of being a responsible digital citizen. Throughout their time at MTMS they will also be engaged in assignments that address cyber
ethics and identifying potential biases, as well as understanding safety/security issues associated with social networking. Indeed, digital citizenship featured strongly in the School’s Week of Respect which took place recently. The school is also incorporating SEL lessons (Social Emotional Learning) into their Google Suite Mastery lessons. Students learn how to use Google apps while engaging in group activities and projects that focus on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills.