Introducing Computational Thinking – A Free Course

Greg MillicanProfessional Development, Teachers
Google would like to share a resource with you! It is a course to help educators learn about computational thinking (CT), how it differs from computer science, and how it can be integrated into a variety of subject areas. As a course participant, you will increase your awareness of CT, explore examples of CT integrated into your subject areas, experiment with examples of CT-integrated activities for your subject areas, and create a plan to integrate CT into your own curricula.
It’s available online for enrolment now and free.  And it’s for teachers of every discipline.The course is divided into five units, each focusing on the following:

  • Introducing Computational Thinking: What is CT? – What is computational thinking, where does it occur, why should you care, and how is it being applied?
  • Exploring Algorithms – Walk through examples of algorithms used in your subject area. Recognize why algorithms are powerful tools to increase what you can do and that technology can be useful for implementing and automating algorithms.
  • Finding Patterns – Explore examples of patterns in various subjects and develop your own processes for approaching a problem through pattern recognition.
  • Developing Algorithms – Increase your confidence in applying the computational process to a given problem and recognize how algorithms can articulate a process or rule.
  • Final Project: Applying Computational Thinking – Create a statement of how computational thinking applies to your subject area and a plan to integrate it into your work and classroom.
Thanks to ICTENSW for this notification.