TS-9.3

Sal McKeown takes the temperature of computer science and finds out what technology, ideas and projects are currently getting teachers excited… Computer science – whatworks for you? 54 W hile judging the Bett Awards 2020 earlier this year, I came across Twin Science and Robotics (twinscience. com) – a tactile and auditory approach to programming with Braille attachments and audio narration that its inventors trialled with over 1,000 blind and visually impaired children. It went on to win the Special Educational Needs award, prompting the panel to describe it as “A product which opens up STEM and collaborative activities for young people with and without SEND, particularly those who read Braille. There are structured activities that will stimulate more open and creative fun in the classroom. The inclusive aspect is enhanced by the mix of technology, Lego and 'Blue Peter' activities.” I asked a number of teachers to describe the computer science approaches and ideas they’re keen to share with others – here’s what they told me… “Be creative, test out ideas, solve problems” Raspberry Pi rocks! We’re using it throughout the school to engage students, because it helps them see that a computer isn’t just a black box in the corner, but something that lets them code, design and make things happen. The students can plug in different bits of hardware – lights, buzzers, sensors – making it a wonderful tool for cross-curricular work, especially in D&T and science. It encourages them to be creative, test out ideas and solve problems. Now they’ re moving on to programming Sphero robots (sphero.com ) and writing code in Python. A great way of getting start ed is to visit the interactive Raspberry Pi website (raspberrypi.org) , which is packed wi th fun activities, and watch some of th e videos available at youtube.com/raspberrypi. Paul Woodhouse, head of business and computing, Ysgol Bryn Elian “Progress is very fast” My job is to get novice students from abstraction and computational thinking in year 10 – where they may use origami and maps to see the relationship between 2D diagrams and 3D objects – to writing simple programs in Python and learning how to create networks. Because our classes are smaller than in most schools, progress is very fast. I use tasks from the A-level syllabus for some of our GCSE students, which they find hard, but I believe they’re a good way of getting them to consolidate and apply their knowledge. It also slows them down! Claire Carey, computer science lead, Solihull UTC teachwire.net/secondary