Holmdel First Graders Learn To Write Computer Code

By Carol Williams/Patch Staff

HOLMDEL, NJ - Village Elementary School first graders are getting their first taste of writing computer code through "unplugged coding," which according to Carol Dempsey, school Media Specialist, serves as an introduction to how coding works.

There are two types of programming: plugged and unplugged,she explained and the terms are largely self explanatory. "Plugged" is when pupils actually use the computer/keyboard to type in directions to make a character perform a function and "unplugged" is programming without using a computer. Using the "unplugged" approach recently, the students created algorithms - or a set of directions - to move a human "robot" through squares on a floor-based grid in order to retrieve a Halloween-related character, according to a district release.

Pupils wrote the program by placing cards in the order they wanted their robots to move and using the algorithms, the robots moved through the grid to collect all the characters.

Building on their knowledge of how a robot works by following the turn algorithms, the pupils learned to program what are known as Bee Bots. These tiny robots remember up to 40 different commands. To program these, the pupils chose a picture card, pressed arrows on the Bee Bot, and then watched it move on a grid game board to the correctly selected picture.

Dempsey's pupils also have used paper grids to create a path for a witch/skeleton to move from Point A to Point B. A partner then recorded the path of the witch/skeleton using arrows to show the algorithms made.

This exercise helps pupils develop experience writing in shorthand code, school officials said. The bridge, then, from algorithms to programming can be a short one if pupils understand the difference between planning out a sequence and encoding that sequence into the appropriate computer language. Through the use of hands-on activities, pupils will learn how computer programming works and be able to apply this knowledge when they eventually move to using Code.org in the district computer lab.

"It's exciting to witness the start of what will eventually prepare students to work in the new robotics room that is planned for the middle-high school complex as part of the Holmdel 2020 Initiative," said Superintendent Robert McGarry in the release.

First graders in Holmdel are learning how to write code. Image via Shutterstock.