<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">This book might be of value to those who enjoy digging through the data, maths and machine learning with Python. Came via Gary Bass who was awarded 2015 DLTV Educator of the Year.<div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">Data Science from Scratch: First Principles with Python</b></div><div class=""><div class=""><a href="http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033400.do?code=DEAL" class="">http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033400.do?code=DEAL</a></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><img id="largeImage" border="0" alt="First Principles with Python" apple-inline="yes" src="cid:29C58A66-DC1E-4C99-BBF2-FD117EB9F704@telstra.com.au" class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">--</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><b class="">Roland GESTHUIZEN<br class=""></b><a href="http://about.me/rgesthuizen" class="">http://about.me/rgesthuizen</a><br class=""></div></div></div>
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<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 31 Dec 2016, at 2:44 pm, Ziad Baroudi <<a href="mailto:zbaroudi@avilacollege.vic.edu.au" class="">zbaroudi@avilacollege.vic.edu.au</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="auto" class="">I would like to add an "appeal to authority" by saying that I read a Q&A with Mark Zuckerberg in which a parent asked for advice on what language to teach their kid. He said something like: "You can't go wrong with Python".<div dir="auto" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="auto" class="">Happy new year to all of you and your families.</div><div dir="auto" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="auto" class="">Cheers , </div><div dir="auto" class="">Ziad </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote">On 30 Dec 2016 8:07 pm, "Roland Gesthuizen" <<a href="mailto:rgesthuizen@gmail.com" class="">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution" class=""><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word" class="">G’day Mel, <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Just a thought before the new year kicks in. My experience is that Visual Basic will just scare kids away.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Python has many real-world uses - anything from natural language processing to website backends, to machine learning to face detection to image processing to music to animation to being used by companies like Google and NASA. It isn't so much training a student for a career using that technology, but using something that's <i class="">in fashion, </i>current, and cool (I guess that as a space junkie, I am a tad biased)<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">How about something embedded? The BBC Micro:bits work with Python - they're shiny, fun, cheap, and really exciting and easy to get going, Raspberry Pis are a bit more heavy duty, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! <a href="https://www.microbit.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="">https://www.microbit.co.uk</a> <wbr class="">or <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/compute-module-cubesats/" target="_blank" class="">https://www.raspberrypi.<wbr class="">org/blog/compute-module-<wbr class="">cubesats/</a> for more cool space science stuff than you can poke a stick at. When I discussed this with a friend, she added that there's lots of technology to cover HTML and CSS and, say, a Python backend, or a bit of javascript. She recommended that you check out BitBalloon <a href="http://www.bitbaloon.com/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.<wbr class="">bitbaloon.com</a> </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Just my 2 cents worth. I had my girls programming with both at year 10 and they got really excited about using this tech and keen to study IT next year. Everybody have a well earned and lovely summer break. See you back in 2017 :-)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">--</div><div class=""><div style="letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;" class=""><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" class=""><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;" class=""><b class="">Roland GESTHUIZEN<br class=""></b><a href="http://about.me/rgesthuizen" target="_blank" class="">http://about.me/rgesthuizen</a><br class=""></div></div></div>
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<br class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 16 Dec 2016, at 10:02 am, Mel Yuan <<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">melyuan@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="m_3752565647609855171Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="">Hi Lucas et al,<br class=""><br class="">So much to talk about!<br class=""><br class="">2 other things that are guiding my thinking about pathways are:<br class=""><br class="">- VCE Computing U1&2 they don’t have to code HTML. The web outcome is U1O3 “Communication & Collaboration” and this is where they do their group project and learn project management. Also a good outcome to do UI, content design and “Issues in IS”. <br class="">- VCE Software Development U3&4 they don’t need to (shouldn’t?) code against a database. The SD subject with a SAT is absolutely gigantic so all they need to do it to read/ write from/ to a file which could be TXT, CSV, XML<br class=""><br class="">You’ve inspired me to look more into VCE Informatics U3&4, which I didn’t teach this year. I took VCE U1&2 which is 50% Informatics. Course is: U1O1 Graphics (Google Forms, Sheets/ Excel, Piktochart (or similar)), then U2O2 Data Visualisation (Excel, Sheets) then U2O3 Data Management (Access), if you do it in order.<br class=""><br class="">Cheers, Mel<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">On 14 Dec 2016, at 10:48 pm, Garth, Lucas A <<a href="mailto:garth.lucas.a@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank" class="">garth.lucas.a@edumail.vic.<wbr class="">gov.au</a>> wrote:<br class=""><br class="">Hi Mel, Ken, Richard and everyone following either on/off list.<br class=""><br class="">I agree, good discussion and worth thinking through.<br class=""><br class="">At my school we're still in the planning of Digitech so it's a helpful place to be. Next year I will implement Year 10 and our other Year 9 electives will remain untouched (for now...). In 2018 I'll be setting up resources to allow for 7&8 Digital, but it may even be until 2019 before it gets implemented due to pesky things known as curriculum reviews - meaning we may well be locked into no Digital at 7 and 8 until the review is complete. I'm confident of a 2018-19 launch though.<br class=""><br class="">At the moment the plan is: 40 lessons at 7 (all students), 40 lessons at 8 (all students), have a business based Year 9 elective, a multimedia based Year 9 elective, (maybe a eyes only game design or hacking Year 9 elective), and then year 10 Digital (elective). At Year 9 and 10 there is no plans for core subject work although there is scope to work in with the Year 9 cross-curricular subject that runs for the year and cover a few progression points.<br class=""><br class="">Mel, your comment on Python is spot on in terms of "you can't guarantee students to be using a programming language". The key for me with Python is the preparation for Informatics data extraction (Beautiful Soup is a handy module) and the overall role of data analyst which I don't think is going away any time soon, and knowledge of Python or R in this area seems a very helpful skillset to have. I've also seen some of the Raspberry Pi resources for Python and think they're not going away and may be more friendly for teachers who haven't taught in this area before. A quick example (bit sketchy but covers the basics) is found at: <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/python-intro/" target="_blank" class="">https://www.raspberrypi.org/<wbr class="">learning/python-intro/</a> and <a href="http://goo.gl/0ZDOdX" target="_blank" class="">http://goo.gl/0ZDOdX</a><br class=""><br class="">I'm not running SD at the moment, and that might factor into thinking through the use of JavaScript, for nothing more than the fact that if students know how to use front-end (e.g. JS), back-end (e.g. Python/PHP), web design (HTML/CSS) and database languages (SQL), even to a prototyping level, then they're going to get as broad an exposure as I'm happy giving.<br class=""><br class="">As I'm more the analyst type of IT teacher (and we've got limited experience in IT for other teachers at my school), I'm not getting into the mobile app development area IN CLASSES. That will be reserved for code club which will run weekly and I'll encourage this area as a side project. I'm not as experienced particularly with the need to have a focus on two main dev areas (Android/IOS) and we can have fun learning together.<br class=""><br class="">I've tried Processing as part of the Khan Academy course teaching "Javascript". The issue I found is their documentation is a bit dry compared with Python and there wasn't as much web-based support or tutorials, and it wasn't quite as easy as with Javascript itself to implement into a website. Students enjoyed the animation side of the Khan Course which uses ProcessingJS. It was easier than that for codecademy which has got worse ever since it's tried to shamelessly monetise.<br class=""><a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/programming" target="_blank" class="">https://www.khanacademy.org/<wbr class="">computing/computer-<wbr class="">programming/programming</a><br class="">This course is a great grounding in general coding principles and I'd recommend it to middle years students for sure. It's a shame that much of the Digitech curric only really allows for a 4-5 week coding hit before you need to look at other aspects (digital systems, security, design principles, collecting and analysing data, web dev)<br class=""><br class="">Hence with only 4-5 weeks scope that's why you desperately need a code club if you want to have the students retain interest and build skills over a longer period.<br class=""><br class="">There was a question "Would you teach all Year 8s Python?" - you bet! This will be just the basics, similar to the link provided earlier but just a taste that's away from the drag and drop of Scratch. I guess my hope is that all students leave the 7Digital and 8Digital subjects with an ability to code a website (not just use a CMS) and create a working computer program that uses logic.<br class="">There's some quite interesting and well targeted resources on the RPi website for teachers, but most of them would require the use of a class set of Pi's to be worth it. <br class=""><a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/resources/learn/" target="_blank" class="">https://www.raspberrypi.org/<wbr class="">resources/learn/</a><br class=""><br class="">As a side note, at some stage at either VCE or some Year 10 extension work I'm keen on creating graphical outputs and analysis documents out of <a href="https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/" target="_blank" class="">https://developers.google.com/<wbr class="">chart/interactive/docs/</a><br class="">There are ways that students can use Google Sheets as effectively a database that can be polled and then have graphics updated. With the ability to use Google Forms to populate these sheets, students are able to create real time changing graphics that aren't just embedded (which is the way I teach it now) into a HTML page, but they can be fully customised. Hosting is largely irrelevant if we're just teaching skills.<br class=""><br class="">I know there's a lot there but hopefully someone finds the links and discussion useful.<br class=""><br class="">Lucas<br class="">Lalor SC<br class=""><br class="">-----Original Message-----<br class=""><br class="">Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2016 02:46:37 +0000<br class="">From: Mel Yuan <<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">melyuan@hotmail.com</a>><br class="">Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] coding in 2017<br class="">To: "Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List"<br class=""><span class="m_3752565647609855171Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a>><br class="">Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:0ADE3CA8-0AC2-489F-A1EB-C8EC60C37BDB@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">0ADE3CA8-0AC2-489F-A1EB-<wbr class="">C8EC60C37BDB@hotmail.com</a>><br class="">Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br class=""><br class="">Hi,<br class=""><br class="">Great discussion.<br class=""><br class="">I think sticking to 1 language through the pathway is very attractive. You get critical mass of resources and expertise - but do you find the 1 language is then limiting to students? concept of programming and the diversity of languages? Can they abstract programming ideas out of the specific language? I know there are y12 SoftDev places that use it, but I see you are using it for Informatics? That?s new to me.<br class=""><br class="">The struggle I have with Python, which your pathway deals with, is the need to do HTML. Doing HTML/JavaScript and possibly adding on PHP (or Python) seems like a lot of groundwork to get to actually making something. Not to mention the hassle of web servers, etc. At this point, I have Y7/8s doing some HTML, really just for interest, in the web unit, but coding would be Alice/GameMaker.<br class=""><br class="">I don?t think we can set students up for career programming in a specific language though. My last industry job (2012) was a transaction website and we had stuff in Java and Python, but my husband works in Ruby now and the top rates I?ve ever paid for programmers were at the start of iOS Cocoa Touch (now superseded). It?s a changing world out there ?<br class=""><br class="">Thanks Ken for the lead on Processing. (Yet another from MIT!!) There is amazing work happening out there on educational and purpose-built software. So much to choose from! A key choice for me is also the quality of existing teaching materials. Not to sound lazy but this makes me prefer Alice 2 over Alice 3 (for example) because there is a significant investment in classroom stuff ready to go.<br class=""><br class="">At the moment I am trying to set-up Y7/8 for revised electives in Y9/10. In time, I am hoping to do a Y9/10 elective in programming using either <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org</a>> AppLab or Visual Basic (maybe App Inventor?) plus an elective on pre-VCE Informatics incorporating VCE Computing U1&2 informatics content (Access databases). There is no guarantee the school would ever offer VCE Computing 3/4 units, but I would like to make sure the Y9/10 electives are clear pre-VCE choices.<br class=""><br class="">Cheers, Mel<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">On 13 Dec 2016, at 10:52 pm, Garth, Lucas A <<a href="mailto:garth.lucas.a@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank" class="">garth.lucas.a@edumail.vic.<wbr class="">gov.au</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:garth.lucas.a@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank" class="">garth.lucas.a@<wbr class="">edumail.vic.gov.au</a>>> wrote:<br class=""><br class="">HI Mel (& other interested onlookers)<br class=""><br class="">At the moment I'm looking at having Python installed as our main programming language at Lalor Secondary College.<br class=""><br class="">The reasons:<br class="">- It's likely to be high paying - sample: <a href="http://tech.co/highest-paying-programming-languages-2015-03" target="_blank" class="">http://tech.co/highest-paying-<wbr class="">programming-languages-2015-03</a><br class="">- There are heaps of online resources including codecademy<br class="">- It taps in to Raspberry Pi (they were created to facilitate the teaching of Python)<br class="">- Programming language isn't the hardest to learn the basics (though admittedly not quite as easy as VB IMO)<br class="">- Integration of turtle program into maths<br class="">- National Code Challenge by GROK Learning is in Python<br class="">- Feeds into Computing/Informatics nicely through the use of Beautiful Soup extracts (and Panda data analysis)<br class=""><br class="">Python's downsides:<br class="">- Needs to be installed on every computer (therefore get an image) or else you go with a limited <a href="http://pythonanywhere.com/" target="_blank" class="">pythonanywhere.com</a><<a href="http://pythonanywhere.com/" target="_blank" class="">http://<wbr class="">pythonanywhere.com</a>> and rely on decent quality internet...might be a struggle in most govt schools...<br class="">- Limited front-end development, unless you also teach a framework (which I think you probably should teach your students if they are going to go into a developer career - I'll be teaching my students HTML + CSS + Bootstrap to give them a good grounding for the web). As I'm generally a better back-end developer, I prefer teaching basic ASCII art initially for the students to gain a concept of graphics, though I've also taught students a little bit of the Flask framework and it looked fairly straight-forward.<br class=""><br class="">How I'm planning to insert this into the curriculum (2017-2018)<br class=""><br class="">Year 7 - Limited programming in Digitech, however there will be teaching HTML/CSS and use of a CMS (e.g. Weebly / Wordpress). Maybe some basic Python if we are to link Raspberry Pi computers together with an Ethernet cable. Maths needs use of a general purpose programming language and I'm encouraging the use of the Turtle app in Python, which is based on the Logo programming language for the more experienced teachers on list.<br class=""><br class="">Year 8 - Programming basics in Python. Use of mBots (with Scratch-like mBlock code structure) for a short sequence of more hands-on coding.<br class=""><br class="">Year 9 - Include Python programming in unit on game design using Pygame resources.<br class=""><br class="">Year 10 - Data extraction and manipulation using Python. Show the basics of Bootstrap alongside consolidation of HTML/CSS skills. Use of Grove Starter Kits for Arduino for hands-on coding.<br class=""><br class="">Year 11 - NCSS CHALLENGE - GROK competition - Python. Bootstrap usage for web development SAC. Learn SQL for databases.<br class=""><br class="">Year 12 - Encourage the use of Python (data extraction) and Bootstrap (data presentation) for Informatics SAT, and SQL for databases SAC.<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">Now - to develop the resources! Let me know if you've already headed down this rabbit hole!<br class=""><br class="">Lucas Garth<br class="">Lalor SC<br class=""><br class="">-----Original Message-----<br class="">From: <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@<wbr class="">edulists.com.au</a>> [mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@<wbr class="">edulists.com.au</a>] On Behalf Of <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-request@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-request@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-request@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-request@<wbr class="">edulists.com.au</a>><br class="">Sent: Monday, 12 December 2016 2:54 PM<br class="">To: <a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a><<wbr class="">mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a>><br class="">Subject: Yr7-10it Digest, Vol 131, Issue 6<br class=""><br class="">Send Yr7-10it mailing list submissions to <a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a><<wbr class="">mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a>><br class=""><br class="">To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit <a href="http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/yr7-10it" target="_blank" class="">http://www.edulists.com.au/<wbr class="">mailman/listinfo/yr7-10it</a><br class="">or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-request@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-request@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a><br class=""><br class="">You can reach the person managing the list at <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-owner@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-owner@edulists.com.au</a><br class=""><br class="">When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Yr7-10it digest..."<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">Today's Topics:<br class=""><br class=""> 1. Re: coding in 2017 (Mel Yuan)<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">------------------------------<wbr class="">------------------------------<wbr class="">----------<br class=""><br class="">Message: 1<br class="">Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 03:52:48 +0000<br class="">From: Mel Yuan <<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">melyuan@hotmail.com</a>><br class="">Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] coding in 2017<br class="">To: "Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List"<br class=""><<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a>><br class="">Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:A05757CD-6650-47ED-9E00-2323557005AE@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">A05757CD-6650-47ED-9E00-<wbr class="">2323557005AE@hotmail.com</a>><br class="">Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"<br class=""><br class="">Hi,<br class=""><br class="">I?m glad someone raised this language pathway issue.<br class=""><br class="">The problem is ? exactly what general-purpose programming language? Unfortunately most programming languages are pretty specific. JavaScript is oft-cited but this is not really a stand-alone language in the way, say, Visual Basic is designed to be. The Khan Academy and <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org</a>> teaching materials are great but they?re really providing a whole environment and therefore purpose for JS - something the language itself was not really designed for.<br class=""><br class="">Alice is designed to be object-oriented, so I?m happy these ideas could be introduced at 7/8. If you were really keen you could use Alice 3 and transition into Java. GameMaker for 7/8 also works for me as you have to build up a conceptual model of ?what is a game??. In the next generation of the 9/10 elective I?m also flirting with the idea of Visual Basic because you can include ideas of Application Architecture (n layers). Microsoft has some pretty good pricing for things like Team Server for Education packages - getting students into Visual Studio IDE with Team Server source control, now that is starting to look like real programming! I know Python has its fans at year 12 ?<br class=""><br class="">I take your point about Scratch. I think it?s okay if everyone does it year 1 but would like to have something different perhaps in year 2 at Y6.<br class=""><br class=""><a href="https://madmaker.com.au/" target="_blank" class="">https://madmaker.com.au/</a> came to our school to use Arduino to teach Y9s programming. I see this as okay in year 1 but once you get a few students through you need to start building projects with more stuff. Someone told me about the sensor packs, etc. you can get for Edison boards. I think these projects require a fair bit of investment in equipment. More so that straight-up programming which can be done on existing gear, cheap or free ?<br class=""><br class="">Over time I hope these descriptors become more, well, descriptive, in terms of programming ideas rather than using languages as a proxy.<br class=""><br class="">Compliments of the season all!<br class=""><br class="">Cheers, Mel<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">On 12 Dec 2016, at 1:32 pm, Grieve, Carlin C <<a href="mailto:grieve.carlin.c@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank" class="">grieve.carlin.c@edumail.vic.<wbr class="">gov.au</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:grieve.carlin.c@edumail.vic.gov.au" target="_blank" class="">grieve.carlin.c@<wbr class="">edumail.vic.gov.au</a>>> wrote:<br class=""><br class="">Good work Mel,<br class=""><br class="">Overall I think the learning path is the part that is the most important. You need to ensure that student capacity is built on each year, as it helps the students (As well as the staff ? ) Looks like you have this under control!<br class="">Having different environments (IDE?s) is always a good thing too, so students do not get hooked on the idea ?I can only program in scratch?<br class="">Ken was right in ensuring it meets the need of the curriculum though.<br class="">? Yr5/6 Band: Develop digital solutions as simple visual programs (VCDTCD033)<<a href="http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Curriculum/ContentDescription/VCDTCD033" target="_blank" class="">http://<wbr class="">victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.<wbr class="">edu.au/Curriculum/<wbr class="">ContentDescription/VCDTCD033</a>><br class="">? Yr7/8 Band: ? using a general-purpose programming language (VCDTCD043)<<a href="http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Curriculum/ContentDescription/VCDTCD043" target="_blank" class="">http://<wbr class="">victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.<wbr class="">edu.au/Curriculum/<wbr class="">ContentDescription/VCDTCD043</a>><br class="">? Yr9/10 Band: ? using an object-oriented programming language(VCDTCD053)<<a href="http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Curriculum/ContentDescription/VCDTCD053" target="_blank" class="">http://<wbr class="">victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.<wbr class="">edu.au/Curriculum/<wbr class="">ContentDescription/VCDTCD053</a>><br class=""><br class="">I am interested in what you do with Arduino?s at Year 8 though, as my first implementation failed big time (Expectations vs Reality)<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">Kind Regards,<br class=""><image001.png><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">Carlin Grieve<br class="">Learning Technologies Leading Teacher<br class="">Epping Secondary College<br class="">T: <a href="tel:+61%203%209401%202599" value="+61394012599" target="_blank" class="">+61 3 9401 2599</a><br class="">W:<a href="http://www.eppingsc.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">www.eppingsc.vic.edu.au</a><<a href="http://www.eppingsc.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">http<wbr class="">://www.eppingsc.vic.edu.au/</a>><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">From: <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@<wbr class="">edulists.com.au</a>> [mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it-bounces@<wbr class="">edulists.com.au</a>] On Behalf Of ken price<br class="">Sent: Monday, 12 December 2016 1:13 PM<br class="">To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a><<wbr class="">mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">yr7-10it@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a>>><br class="">Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] Fwd: coding in 2017<br class=""><br class="">Doesn't year 7-10 require a general purpose programming language? (based on Aust Curric Digital Technologies)<br class=""><br class="">kp<br class=""><br class="">On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 1:04 PM, Mel Yuan <<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">melyuan@hotmail.com</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">me<wbr class="">lyuan@hotmail.com</a>>> wrote:<br class="">Hi folks,<br class="">Didn?t get much response from the Primary folks, per below ? what do you guys think?<br class="">Considering putting MS Touch Develop in somewhere too ? anyone had experience with this? Microsoft have invested in a fair bit of curriculum materials.<br class=""><br class="">We?re doing some Robotics/Systems as well - Y4 Blue Bots, Y6 Makey Makey, Y7 Mindstorm, Y8 Arduino.<br class=""><br class="">Cheers, Mel<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">Begin forwarded message:<br class=""><br class="">From: Mel Yuan <<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">melyuan@hotmail.com</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:melyuan@hotmail.com" target="_blank" class="">me<wbr class="">lyuan@hotmail.com</a>>><br class="">Subject: coding in 2017<br class="">Date: 9 December 2016 7:35:37 am AEDT<br class="">To: <a href="mailto:primaryit@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">primaryit@edulists.com.au</a><<wbr class="">mailto:<a href="mailto:primaryit@edulists.com.au" target="_blank" class="">primaryit@edulists.com.<wbr class="">au</a>><br class=""><br class="">Hello all,<br class=""><br class="">I am starting a new role next year in DigiTech 4-10, having taught 8, 11, 12 (SoftDev) this year. The school has a new program, having offered compulsory IT in years 7-8 for some years.<br class=""><br class="">This is my current plan for coding in 2017 with a view to strengthening pathways over time. I?d be interested in your thoughts - do you do the same or different? Have a missed a language that is a must-have?<br class=""><br class="">I?m thinking that <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> is the theoretical ?backbone? that teaches concepts, and the other language is something they can make stuff with.<br class=""><br class="">Y4 - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> Course 2, Scratch<br class="">Y5 - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> Course 2/3, Scratch<br class="">Y6 - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> Course 2/3/4, Scratch<br class="">Y7 - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> Accelerated Course 2-4, Alice 2<br class="">Y8 - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> Accelerated Course 2-4, GameMaker<br class="">Y9/10 elective - <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> CSP course 3 AppLab, elective language (Scratch, Alice, GameMaker or other for project)<br class=""><br class="">It?s a small school and when the cohort grows, current students can keep progressing through <a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">code.org</a><<a href="http://code.org/" target="_blank" class="">http://code.org/</a>> while new students start at Course 2 or Accelerated.<br class=""><br class="">Cheers, Mel<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">______________________________<wbr class="">_________________<br class=""><a href="http://www.edulists.com.au/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.edulists.com.au</a><<a href="http://www.edulists.com.au/" target="_blank" class="">htt<wbr class="">p://www.edulists.com.au/</a>> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by <a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au</a><<a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">htt<wbr class="">p://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/</a>> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and <a href="http://www.vitta.org.au/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.vitta.org.au</a><<a href="http://www.vitta.org.au/" target="_blank" class="">http:/<wbr class="">/www.vitta.org.au/</a>> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools" target="_blank" class="">http://www.swinburne.edu.au/<wbr class="">ict/schools</a> - Swinburne University<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">--<br class="">--<br class="">Dr Ken Price MACS(Snr) CP ACCE Professional Associate.<br class="">Immediate Past President, TASITE <a href="http://www.tasite.tas.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">http://www.tasite.tas.edu.au</a><<a href="http://www.tasite.tas.edu.au/" target="_blank" class="">h<wbr class="">ttp://www.tasite.tas.edu.au/</a>><br class=""><br class="">IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments may be confidential. 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