Comment

Comment by Robert Geofroy on November 14, 2017 at 8:40am

If you are interested in the Python, I would recommend the  the Coursera coursee "An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python"

https://www.coursera.org/learn/interactive-python-1

The course is run with video tutorials and is excellent.

Here is the Rice link:

https://www.coursera.org/rice

Regards

Robert

Comment by Robert Geofroy on November 13, 2017 at 11:22pm

I would look at Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) and some games that the scratchers have developed for starters snyway. Python is also a good one and there are great courses offered by Rice That go into game development.

Hope that helps.

Comment by Christine Seivwright on November 13, 2017 at 11:11pm

I am new at coding but willing to learn. I would like to get into game development some day; I am willing to dedicate  1 year to preparation. can anyone tell me how to get started.

Comment by Shonella Morgan on January 5, 2017 at 3:48pm

Thank you Robert for sharing that information with us. I certainly will be looking int the scratch as I am new to coding.

Comment by Daniel Pier on January 4, 2017 at 9:02am

Dear Robert, 

Thank you very much for sharing these insights. I have had the opportunity to code using a few different games recently and find it fun and relatively easy to learn even though my specialty is the humanities. I am not currently teaching and therefore have not had the opportunity to try these programs with students, but my children and I enjoy playing the coding games together.

The Hour of Code website says, "The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2016 Computer Science Education Week [was] December 5-11, but you can host an Hour of Code all year round." Great initiative for schools or after-school programs!   

Comment by Robert Geofroy on January 3, 2017 at 9:31pm

Here are highlights from the Hour of Code. Enjoy!

Comment by Robert Geofroy on January 1, 2017 at 10:56am

Hello All,

Just joined this group.

Last year, there was an initiative called "An Hour of Code for every student" at code.org. The Prime Minister of Canada kicked off the project with a little code project of his own as well. It may be a bit late to say but at least knowing about the initiative will help us be ready for the next time it is done.

Learning code depends on what level you are dealing with. For the very young ones, there are projects such as Scratch programming, and LOGO programming. Either of these would make a good choice for the little ones. I once ran a course in St Augustine with LOGO and the children enjoyed it very much. I have not had the opportunity to do one such with Scratch but I can see  the advantages. It is great and as a block language is a good step to the development of apps for Android devices which they will definitely want to learn and explore. For the older ones there is the MIT App Inventor, and of course for the more advanced students there are the higher level programming languages such as Java, Haskell and Python. If they are in secondary school, the sooner they get into java the better. At higher levels, they may want to look at Haskell and Python, or maybe Python first and then Haskell. Haskell definitely takes some getting used to.

My suggestion is that if you are new to coding, you start with Scratch yourself. You will find all the basic elements of coding there are becoming adept at it will put you in a good position to be able to pass on these skills as well. You can then move from Scratch to other languages as you become more proficient at the game. The MIT App Inventor is also a block language so you should be fine there and at the higher level, you would find Python easiest to learn. There is also a great course on Python programming from St Hurlow.

These are just a few suggestions. Hope this helps.

Robert

Comment by Shonella Morgan on December 7, 2016 at 8:42pm

Hi All. I am now joining the group. Kindly tell me where to go next or what to do. I do not know where to find the teaching materials for this course. Please help. Thank you

Comment by Natalee McKenzie-Williams on October 5, 2016 at 3:59pm

hat video was very easy. I do hope coding is easy to learn.

Comment by Natalee McKenzie-Williams on October 5, 2016 at 3:56pm

Hi,

I don't know if learning coding is hard. I am willing to learn so that I can introduce it to my sons.