TTT#375 Hour of Code and Dasani w/ Nikhil Goyal, Maurya Couvares, Mia Zamora, Kim Douillard, Stephanie West-Puckett 12.11.13

On this episode of TTT, recorded on 12.11.13, join Nikhil Goyal nikhilgoyal.me/about/ , Maurya Couvares @MauryaCouvares , Mia Zamora @MiaZamoraPhD , Kim Douillard @kd0602 , and Stephanie West-Puckett @fieldpeaz as they help us make connections between Hour of Code http://csedweek.org/ and the recent "Dasani: Invisible Child" series in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1

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Pat Delaney wasn't able to join us but he sent along this provocation: http://weedingthecollection.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/ignoring-what-most-schools-dont-teach/

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Monika Hardy exploreed the juxtaposition of Hour of Code with Dasani, when she wrote in an email:

I think the stories of Leo http://redefineschool.com/leo-grand/ and Marc http://redefineschool.com/marc-roth/ fit in nicely as well.

Freire's - how to have liberation without trust.. esp the story behind Leo and Patrick: Did we trust a homeless black man could code? Did we trust a young white tech entrepreneur wasn't just wanting to look good in his offer?

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ScriptEd's co-founder, Maurya Couvares http://www.scripted.org suggested:

You might want to read this article. One of our students wrote it -- I think it might a good talking point for [this episode of TTT]: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-nyarko/learning-to-computer-program_b_4098707.html

ScriptEd teaches computer programming to students in low resource high schools, and places its students in internships with technology firms.


Click Read more to see the chat that was happening during this live webcast.


 
 

 

Chat from December 11, 2013

20:58Chris Sloan: Hello. Who's here tonight
20:59Peggy George: Hi everyone! I've been in so many webinars and twitterchats today I'm sure my followers are glad my comments here won't be tweeted out. :-)
20:59Peggy George: Great to be here with you!
20:59Chris Sloan: Hi Peggy
20:59unnamedHi, folks!
20:59Peggy George: Hi Chris :-) are you joining the hangout?
20:59Peggy George: seeing you now :-)
20:59Pat Delaney: Hey Chris et al
20:59Steph: the power of naming
21:00Peggy George: Hi Pat and Steph :-)
21:00Steph: Hi, Pat. Just reading the blog post.
21:00Chris Sloan: Where do you teach Steph?
21:00Peggy George: what a fantastic Titanpad full of resources tonight!
21:00Steph: East Carolina University
21:05Peggy George: Maurya Couvares :-) wish we had Lower Thirds in action tonight!
21:06Peggy George: http://www.scripted.org
21:12Peggy George: Great to hear from Nikhil again!
21:12Gordon Dahlby: Probllem-based learning is so powerful
21:14Peggy George: Hi Gordon! Haven't seen you in awhile!
21:15Peggy George: I watched a great hangout presentation today with BIE on elementary PBL & Common Core :-)
21:19Peggy George: excellent point! homeless doesn't just mean being without a house but not belonging anywhere. Thanks Monika!
21:20Chris Lawrence: hello all
21:21Pat Delaney: excellent question!
21:27Peggy George: Hi Chris Lawrence :-)
21:27Gordon Dahlby: Amazon type solutions to food deserts
21:27Peggy George: I heard the hangout with Mitch Resnick last week! It was excellent!
21:29Chris Lawrence: I had a blast moderating that hangout
21:32Gordon Dahlby: Peggy, I found some thinking great with some analogies with writing. I think it glossed over the gaps in this outreach/awareness buzz. Coding thru tinkering is okay to gen interest, but there is discipline to be expected.
21:34Peggy George: I agree Gordon.
21:34Peggy George: That's right Chris! Forgot that you were the moderator! Sorry! Excellent hangout!
21:36Gordon Dahlby: Chris, it was an interesting panel and interesting vertical slice thru parts of the curriculum.
21:37Chris Lawrence: NP!
21:37Chris Lawrence: Love this strand...digital production as way to develop Grit
21:37Pat Delaney: Gotta go. I hope the conversation can get a little into the hype of "hour of code" in juxxtaposition to the invisibility of the fact of Dasani's representative life.
21:38Pat Delaney: hype vs. invisibility.
21:38Peggy George: what a terrific outcome if the students now think they can be problem solvers!
21:43Chris Lawrence: just click remix in top right corner if you wanted to make one
21:43Peggy George: thanks Chris!
21:44Peggy George: what fun!
21:45chadsansing: Curious about how the "hour of code" felt to folks - hype? Spotlight? Business as usual? It felt very communal at our school, lots of adult & student mentors & a mix of local/online tutorials.
21:45Peggy George: that sounds like a positive experience Chad. Was it?
21:46Peggy George: maybe it took the hype to raise awareness and encourage exploration
21:46chadsansing: I think so -
21:46Peggy George: I think so too :-)
21:47Chris Lawrence: hype isnt always bad...
21:47Chris Lawrence: movements need momentum and buzz
21:48Peggy George: code suggests formula which is probably why it scares so many people! like me :-)
21:48chadsansing: Paul, isn't that true of inquiry? Of traditionally rigorous work? Is the question why are we coding while problems abound, or how do we use our time while problems abound? IIt seems like a mix of both to me.
21:48Chris Lawrence: I'd like to see a ore broader movement around production cenetered culture..not a tool like code...but you are actually seeing a much wider definition of "code" past what code.org's rather narrow defintion
21:49Peggy George: very interesting thought Chris! that makes sense to me.
21:50chadsansing: +1, Chris. Participatpry, production-based learning FTW. The movement is needed to keep those kinds of education from being blocked by inertia.
21:52Chris Lawrence: so while my eyes roll a bit with some of the #hourofcode verbiage i get it and am all in...although i see my roll as the building the movement that is longer then the sprint this week represents
21:52Peggy George: that's a really important role Chris!
21:54Gordon Dahlby: i suspect other 'disciplines' will try to fine a marketing for their 'hour' in the sun.
21:57Peggy George: that period of detox sounds like it might challenge parenting values and approaches. do the parents support that approach?
21:59chadsansing: I think "freedom shock" challenges society as a whole, not just parents or kids.
21:59Peggy George: not quite sure what freedom shock is...
21:59chadsansing: "What keeps pub;ic schools from being democratic?" "What can we put in kids' hands to give them practice with democracy even in non-democratic environments?"
22:00chadsansing: I think "freedom shock" is a term Nikhil used as a synonym for detox.
22:00Peggy George: oh didn't catch that term. thanks
22:01Peggy George: you should be in the hangout Chad :-) some great points to mull around!
22:02chadsansing: "How can/does code confront inequity, or does it? When?" "How is code democratic or used democratically or not?" "What keeps public schools from being democratic?" "What can we put in kids' hands to give them practice with democracy even in non-democratic environments?"
22:02Peggy George: that could be an entire dissertation :-)
22:02chadsansing: The questions, I think, are worth thinking about, but not too different from those we'd ask about any kind of teaching or learning.
22:04Peggy George: I'm not sure much thinking is going into democratic environments related to teaching/learning.
22:04chadsansing: I think that the benefit of code and other connected learning pedagogies comes from their potential to help kids build and find the world in ways that, say, a quiz does not. School might be a common experience, but code is one of those things that lets kids shape that experience in real time and with one another.
22:05Peggy George: well stated! :-) that makes sense to me! they feel empowered to solve problems with coding
22:07Peggy George: the holiday cards projects sounds like so much fun!
22:07chadsansing: Onward. The world is changed; distribution remains the challenge, and shortening the arc of justice to reach the now.
22:08Peggy George: I love the intergenerational activities!
22:10Peggy George: very stimulating, thought-provoking hour! I loved hearing about all of the projects!
22:11Peggy George: thank you all! good night!