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Teaching Computational Thinking

This course is for educators who are passionate about the future of their 7-12+ year old students and want to learn more about teaching computer science in an engaging and meaningful way.

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There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts May 31
Ends Aug 3
Enroll

Teaching Computational Thinking

This course is for educators who are passionate about the future of their 7-12+ year old students and want to learn more about teaching computer science in an engaging and meaningful way.

10 weeks
5–6 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts May 31
Ends Aug 3
Enroll
Teaching Computational Thinking

About this course

Skip About this course

This course is designed to show you how to teach computational thinking to children aged 7-12+. The course will be valuable to you, whether you are new to this approach or an enthusiastic practitioner. It offers ways to explore computational thinking using simple tools readily available in classrooms and homes, such as cards, chalk and scales to engage with students.

Based on the content in the popular open-source CS Unplugged website (csunplugged.org), this course demonstrates how to teach computational thinking from unplugged to plugging-it-in with programming.

Each module will weave in the following:

  • Connections to apply CS Unplugged into classroom programmes by structuring the modules to have suitable activities that lead on from each other.
  • An explanation of why we value computational thinking in the classroom
  • What is the big picture around computational thinking (especially, what is computation, and how does it fit with all the definitions of computational thinking that teachers may encounter),
  • The “so what” about each concept, how it connects to people, and where you see it in everyday life
  • Stories of history – human connections

At a glance

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated skills: Computer Science, Computational Thinking, Enthusiasm, Teaching

What you'll learn

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  • Binary basics
  • Text and image representation
  • Error control – how digital devices detect and correct errors in data
  • Human Computer Interaction – how to evaluate and create interfaces that work for people
  • Human capabilities

Syllabus

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The aim of this course is to equip you so that you can support your learners in developing student agency while using their creativity and knowledge of computational thinking to potentially influence the future of society.

To achieve the goal of this course of learning the foundational skills, the program learning outcomes are:

  • Know how to engage students with a range of deep ideas from Computational Thinking.

  • Explain how a Parallel Sorting Network can be used to engage students with deep ideas in Computational Thinking.

  • Explain how numbers, letters and images can be represented using just two symbols i.e. binary representation

  • Know how to engage students with examples of error detection and correction to enable them to recognise how data is stored and shared safely in everyday life

  • Explain why interface evaluation is an important skill in Computational Thinking, and be able to support learners to assess interfaces from the user’s point of view.

About the instructors

Frequently Asked Questions

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  • Will you teach “coding”? We will show how coding (programming) relates to the activities we’re teaching, but this course will cover aspects of computational thinking that support teaching coding
  • I’m no good at computing – is this for me? Yes! Many of the activities involved don’t use computers, and provide an approachable way to introduce computational thinking in your classroom.

Ways to take this course

Choose your path when you enroll.
Verified Track
Audit Track

Price

$49 USD

Free

Access to course materials

Unlimited

Limited

Expires on Aug 9

World class institutions and universities

edX support

Shareable certificate upon completion

Graded assignments and exams

Read our FAQsin a new tab about frequently asked questions on these tracks.

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