Blog post 5

Hello all,

Here are 5 active learning activities that you can use in your Computer Science class.

	Name of the activity	Suitable to teach which CS topic?
1	PIM(Plus-Minus-Interesting)	Importance of information technology
2	POST-IT COLLECTION	secrecy and security
3	REVOLVING CIRCLE	Use of social media
4	SIMULATION	Information crimes
5	STICK DEBATE	Digital citizenship

	Name of the activity	Detailed Summary of its steps
1	PIM(Plus-Minus-Interesting) Subject: Importance of information technology	Facilitator discusses with pupils the meaning of PMI and explains what each term means: Plus = a benefit t, Minus = a downside, Interesting = an interesting. In this activity, the students are shown a template including areas to write positive, negative and interesting dimensions of information technologies. Students came to the board and they write positive dimension under plus area, negative dimensions under minus area and interesting dimensions under interesting area and they discuss why they put those dimensions under those areas. Thanks to this activity, students who don’t interest any side of information technologies can interest.
2	POST-IT COLLECTION Subject:  Secrecy and Security	Pupils in groups of four to six receive a Post-It sheet per pupil. In this activity, Each pupil writes his own idea about secrecy and security in online environment on his own post-it and writes some examples belonging to dangers of doing mistake behaviors in online areas which harms our security and secrecy on it. Then, each group’s members come together and they discuss what they wrote as individually. After completing ideas, a general post-it, that including summary of ideas of all members of group and examples with it, is prepared as group post-it.  At the end, Ideas from each group are placed on a flip chart and discussed with all classes.
3	REVOLVING CIRCLE Subject: Use of social media	Pupils divide into two groups. One group forms an inner circle and the other group forms an outer circle Pupils face each other. The inner circle then rotates clockwise and the outer circle rotates anti-clockwise. In this activity, each student will discuss about use of social media with many other students. While circles rotating, students will first ask to each students while they are standing face to face about  which social media tool they use. After, a full return completed, question will change and students will ask to each other for which aim they prefer using social media. The activity can be continued by adding new questions.  The general aim is to let each students discuss with many students about a specific idea of social media.
4	SIMULATION Subject: Information crimes	This activity is a role play activity. In this activity, students will learn information crimes and their penalty. Firstly, a court environment will be designed in the class. A student will be judge. Three students will be co-judge.  A few students will be public prosecutor and some students will be criminal. In this activity, some students is guessed that they have done some information crimes and their situation will be discusses by other in the court. After, discussing, firstly, it will be decided whether it is really an information crime or not. Secondly, it will be decided what penalty should be given if it is an information crime.
5	STICK DEBATE Subject: Digital citizenship	Each pupil receives three (lollipop) sticks. Every time that someone cannot speak, they must hand in a stick. In this activity, each student will have to talk about what to do to be a conscious digital citizenship and what the digital citizenship means. If students cannot give any answer they will lose a stick. The person who lost his all stick will be eliminated and the students who have most sticks in his hand will win.

Notice : I would like to mention that activities here are inspired or adapted from http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/key_stage_3/ALTM-KS3.pdf

Blog post4

Classroom Activities for Active Learning

                Active learning is the persons own view to be active in their own learning process. It is also manipulation process. It helps students to identify concepts and to create new concepts according to their gained concepts. While learning actively, students realize their own capability and they can increase their critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Also, active learning can easily be gained by class activities. In this way, some techniques arrive to apply active learning as more powerful in class environment.  One of the ways to make active learning powerful is questioning techniques. The main aim of asking questions is to check students understanding on taught concepts and principles. However, while asking questions, instructor should realize what a percentage of students actively answers questions and what can be done to increase students’ number responding questions. Also, it is really important to ask questions in the way of expected answers. Instructor should be conscious to be able to show what he expects while asking questions. Does instructor expect students to evaluate or to remember a gained knowledge or to apply their knowledge into practice? It is really important to get correct answers from students.

                 Another way to apply active learning is to put students in small groups to let them work cooperatively.  There are various types of putting students in group. For example, pair-share is one of them. Instructor present a subject, students think about it for a short time, then, students pair up their response to one another, finally, all class discuss the issue. Another type of grouping is Buzz groups. In this type, students are grouped as 5-8 people for discussing about subject and finally, groups report their work and discuss with other groups.

                Also, whole class involvement is also an important factor for active learning in class.  There also are some strategies to help in this way. One of them is Lecture Check. In lecture check strategy, 15-20 minutes a lecture is delivered, then, a multiple question is projected for class. If most of the class gives correct answer, instructor continues course material, otherwise, go back to the material. Second strategy is Whole-Class Debates. In Whole Class Debate strategy, class is divided into two groups. Each group is given five statements supporting their side of issue and finally two or three volunteers make summary arguments for each side.

                In addition, reading and writing exercises are also helpful for active learning in class environment. There are some strategies to use in this way. The first one is close reading method.  In this strategy, instructor models how to read and students may be wanted to read aloud similar selections, to discuss them in groups of two or to paraphrase them in their own words. The second one is Classroom Assessments Techniques. In these techniques, students write their thoughts or questions about day’s topic. It will help them to concentrate attention on topic so that they may be active listeners. 

Blog post 3

Active Learning

Active learning is to prepare yourself for learning with the way you describe. You decide how you learn, which way is suitable for you to learn and you decide how to test yourself to be sure about your own understanding. Active learning is supported with an important theory which is constructivism. Constructivism is the king of unrestricted education. Constructivism depends on manipulation and recreation of your own knowledge.  In this way, learner can learn from environment and he can identify some concepts, he can create new concepts in his mind by using those created concepts and differentiate those concepts from each other. During active learning one of the important methods is “wearing different hats”. Wearing different hats method teaches people to be able to have different shapes for different roles. For example, a teacher should be able to both evaluator and lieder, when one of them is required. Also, he should be able to think as a student when preparing an activity or learning materials to be able to look events from students’ dimension. The other important thing is “bridging gaps”. When you teach a class, you shouldn’t expect all students to have same knowledge background. There will definitely be students who have lack of knowledge background. Also, you may not have time to interest all students individually to bring them same stage so you should make students active to complete their own background.  In this way, students can have their own responsibility to catch their friends in terms of knowledge background with teacher leadership. In addition, active learning has some stages to support its education model. These stages are formed as four parts. The first part is called as Trigger. It belongs to introducing a topic with helpful assignment. The trigger should be broad to let students look from different dimensions and it should be relevant for students. Trigger is not limited in term of subject. Second part is called as Activity. In this stage, students work on trigger to make analysis and researches. The third part is Discussion. In this stage, what is done so far is presented to entire class by students who work on projects and they are discussed by other students. During discussion instructor describe key points but don’t judge any idea or opinion. The forth part is Summarizing. In this stage teacher make a general summarization about work done so far. Instructor defines important point, highlights main concepts. 

Blog post 2

Teaching database without using computer

While	Time	Instructor	Student	Material	Interaction
	2,5	Instructure will give a background information about spreadsheet.			T-S
	2,5	Instructure ask students to be volunteer for an activity and wants other students give basic information about the volunteer students.	Students gives information about volunteer students and volunteer student write those data to the board.		T-S,S-T,S-S
	5	Instructure will show how to group properties of volunteer student on the spreadsheet.		Material 1(a really big spreadsheet on paper.	T-S
	5	Instructure want 3 more volunteer students to write their basic properties according to designed spreadsheet before. Then, instructor show how to design relationship between each students own data.	Students write their properties according to grouping of prepared spreadsheet.		T-S,S-T

According to the table created as a lesson activity, we will work to teach data logic and database structure without using a computer. After, instructor finish pre activity, instructor will start the activate by giving a background information about spread sheet and why we use it for students to understand how to design data to make it obvious and understandable. Then, instructor will ask any students to be volunteer for the first activity. In this activity, students will understand logic of data. Volunteer students will come to the board and instructor wants other students to say basic properties like age, hobbies e.g. about the volunteer student. The volunteer student will write properties about him/her what his/her friend sad on the board. After, we have some information about the students, the instructor will show how to design the spreadsheet made with paper on the wall according to information about the student. After, designing spreadsheet, instructor will want three more students to write information like their friends one about themselves according to design of spreadsheet by grouping on spreadsheet. After, that instructor will show students how to design relationship between their own data. For example, students will understand that they should write all knowledge which is related to each other in same column and sometimes on same row.

Blok Post 1:

Ministry of National Education’s (MNE’s) curriculum proposal

Computer Technology and Software lesson

Blok Post 1:

            Computer Technology and Software lesson curriculum includes main philosophies, targets, skills, education of merits, guidance, and approach of measurement and evaluation of the education program and matters in terms of applying the program. The program includes grades from one to eight. From grades one to four, subjects are shown superficial. In grade fifth, subjects of one to four grade are approximately repeated. In the sixth grade, same subjects are made broader and more detailed. In seven grades, subjects become more detailed and mentioned briefly but they are narrowed when we compare with sixth grade and last messages are given. In eighth grade, subjects are narrowed and limited so much. Only direct messages are given with a few subjects.

            Computer Technology and Software lesson curriculum is designed systematically. I mean that subjects follow each other in all grades. For example, for etiquette and security lesson, respect of other people is shown as a main topic. In fifth grade, it becomes broader. In sixth grade, it becomes broader and subtopics belonging to those objectives arrive. In sixth  grade, same subjects again shown with detailed and in seventh grade and eight grade all details about the subject is collected and is given with direct message. The system is same for all subjects. It shows that the program is systematic. Although, the system is systematic in terms of order and subjects of main topics follow each other, the program still includes some systematic mistakes. For example, values education and guidance topics are approximately same in terms of their subjects so why same subjects are shown again and again. This is a general problem of program. Same subjects are repeated under different topics. It is waste of time. Also, sometimes so much time is given for basic topics and less time is given for important topics.

            Another problem of the program is expecting so many things from students. For example, at the end of program, students are expected to be expert for a few computer languages however, thanks to the education of the program, students can only be an amatory in C language.

            Finally, program has some mistakes logically and systematically but if problems can be corrected properly, the program can be used in primary and elementary schools properly.