Last night was our IT CAT evening for teachers in the Northern Suburbs, hosted by the Experilab in Bellville. It was a small affair, but as there are very few IT and CAT teachers in Cape Town and South Africa as a whole, we weren’t expecting too large a crowd. Nevertheless, having a smaller attendance meant that Neels could get more hands-on in his approach, and the evening became more of a conversation about teaching computer programming, as opposed to having a formal presentation.

After the customary drinks and snacks were served, we moved into the presentation room to begin. Neels showed two online resources of programming courses, namely MIT Open Courseware and the Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU). MIT has an extensive range of resources for both undergraduate and graduate level, and the undergraduate course begins by assuming little or no knowledge of computer science. The P2PU also has a number of courses that one can do online by signing up and participating in the assignments. Such courses cover introductions to programming in a number of languages, and also go on to more advanced levels. These are great for either your own personal interest in programming, but also to point your FET learners at should they show an interest or aptitude.

Neels then demoed basic programming using simple robotics equipment and a program called Python. Children learn really well if they are introduced to programming in this way, as by giving simple commands, they see real results – lights can flash, a motor can turn on and off, all of which are controlled by the commands they have given the program. If they are given time to experiment and build more and more complex systems, by the time they come to writing more complex code, they already have an understanding of how the process works.

The South African curriculum only brings IT into the syllabus in Grade 10, which is far too late in a learner’s development to introduce them to programming languages. We advocate the use of technology and introductions to programming from as early an age as possible. Basically, if a child can think sequentially they are ready to programme. The skills needed in programming can help to develop one’s logical and analytical thinking skills – linear thinking is needed to be a great programmer. Also, if learners understand that if they want to get involved in the virtual world, such as gaming design, graphics, animation, they need to know and understand certain maths and physics principals in order to apply them – maths and science have a purpose beyond the classroom!

Some introductory computer programmes that are worth using in the classroom that Neels very briefly touched on include Alice (a fun and engaging tool that introduces learners to object oriented programming); RUR-PLE (Python programming where learners apply programming skills in a more traditional environment); and Logo (fun for young as well as older learners, and supports experienced users and complex explorations and projects. The programme has a “low threshold and no ceiling”).

Next week’s evening event (Thursday 24 February) is on open education resources in maths – if you are interested in attending please register here. Our physical science event is on Thursday 3 March, followed by english on 10 March, with our final one being life sciences on Thursday 17 March. Hoping to see you there!

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