Welcome to the 21st Century: 45 Resources on Coding

By now you know what coding is, but do you realize that kids as young as kindergarten are learning how to code through online games and activities? When I first began designing websites in 2007, I found HTML to be very confusing. Of course trying to learn on my own pushed me to take two online classes on website design. Today I am hardly a pro, but know enough to get around. After viewing all the programs, apps websites etc. devoted to teaching code, I came up with this conclusion: I was born in the wrong decade. I've always been jealous of all that my students have at their disposal. Let's face it, I'm a tech nerd. Anyway, that admission out of the way, here's a bundle of resources for you on the subject of coding.




APPS
Code School- free iPhone app

Daisy the Dinosaur- for ages 6-8 yrs. old; teaches kids to code

Hopscotch- for iPhone and iPad

Overview of Coding Apps for Mobile Devices- from EdTechTeacher; 16 listed; some free, some $$

M.I.T. App Inventor- students create their own Android apps; uses Chrome browser

Scratch Jr.- for iPad and Android; for ages 6-8 yrs. old

Swift Playgrounds- learn to code on your iPad; from Apple


ARTICLES
3 Steps to Becoming a Coding Teacher- from Edutopia

15+ Ways of Teaching Every Student to Code- from Edutopia; written by Vicki Davis

Coding for Kindergarteners- from Edutopia

Coding in the Classroom: A Long Overdue Inclusion- Edutopia

Fixing the Bugs: Teaching Kids to Code on a Zero-Dollar Budget- by Mary Jo Madda

How Google is Teaching Kids to Code with Toy Blocks- from INC

How I Started an After School Code Club- by Douglas Tarr

LEGO's New Kit Teaches Kids to Code- article from CNN

Now You Can Learn to Code with Minecraft- from Gizmodo

Teaching Kids to Code Using Legos


HOUR OF CODE
Disney Hour of Code Digital Toolkit- downloadable PDF works with the page Disney's Hour of Code.

Disney's Moana- the title character teaches how to code

Hour of Code Resources- from Kodable; free K-5 coding lesson plans

Hour of Code Suggestions by Grade Level- posted by a group of tech-ed teachers

How-To Guide- grades 2-9; download certificates and templates, and tap into the collection of activities

Teacher-Led Hour of Code Lessons- covers K-12; from Education Week

Try an Hour of Code with Khan Academy- includes TEACHER PAGE

Tynker: Coding for Kids- divided by grades: K-2, 3-5, 6+


VIDEOS












WEBSITES 
Code.org- covers K-12; resource listing on classes (partnered with Disney)

Codeacademy- learn to code for free

Code Combat- students learn to code while playing a game

Code Maven- choose from 59 lessons

Code Monster- 59 lessons to choose from for middle schoolers

Code Monkey- educational game where kids code

Coding in the Elementary Classroom- Google slides presentation

Create Pokemon Game- drag and drop interface

Kids Ruby-fun and easy programming; must download program to use

LEGO Mindstorms- educators can order kits for preschool, elementary and middle school; $$

Lissa Explains it All- "the first and original HTML Help JUST for Kids."

Made with Code Google

Scratch for Educators- students can use to code their own animations, games and interactive stories; there are activities, plans and much more.

Touch Develop- create apps on tablet, desktop or phone; a Microsoft product

16 Mobile Apps for Teacher-Librarians

There are so many great apps out there and so little time to see them all. Some are available for just the iPad, and some are available for iPhone and Android. Teacher-librarians are always on the lookout for great apps and programs for their students and colleagues. This list will be added to the MEGALIST FOR TEACHER-LIBRARIANS. Just click the tab at the top of the page. 

CAM SCANNER- your phone becomes a scanner!

Cam Scanner for iPhone and iPad

Cam Scanner for Android

CURATOR-collect and organize your stuff

Curator for iPhone and iPad

DRAGON DICTATION- just speak and see your text or email messages

Dragon Dictation for iPhone and iPad

Dragon Dictation for Android

Easy Bib for iPhone and iPad

Easy Bib for Android- app reads barcodes for citations of books, MLA citations

Evernote for iPhone and iPad- terrific program to organize your life and the library; Evernote site

Evernote for Android

FEEDLY- follow RSS feeds 

Feedly for iPhone and iPad

Feedly for Android

FLIPBOARD: Your News Magazine- social and world news brought together in one feed

Flipboard for iPhone and iPad

Flipboard for Android

iBooks- for iPhone and iPad; download and read books

Free Books: 23,469 Classics to Go- for iPad; "Browse our handpicked collections, download any of our 23,469 classic books, and read with our fully featured  eReader. Notes, highlights, bookmarks, dictionary support -- it’s all here."

Goodreads for iPhone, iPad

Goodreads for Android

LIBRIVOX AUDIO BOOKS-access over 10,000 books

App for iPhone

App for Android

NPR App for iPhone

NPR App for Android

TED App for iPhone

TED app for Android

VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE LIBRARY OF CO

For iPhone and iPad

WordFoto- available on iPhone and iPad, I found librarian Tiffany Whitehead using it to create signage for her subject areas.

World Book: This Day in History-for iPad; excellent source for daily updating on your media center's website

Ron McCallum's Appreciation for Technology

This is such an inspiring story. I had to share it with you. Reminds me how fortunate I am.

9 Free Programs Your Students Should Be Using Right Now

Audacity

Multilingual audio editor and recorder for many operating systems. Record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs; Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, change the speed or pitch of a recording and much more.

Cam Scanner for iPhone 
Cam Scanner for Android
Students can scan through their smartphone! If they need a copy of a handout, worksheet, or need to email homework, they simply scan and email. (File can be pdf or jpeg)

EasyBib (also app for iPhones and Androids)
Free bibliography maker offers ALA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian formats; cite from 59 different sources. Download MLA 7 Guide, MLA Parenthetical Citations Guide, and much more, including online research guide assistance, step by step.

 Evernote (also app for iPhones, iPads, Blackberry and Androids,)
One of my personal favorites, Evernote allows you to collect web snippets, pages, images photos etc. all on their server and syncs with your computer, smartphone or iPad. The web clipper extension in Chrome allows you to take all or part of a site. The computer version (download Evernote at home) adds the function of voice memos. Evernote Trunk offers many apps which directly work with Evernote.

 Google Drive
Everyone should have a Gmail account. No other email offers as much as Google does, and here's why: Google Drive allows you to upload files and folders, create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings and download them in many different formats. If the teacher asks for a PDF file, Google can convert the file. Need a file in MS Word format? DOCX is available. Your students can collaborate on projects even if they are not in the same location. Doing a survey? Google Forms will present results through a Gmail account. Totally awesome, period.

Jing
Jing allows you to take screenshots or record screencasts. (up to 5 minutes) Not bad for short videos, right? (The pro version costs $9.95/month.)

Pixton
Students can create their own comic strips using the click and drag method. 

Skitch (use with Evernote) Android app,  iPhone app
"Annotate images with arrows, shapes, text, and more. Use Skitch to sketch something new, mark up maps, screen captures, or even a photo. Then save or share your Skitch annotation to help others see and understand your ideas."

Zamzar
Students can convert files without downloading any software. Zamzar currently supports a huge number, including documents, images, music, video, e-Book and compressed files.
 

CamScanner Turns Your Smartphone into a Scanner and Fax Machine

It's the beginning of the school year, and if your school is like mine, you have already been inundated with loads of papers. (Somehow the notion of saving paper with online PDFs didn't happen here) With schedules, rules and regulations etc. everyone has a folder of new "stuff" which can easily be stored. I chose to scan the documents and sent them to the cloud for storage. What did I use? CamScanner.

CamScanner is an app for iPhone and Android phones, which  enables your phone to scan and fax documents. The free version has commercials and a limit to how many documents you can scan and the paid version eliminates commercials and allows unlimited scanning. If you are going to use the program a lot, I recommend the paid version, since it's only $4.99.

New Guide: Smartphone Apps for Teachers

There are thousands of apps out there in many different subject areas, and in my new guide I have narrowed the list down to include just the basics for any teacher. (Subject areas to follow in the future) Caveat: the guide covers Android and iPhones.

Open publication - Free publishing - More education apps

All About QR Codes in Your Classroom: Here Are 44 Sites to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

My school does not allow students to use cell phones in the classroom. I don't agree with this policy, but rules are rules. However, assigning homework outside the classroom will allow your kids to learn a new way to use their smartphones, since texting seems to be the only thing they love to do. In June 2011, I did a post explaining QR Codes. With this post, I have put together a large listing which includes lesson ideas, QR apps for smartphones and QR code generators. Best part of all? The resources are free. The ideas are free. And if your school allows cell phones in the classroom, you'll be able to liven up your lessons!  5 Unique Uses for QR Codes- from Mashable15 Creative QR Codes- graphic design teachers take note! 40 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes in the Classroom

45 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes to  Support Learning - great slide presentation by Tom Barrett

101 Uses for Quick Response (QR) Codes

Giant QR Codes in the Classroom

Hot QR Codes in the Classroom- super blog post by the Daring Librarian 

How to Customize QR Codes with Your Brand's Identity

How to Use QR Codes in Student Projects- from SimpleK12

Instructions for a QR Code Book Report

Make Your Own QR Code Scavenger Hunt- from Kelly Tenkely's iLearn Technology blog

Mystery Math QR Code Scanning- for first graders 

The Periodic Table of Elements with QR Codes

QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide- excellent resource from Vicki Davis, the Cool Cat Teacher

QR Code Comic Tutorial- excellent design by the Daring Librarian

QR Code Uses in Libraries- nice long listing for teacher-librarians!

QR Codes: Applications in Libraries

View more PowerPoint from cawa

QR Codes in the Classroom and the Library, too!

View more presentations from gwyneth jones

QR Codes in Education- LiveBinder written by Steven Anderson

QR Codes in Education- explained with Glogster

QR Codes Explained by Common Craft- video

QR Codes and How to Use Them- Prezi by William King

QR Codes in the Classroom- interview with Wyoming science teacher London Jenks, about how he uses QR codes in his classroom

QR Codes: Lessons and Resources- for grades 7-12

QR Codes LiveBinder

QR Literature Quests- 14-slide presentation

TagMyDoc- "TagMyDoc allows you to apply a tag on a document which can be scanned and retrieved as a virtual copy."

Tell a Story with QR Codes- interesting blog post

Top 5 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes

Using QR Codes to Expand the Reading Experience

APPS FOR CELL PHONES
NeoReader- for iPhones

Quick Scan Pro for iPhone- scans barcodes and QR codes

QR Barcode Scanner for Android

QR Code Readers- huge listing of smartphones; choose your phone and the site matches you with a QR reader

QR Droid- rated 5 out of 5 stars

QR Reader for iPhone 

QR Scanner- iPhone

QR CODE GENERATORS
Kaywa- choose content type, content, size

QR Treasure Hunt Generator- in four easy steps

QR Voice- when your code is scanned, a recorded audio message plays

QRpedia- paste any Wikipedia URL in the box and a QR code will be created for you

SnapMaze QR Code Generator and QR Code Reader- choose your content and the color of your code; very simple

Snap.vu- free QR code generator, short URL  and tracking service

Twelve Ideas for Teaching with QR Codes- by Andrew Miller; on Edutopia's site

Loads of Educational Apps on APPitic

Reviewed by Apple Distinguished Educators, APPitic is a super site which boasts more than 1,3000 plus educational apps. Main categories include: SPED and Autism, Pre-School, Themes, Multiple Intelligences, Bloom's Taxonomy, ISTE NETS and Teachers. Many apps are free, and there are also those which cost $$. The site can be translated into 10 different languages. I've been an Apple girl since the first Mac computer, and I am very excited about what APPitic has to offer teachers.