Wednesday, 8 February 2012

VRML

I've uploaded my materials for teaching VRML to my Google Site here.

They include student booklet, the cortona plugin and some code examples.

There's some amazing VRML worlds here. (You will need the plugin installed to appreciate)

Enjoy!

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Warriors of the NET

A good (if cheesy) video explaining how networks work and covering terms such as protocols, ip, switch, router, hub. 

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Computational Thinking




Computational Thinking is now a key element of the new IB arrangements.  Here are some sites which might help:
AGENTSHEETS
A computational science authoring tool
scalablegamedesign.cs.colorado.edu

Alice
Programming language based on Standard ML
www.ps.uni-sb.de/alice/

Beginer Developer Learning Center
from Microsoft ®
msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/

Computer Science 4 Fun
www.cs4fn.org/

Computer Science -in -a-Box
Teach computational concepts without a computer
www.ncwit.org/unplugged

Computer Science Teachers Association
The primary resource for all CS teachers
csta.acm.org/

Computer Science Unpluged
csunplugged.com/

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA COMPUTATION
A media-based path into computer science
coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-plan

Phrogram
A programming environment for kids
phrogram.com/

Pre -Collegiate Faculty Connection
from Microsoft ®
www.microsoft.com/education/facultyconnection/
precollegiate

Scratch
Easy to learn programming for children
scratch.mit.edu/

The Integrated Circuit
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/physics/

Monday, 23 January 2012

IB Computer Science - new arrangements documents

Change is inevitable...
IB Computer Science is changing next year (for first exam in 2014). 
Hopefully the move from Group 5 to Group 4 will have a positive impact on student uptake.  There are also quite a lot of dramatic changes with the compulsory OOP in Java element becoming one of four options.  The need for it to be Java has also been removed. 

We will probably stick with OOP as our elective and continue to use Java initially til we see what other schools are doing. 

Details of the changes can be found in these documents:

Computer Science Guide

Computer Science Subject Outline

There is also a good screencast on the OCC from the subject manager.

Scratch resources

Scratch workbooks for making 3 different types of game can be found here:
Block Breaker

Puff Collector

Maze Adventure

Friday, 20 January 2012

New IB course structure and content

Core Topics:
• Topic 1: System fundamentals (20 hours)
• Topic 2: Computer organization (6 hours)
• Topic 3: Networks (9 hours)
• Topic 4: Computational thinking, problem-solving and programming (45 hours)
HL extension
• Topic 5: Abstract data structures (23 hours)
• Topic 6: Resource management (8 hours)
• Topic 7: Control (14 hours)
Case studyAdditional subject content introduced by the annually issued case study
Option
(SL/HL core with aHL extension)
Option A: Databases
Option B: Modelling and simulation
Option C: Web science
Option D: Object-oriented programming (OOP)
Internal assessment
Practical application of skills through the development of a product and associated documentation
Group 4 project

(from August 2012, first examination 2014)