It wasn't too hard or too easy.
Liked that it was typing and not blocks.
It was too fun to be learning.
Biggest compliments- One student wants to document his work on his YouTube channel. Another asked if he could get his iPad from his locker and post to his Snapchat story.
More lights. Different colored lights. Bigger Microbit.
Sometimes not sure what the directions mean.
With errors- sometimes need more specific feedback.
Lessons- Does the work have to sequential? Are there different ways to move through the projects?
It's hard to fit the micro USB plug. Was afraid of breaking it.
Overall, a very positive response from students. Out of 76 users, all but one really enjoyed the lessons. That's a very high success rate.
I liked that students sometimes had to struggle a bit to figure it out. I don't want it to be too easy.
Suggestion- I would like to have a teacher dashboard so that I can see the progress my students are making. With 76 students using the software, it would be helpful to see more about their work, rather than what I see from looking over their shoulders. Some students spend more time freestyling and haven't progressed through as many lessons. That's OK with me. At the end of the day, a teacher dashboard would show more of the big picture of their work.
In the beginning, students really wanted to get started with programming, but there was quite a bit to read. Is there a quicker way to get through all of that very important information at the beginning? Maybe a video that also set up the purpose for learning Python? I am also thinking of other users of this product. It might not be as big an issue in my classes of gifted students, but many regular education students might have difficulty accessing lots of text.
I have used quite a few different sources for programming with students in the past, and I really like this product.
I asked each of my classes what advice they would give my next group. Each class said the same thing.
Don't try to go too fast.
This is great feedback Tammy! Are all of the students we heard from today in 3rd grade?
The teacher dashboard is DEFINITELY on our to do list. It is a feature that unfortunately will not be developed by launch though. It's a pretty big implementation as this will be part of the Google Classroom integration piece we plan to do. We have already reached out to Google because we know we will need some information from them. In addition to not having enough time before launch to do this implementation, Google won't even talk to us until we have the product actually on the market.
We don't have a time frame yet as the job is big and some research time will need to go into this in order to architect it and then implement.
Videos are also coming. I like your idea of using a video to introduce why python. But as far as the content of reading at the beginning...yeah, it's a lot. The older the student, the more tolerance there seems to be for it. We will put this on the list for continuous improvement.
We will be adding a lesson that helps understand the error messages better-also the debugger (which is essential as the students go off book-AND it's a professional tool).
This is GREAT! We would LOVE for him to document. If he does please help him communicate that the software he is using is from FiriaLabs since it is WAY diffrerent than what the microbit foundation offers. And btw, we will have an Explorer Kit to purchase that is for individuals. We will just need to find out how to get the message to parents in a way that is appropriate and acceptable to the schools.
Lessons being sequential is pretty important. We are wrestling with ideas of whether to let the students move on to another lesson until they have completed one or not. Our observation in the local Betas showed us that some students bounce around and/or they jump way ahead without having learned the previous lessons. The lessons are fairly building upon each other so sequential is important.
I'm so glad that you like this product! Having interviewed you, that means tons to us because we know that you've used a lot of different products and made up your own curriculum. THANKS!
Please keep me in the loop with how far your young students can go through the lessons. My guess is that their ability to come up with "freestylin" ideas might be more limited than the older students. We found a pretty big difference between 4 and 5th grade on that. And then the 6th grade had even more sophistacted and creative ideas. We did not have any younger than 4th grade locally test CodeSpace.
I am only working with 5th graders with this. I teach math to 3rd graders, but not at the C3 Center.