READY, SET,
CODE! BY LESLEY PIKE AND MELISSA SECO
UNPLUGGED CODING FOR THE PRIMARY GRADES
In June 2020, the Ontario Ministry of Educa- tion released the new Elementary Mathemat- ics Curriculum, which became effective at the beginning of the school year. Educators not only had to learn a new curriculum for September 2020 but also face the stressors of implementing new health measures for face- to-face teaching or setting up online learning as school began again under COVID-19. While we were surprised that the curricu-
lum had been released, we knew that our past experiences with mathematics would serve us well in unpacking it. When we went to the Ministry website, we noticed there were some big changes, most notably the addition of Coding (C3) to the Algebra strand. Up to this point, coding had been something that was done in classrooms by what we call the 3Ts, an educator interested in Teaching cod- ing, Training that was available or taken by that educator and available Tools to provide plugged coding experiences. With the implementation of the new cur-
riculum, teaching coding became an expecta- tion. We wondered, “How could educators in Ontario access the training needed to imple- ment a new curriculum over the summer and in the middle of a pandemic?” We found our discussions centered largely around one is- sue – equity. When teaching coding, educa- tors naturally think about the technology they need, things like tablets, computers and robots. How can educators, many of whom have little to no access to technology, even attempt to teach the coding expectations? Where would the technology come from? Would there be funding for it? We knew the knowledge we had about
unplugged coding could give teachers an entry point for teaching this expectation. We shared our knowledge by offering webi- nars and have since expanded our support by providing weekly posts on social me- dia to help educators continue to navigate this new strand. (Follow us on Twitter at @MelissaSeco, @TeachMsPike or on Instagram, @lmnop_resources, @melissamseco.)
WHAT IS CODING?
Coding is relatively new in Ontario elemen- tary schools. According to Moss et al. in their book Taking Shape, “A code is a sequence, of- ten including both numbers and symbols, that efficiently communicates an instruction or ac- tion” (2016, p. 176). Traditionally, we think of “coding” as a computer language people learn, filled with algorithms and lines of code. For the purposes of education, it can come in two forms: unplugged (done without technology) and plugged (done using technology).
30 ETFO VOICE | SPRING 2021
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE COUSINS
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