We are trying to learn more and will share with you what we learn
soon. We are not sure who all the participants were, but we'll find
out and get back to you.
Many thanks for your interest, sharing, and involvement with our FAME
teachers and the KCI. We hope to get together again soon!
gay krause
Thanks for the feedback. Having spent five years in a public, inner-city, classroom, I am familiar with the challenges of teaching low level students with limited attention spans, as well as a lack of hardware.
We are currently working on new examples of CT targeting K6 students and teachers that are less dependent on access to a computer lab. The true value of learning to decompose a problem, identify patterns, generalize those patterns, and write an algorithm should not lie in the ability to program a computer, but rather in the ability to analyze and solve problems. We have found that when computers are available, the ability for students to see their algorithms run on an actual machine is often a powerful motivator and provides them with a great sense of accomplishment. The hardware should be a bonus rather than a prerequisite for practicing CT.
Since access to computers brings up issues in many classrooms, we are interested in hearing strategies for implementing algorithms when the actual hardware is not available. A few ideas so far are:
More ideas on how to get around the hardware issue are very welcome!