Subject: Technologies
Strand: Digital Technology
Year level: 1-6
Description:
Tynker is a creative computing platform where students are able to learn how to program and build Apps, games and more. It is self paced and is easily incorporated into the Western Australian school curriculum (School Curriculum and Standards Authority, Government of Western Australia) in the subject of Technologies particularly the strand of Digital Technologies.
Students are encouraged and engaged to create games and animated projects using visual coding and provides them with the knowledge foundations in programming and computational thinking which will then help their progress into mainstream object orientated programming. It has powerful kid friendly tools and guided, independent instruction for your students.
The resources and instruction that are available to teachers are also fantastic. It has ready to use, grade specific lesson plans and links to STEM project templates for Math, Science, ICT and English to name a few.
Tynker can be used across different PC platforms (Windows or Mac) and mobile devices running IOS or Android.
Links:
Below are a link to Tynker’s website which will allow a free initial sign up for schools to look at coding across Year levels 1 to 8. This will introduce your class to visual programming. In this course, students get introduced to basic programming as they create interactive stories, design animations, and make mini-games in Tynker’s game-like interface. Each lesson is designed for a class period of 45-60 minutes.
https://www.tynker.com/school/courses/show?id=0-programming-100
https://www.tynker.com/play?p=518173ef75209f6e64000198
This is a great video explaining why everyone loves Tynker!
Sub-strands and Content Descriptors:
Tynker’s courses cover sub-strands and many different Content Descriptors in each year group such as;
Year 1
Strand: Knowledge and Understanding
Representation of Data:
- Data can have patterns and can be represented as pictures, symbols and diagrams (ACTDK002)
Strand: Process and Production Skills
Collecting, Analysing and Representing Data
Present data of any kind using a variety of digital tools (ACTDIP003)
Hi Stephen,
I had not heard of Tynker! But what a wonderful program where students can work at their own pace but their learning is directly linked to the curriculum!
It sounds like there are wonderful resources for teachers which is very useful, especially for those who may be anxious about using online programs.
Thank you for sharing!