Slides from our computational thinking workshop at the 2016 Digital Horizons workshop in Whangarei, New Zealand

1. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
David Parsons & Karen Baker:
‘Computational Thinking with Scratch’ Workshop
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Presentation from the Digital Horizons conference, Whangarei, New Zealand, June 3rd
2016
www.digitalhorizon.nz www.themindlab.com

2. The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
★ What is computational thinking?
★ Why should I care?
★ How could you use the Scratch visual programming
language to explore computational thinking?
★ How might you use computational thinking in your
own classrooms?
Enjoy the Journey
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3. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Not a ‘trade’...
“just like how not everyone who learns to write will go on to
become a professional writer — nor everyone who learns
arithmetic will go on to become a professional mathematician
— not everyone who learns to code will go on to become a
software developer. But all people who learn these things will
be immensely better off as a result of their efforts.”
Quincy Larson - “Please do learn to code” (blog post)
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4. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
“Computational thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone,
not just for computer scientists. To reading, writing, and
arithmetic, we should add computational thinking to every
child’s analytical ability.”
Jeanette Wing
… but a fundamental skill...
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5. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
… that everyone needs
“The impact of computing extends far beyond science,
however, affecting all aspects of our lives. To flourish in
today's world, everyone needs computational thinking.”
Carnegie Mellon Center for Computational Thinking
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6. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Computational Thinking Means...
★ Solving problems
★ Applying abstraction and decomposition
★ Thinking algorithmically - what’s the process?
★ Thinking conceptually - what’s the model?
★ Understanding how things repeat and scale
★ Dealing with errors
...among other things (depends who you read)
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7. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
★ Computational thinking is not
○ Thinking like a computer
★ Nor even (always)
○ Thinking about computation
★ But
○ Thinking with the same clarity and strategy that is
required to command machines
○ ...even if you are not commanding a machine
What It Is and Is Not
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8. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
1960s - Theory of computation (Perlis)
1970s - Computing as a medium (Kay and Goldberg)
1980s - Constructionism (Papert), procedural literacy
(Shiel)
2000 - Computational literacy (diSessa)
2006 - Computational thinking (Wing)
This week’s fad?
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9. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
★ Organise yourselves into height order
Did you use:
➔ Sequence?
➔ Selection?
➔ Iteration?
➔ Something else?
Algorithms
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10. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
scratch.mit.edu
Scratch is a visual
programming tool
that helps young
people learn to
think creatively,
reason
systematically, and
work collaboratively
The Mind Lab by Unitec |Computational Thinking | 2016 10

11. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Mitch Resnick on Scratch
on.ted.com/MResnick
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12. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Play for 5 minutes
Go to scratch.mit.edu
Click Create
Make the cat go meow
Make it do something else
Make it move
Make it talk
Make it draw!
The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
If you know Scratch already,
pair with someone who doesn’t
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13. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Teaching and Learning | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
What did you learn?
★ What’s the relationship between what we did and
computational thinking?
The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016 13

14. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Algorithms & Abstractions
See if you can create (+ change) the following shapes with a
partner
Use (at least) these ‘blocks’ of code
The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016 14

15. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
Repetition and Scale
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goo.gl/tFAE3N

16. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
Thinking Conceptually - Art?
A
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goo.gl/EMHfdB

17. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Scaling / Repeating
★ Making shapes rotate / resize / recolour / morph?
★ Try to turn your shapes into something more
wonderful
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goo.gl/NI7tua

18. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Linda Liukas is a
programmer, storyteller
and illustrator. Her
children's book, Hello Ruby,
raised a total of $380,000
on Kickstarter. She founded
Rails Girls, which has
organized workshops in
over 230 cities, teaching the
basics of programming to
more than 10,000 women.
Poetry of Programming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jRREn6ifEQ 18

19. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
Dealing With Errors
The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016 19
goo.gl/JWuBLd

20. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016
Collaborative Coding
★ This is a variation on Google’s ‘High Seas’
activity
★ This is not a coding exercise!
★ It is a metacognitive exercise to explore components of
computational thinking
goo.gl/om3vCB
The Mind Lab by Unitec |Computational Thinking | 2016 20

21. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
goo.gl/vTmaLN
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High Seas Adventure Variant

22. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
goo.gl/CNI80K
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High Seas Adventure Starter
Click ‘see
inside’ then
click ‘remix’ to
make your own
version

23. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016 23

24. The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | Computational Thinking | 2016 https://www.cs-first.com/studentpage/activity-add-ons-1 24
Further Video Tutorials

25. The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2016
The Mind Lab by Unitec
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