I created my first website in 2001. It had a bright yellow background, rows of rotating red stars and a red title that scrolled across the page. It was truly hideous but I can still remember how proud I was to have created it. One of the reasons I was so proud was because I wasn’t just using a simple markup language to create a website, I was learning how to solve problems – how could I change my code so that those ugly rotating stars were evenly spaced across the page regardless of the screen size? Problem-solving skills are the foundation of learning to program and it’s why coding is such an important skill for students to learn. The power of programming cannot be understated because quite simply, it opens new worlds. There is nothing more rewarding than watching a student’s sense of achievement as his lines of code transform into powerful programs, amazing games, interactive animations and useful mobile applications.
Students at St Edmund’s are provided with lots of opportunities to develop their coding skills. STEAM i.e. integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics is offered as a co-curricular activity for students in Years 7-12 on Wednesdays, while Junior School students are able to join the Coding Club on Thursday afternoons. Students participating in STEAM and the Coding Club have been working on a range of activities including designing and building a motorised bike, building drones, learning 3D modelling using Maya, creating games using Scratch, Gamemaker and Unity as well as programming robots in preparation for the Junior RoboCup held in August. Congratulations to the following boys for their efforts in this competition: Josh Bryce, Daniel Isherwood, Jacob MacDonald, Aidyn McKay, Hugh Munro, Rakai Murray, Lachlan Nicholls, Loki Ryan and Lachlan Vearing.
Students studying Information Technology at St Edmund’s have had lots of opportunities to learn a programming language. Students progress from visual programming using block code to learning how to use text-based languages. Year 10 students are currently discovering how microcontrollers work and creating programs to set up simple circuits while senior students have been using C# to program games in Unity.
One of the great things about learning to program is that there are so many fantastic resources available. One of my favourites is Solo Learn (https://www.sololearn.com/). It is free and it also includes a phone App. Code Academy (https://www.codecademy.com/) is also another good resource. Learning to code is a lifetime pursuit that brings an enormous amount of joy, frustration, passion and satisfaction. In today’s digital world, the ability to code will one day be as important as the ability to write. Coding is fast becoming the new Literacy.
Margaret Maher (Director of ICT and Innovation)