Do you want to learn at your own time and pace how to teach the CAL curriculum and how to make a coding playground in your classroom? Try out our free TeachCAL course!
DevTech is delighted to have the opportunity to work with you to better understand how coding and computational thinking are integrated in early elementary classrooms. This semester, DevTech is piloting a new study to compare different mediums (online and synchronous, online and asynchronous, and in-person) for one of our Professional Development (PD) workshops.
TeachCAL is a free, self-paced online course designed to familiarize educators with the features of the ScratchJr programming language, one of our innovative tech tools, and the corresponding Coding as Another Language (CAL) pedagogy and activities. The CAL approach understands the learning of computer science as a new literacy for the 21st century.
Based on this approach, the DevTech Research Group developed a set of curriculum units for K-2 using ScratchJr. The CAL curriculum introduces powerful ideas from computer science in conversation with literacy, in a playful, structured, and developmentally appropriate way through unplugged games, storytelling, movement, singing and coding. The TeachCAL module prepares educators to implement the CAL-ScratchJr curriculum and pedagogies in their own classrooms and communities.
Teachers participating in the study will be asked to complete the following steps over the course of the study:
- Pre-workshop assessment: ~10-45 minutes
- PD workshop: online and asynchronous, ~4 hours to complete, can be stopped and started
- Post-workshop assessment: ~10-45 minutes
By participating, participants contribute to helping young learners develop new ways of thinking, new ways of expressing themselves and new opportunities to make the world a better place and themselves better human beings. In return, participants would gain the skills to use ScratchJr, understand the Coding as Another Language pedagogy, and the ability to teach ScratchJr using the Coding as Another Language curriculum. Participants would also receive a certificate for their completion.
Participants will have an opportunity to join a community Slack group where they could meet other teachers, share resources, and ask questions.
If you are interested in participating, please reach out to the researcher, Emily Nadler, at nadlere@bc.edu.
