'15-16 Lesson 1 - The Impact of Innovation

So I’m going to be teaching this course in two different venues this fall - once through an independent study with a few students, and the other integrated into our girls’ coding club.

For the former, I’m looking forward to being able to facilitate a conversation on a technological innovation in a very small “class” of students in my office; both for the positive and the negative impacts of innovation.

One idea right now that’s coming to mind is a point-counterpoint approach to the conversation, through the innovation video code.org has put together and “Humans Need Not Apply”, a video that was shared with me by a colleague in the Chicago Public Schools. Not sure if anyone else has seen or considered this video for use during either ECS or CSP, but I’d welcome any feedback or thoughts about the idea.

I also see value in doing the same with the girls’ coding club after-school, though because I anticipate having a much larger group there (and it is a club vs a class), I may elect to nix the point-counterpoint and stick closer to the lesson plan and give students a chance to present their innovations.

I am looking forward to this lesson. It is a great activity for the first day of classes. It is a nice balance of previewing the year with showing the students the types of skills that we will be working on. I am curious to see the rapid prototypes.

Do students sign themselves up for an account or do I need to do it?

The ideas that were shared on this thread were great. The only addition to the lesson plan is that I will create a Keynote presentation as a visual anchor which will lead the the class and me through the lesson. Since my school has progress reports due very early on, I may also give students the option to complete one of the three assessment prompts and either post to a blog or google doc.

I’m looking forward to teaching this lesson. I think it may take two days at my school. I have done somethings like this before. In a Robotics class I liked to add some concepts I learned from a product development pd. Two concepts in the product development class were quad charts and product vignettes. I wonder if I could integrate this in this lesson, and through out the units.

It’s always nice to make sure that a classroom is open for all students to contribute to. I like that the lesson plan even says it. I also like that it starts out seeing what the students know about CSP already and taps into prior knowledge

Like many others have stated, I really like this lesson. I think it is well thought out and I like the different aspects of it. We have a modified block schedule where our first day is 55 minutes and our second day of the week is almost 80 minutes. For that reason, I think I will give the lesson as planned, but I will offer it on the second day of class.

On the first day I intend to have students do a get-to-know-you activity where they have to find something (revolving around technology, creativity, collaboration, communication, etc) that they have in common with every other person in the room. I have provided prompts for them. When they have completed the activity, I intend to show them the Big Ideas, the unit titles, and the Computational Thinking Practices. Then I will ask them if they can see knowledge and/or skills in each area, which area they think they are the strongest in, and which area they think they need to work to develop knowledge/understanding in the most.

I think the lesson provided will be the perfect segue for day 2 to get students excited and ready to go! :0)

I like the idea of having students each teach something. It is good to establish the “we will all learn from each other” climate right away. My only concern is about using code studio on the first day. I am not sure my class roster will be finalized in time for me to have that ready. Prehaps I will push that part off to the second day.

Great introductory lesson, I am not changing a thing about it. Nice way for the novice computer student to be able to input expertise to the rest of the class

I really like the way the lesson is structured. I plan on using it as a day 2 and 3 activity since both days we have shorter days with odd schedules and day 1 will be busy getting policies and procedures done. I think I am going to stick to the plan and I am planning on using the assessment prompts as possible discussion questions through Google Classroom.

I am planning to have the students do an ice breaker to get to know each other and show them the video on the power of yet. After that we will do the first lesson. It is important to have prior knowledge come out in the start of the class. This way they know where they came from and how we plan to progress from that point.

Using cooperative exercises at the start of the year in a class that will heavily use group work has several advantages over get-to-know-you ice breakers. It establishes group work as the class routine. It sets the tone for the group work. It allows the teacher to identify those who will need help to work effectively and comfortably in groups.

Great start - I think I’ll use everything listed for this lesson. :smile:

I think this lesson is a great first day activity on several levels. It gets the students talking to each other in a meaningful way - not just tell me something about you. It brings their individual skills to the table. A student who loves Pinterest is going to say that, or sports, or video games (most likely that one!). They can bond over similarities, or even differences. The innovation idea takes their thinking to the next level.

It doesn’t need much extra in the way of extra materials as it is conversation driven. It is a good opportunity to get them logged in to code studio though!

I think Kate makes a good point with holding off on Code Studio - I may wait a few days on that, until we actually need it for a Simulator - but I’m going to give that some more thought in the next…few days. Anyway, I otherwise plan on sticking pretty close to the lesson plan, with a little intro about myself & my classroom at the start.

Q1: What will you use from the provided lesson materials?
Everything. I especially like starting the class with having the students think about and write down something they know a lot about and/or are passionate about. It’s a great way to dive into the content of the course while simultaneously build community in the class.

Q2: What additional resources will you use?
Throughout the year I plan to focus on the ethical and societal impacts. With that said, I may choose a topic and have the students have a discussion about the ethics of it. I may use Piazza as a discussion board for posting topics. I may use Google Docs as a digital journal instead of a handwritten one. Other than that, I don’t have any related to this topic, but I plan to do more get-to-know-you activities as well as take care of logistical things.

Q3: How do you plan to deliver this lesson?
The suggested layout seems fine although I may change my mind after actually completing the lesson for the first time. I may decide to use a digital form of post-it notes, posterboards, etc. Perhaps a Google Doc or Slide that each team can brainstorm with and then share it via the projector.

Q4: What content questions do you have about the lesson?
None.

I like the inclusion of student interest with computer science. This involves community building as well as demonstrating the principles and goals of the course of collaborative learning and getting across that individual interests will be imperative in the Performance Tasks. This lets a student know that their interests will be a focus and not just a teaser to spark interest momentarily. By grouping students randomly on the first day, it introduces students to a norm in the course as it creates a collaborative community of learners.

I do feel it will be a challenge to complete the entire lesson in one 50 minute period. I feel the video resource will help students expand their thoughts are the different areas that computer science affects our lives allowing them to consider more innovations than they originally brought to their “rapid prototyping” in the exercise. I expect video games, animation, and smartphones to be at the top of the list where sports, medicine, fashion, food, and home innovations may not enter into their realm of thought. As with the PD, students discover the connections of computer science and life through inquiry and reflection. I do wonder if there will be time to sign into Code Studio on the first day and with the program changes in the first two weeks of classes whether it will be wise to do so. I also wanted to send parent letters before creating the Code Studio accounts. Regardless of these concerns, I see this as an inviting and interesting way to begin the course and from my experience this summer, it will not change.

I’ll probably follow the lesson as it’s laid out. I like the idea of a “getting to know you” activity that actually ties into the course curriculum instead of the one that I normally use across any of my classes.

Since we have shortened class periods the first day I plan on going over the course unit overview, what the computational thinking practices are, and the 7 big ideas of AP CSP so that throughout the year we can refer to these concepts/practices/ideas and everyone is on the same page. I have also posted them on my website so that students have easy access to refer back when they forget. Depending on time I’ll show the video at the end of the first day with a prompt to go home and think about what they ‘know a lot about’ as a lead in to the class on day 2.

Day 2 we’ll do a get to know you activity, probably super powers. I’ll have the super powers group together then I’ll either make activity groups out of same powers (ie: flyers all together) or intermix the powers as much as possible. Mainly, I just want them separated from the friends they came in with so they get to know each other.

For the most part I will use all the lessons as written because they usually work great and it is our first time through the course. Next year, I’ll adjust as necessary.

I like the fact that the lesson elicits prior knowledge from the students. It’s important to understand what what the student’s view may be of computer science. I always find that they have so many varied ideas about the topic. I also love the fact that collaboration and team work is included on the very first day.