Coding lessons are music to kids’ ears
College’s computing after-school club is a hit
School pupils have been learning about computer coding by messing about with music from Katy Perry and Star Wars.
Pupils from Paisley Grammar, St Benedict’s High School and Renfrew High School have been taking part in the Digital Xtra Coding In The Classroom project run by West College Scotland (WCS).
The college was awarded money from Skills Development Scotland to fund a series of sustainable digital initiatives.
WCS curriculum quality leader David Renton and college computing lecturer Amanda Ford have been working with HNC and HND students to prepare lesson plans for the S1 and S2 youngsters.
The pupils have been given a BBC Micro: Bit kit to learn about coding and all the after-school clubs have been well attended.
Amanda said: “The project provides the pupils with the opportunity to learn how to code with the Micro: Bit, as well as other engaging activities.
“As the clubs progress and the pupils enhance their abilities and knowledge, we will aim to take this further and connect the Micro: Bit to speakers and programme it to play music.
“They can also try connecting it to conductive objects to create their very own unique controller for playing games by themselves, or connecting Micro: Bits together to play games with friends.”
The feedback from both the college students and the school pupils has been very positive.
S2 pupil, Kristin, from St Benedicts said: “I like the coding club because I feel in this modern age, coding skills are important in most jobs and it is an added skill in life.”
Toni, also S2 at St Benedict’s added: “All students should know how to code. This club makes it fun.”
Chris Wilson, computing teacher from St Benedicts High School praised the club’s success.
He said: “We had a whole lab full of pupils turning up after school in their own time.
“The best thing was the gender split – exactly 50/50. It’s great to see so many girls taking a genuine interest in STEM and coding in particular.
“The hands-on Micro:Bit coding is going down really well with the pupils.
“I think the idea of writing code to run on a physical device they hold in their hand gives them something extra.
“All pupils seem to have a love for technology and creativity, so the Micro:Bit exercises really appealed to them.
“Both staff and students from WCS have been absolutely fantastic with our pupils and I’d definitely recommend the club to any schools that missed out first time around.”
West College Scotland has also hosted a series of CPD sessions for Renfrewshire Schools as part of the project. These are run in association with Microsoft Education, Renfrewshire Council and Paisley YMCA.
More than 20 teachers from primary and secondary schools across Renfrewshire attended the clubs to further develop their technology skills for teaching and use engaging activities to encourage use of the Micro: Bit in the classroom.
West College Scotland is now featured on the Digital Xtra Map, featuring all activities taking place across the country.
Go to www.digitalxtrafund.scot/ find-an- activity/ for more details.