Dec. 4, 2020
Computer Science education week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hooper; this year the week runs from December 7-13. Purple Mash has a whole range of applications and activities that you can make use of either for an hour of code, the whole week and even throughout the year
The annual program is dedicated to inspiring students to take an interest in computer science and develop and nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities, you can find out more about the hour of code and the activities for this year here.
Purple Mash and Computer Science Education week
Purple Mash has a whole range of applications and activities that you can make use of either for an hour of code, the whole week and even throughout the year. We have highlighted our top three below:
2Go
This application is a good way of introducing students, especially very young ones, to the idea of programming. If the children have used a floor robot, they will understand this application right away, because it’s like a screen version of that. And if you’re familiar with the decades old program Logo, you’ll recognise it immediately too.
What makes 2Go stand out is that it has several levels of complexity. The default starting point is very simple indeed: students click on an arrow to make the turtle go in one of four directions. But behind the scenes, which you can get to by clicking the Settings icon, are options to make the program more complex. Alongside this by using the search bar you will also find a guidance document as well as ‘challenges’ which will give you even more ideas for activities in lessons.
This is 2Simple’s version of block coding. It’s a very visual and hands-on way to start learning programming.
The short video below provides a guide to coding in Purple Mash:
There are a wealth of support materials within 2Code: video tutorials, a glossary, and Coding resources containing guided lessons and solutions; perfect to explore coding with your students during this week. Even if you are not a Purple Mash subscriber you can try some of the activities for FREE during Computer Science Week :
A fantastic program to use during the week would be the solve The Time-Crimes of Logonator. Evil android Logonator has gone rogue. He is travelling through time, altering key events in history to suit his malign intentions. The only way to stop him is to repair the damage he has sown already before it's too late. And the only people capable of this, your students. Are they ready?
Watch the briefing here:
The Time-Crimes of Logonator is a series of Logo programming challenges with Purple Mash, designed to engage children of all abilities with applied programming. Alongside these activities there are also a range of writing templates, activities and slideshows which can be used during the week – you can find all our resources to support Computing Science week here.
You can also download and print off the following certificate for everyone that completes an activity during the week. Hour of Code Certificate
Support for teachers
The teacher area within Purple Mash also offers a whole range of support. The Digital Technologies Scheme of Work includes overviews, lesson plans, vocabulary, knowledge organisers and assessment. The subject leader’s toolkit also offers a range of tools to support you in the role and this can be downloaded here for free.
Computer Science Week may also be a good time to launch the Digital Leader scheme within your school, you can find all our updated resources here as well as this term's challenges! Digital leaders can also help run a Mash Club is the computing club that puts children in charge of their learning, taking them on an after-school journey so creative they'll never want to leave.
Whatever you do for #CodeWeek we would love to see your coding creations shared with us on either our Facebook and Twitter pages.
