Education
See in schedule Download/View SlidesIn the last few weeks, one of the largest and most exciting experiments in the history of mankind has taken place, with over 900 million children in over 190 countries being the recipients of online (virtual) education.
And in one corner of the globe in a high school in the UK, Python Programming lessons in an entirely online medium were delivered for the 1st time as opposed to the then normal face-to-face mode of delivery.
We will see in this poster how the teaching of Python Programming in this online fashion was both delivered and received, for a group of children aged 11-14.
We will discuss how great efforts were made to ensure that the online sessions were fit-for-purpose, educational and at the same time exciting and fun.
We will discuss how we discovered the pleasant surprises and advantages of teaching on an online forum.
We will look at some of the Python Programs, such as currency converters, modelling graphs using libraries, random password generaters, etc. produced by the children.
To conclude, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience for all concerned (i.e educators, students, parents, etc.) and we believe going forward the education system should also seriously incorporate this medium of online learning, not just for adults but also for children.
Type: Poster session (45 mins); Python level: Beginner; Domain level: Beginner
Lilian studied Computer Science at high school and did her PhD in Computer Modelling from University College London. She went on to looking at computer applications and programming in the pharmaceutical sector before entering formal teaching for the next generation. She is currently engaged in teaching Python programming, C# and Javascript. She has given lectures in conferences both in the UK and abroad about the teaching of Computer Programming to young people. She has ran computer clubs including that of 'computer-assisted' investment for children and is a full member of the British Computer Society.
Lilian firmly believes that in this emergent brave new world, the Anthrpocene age, the computer (with its associated technologies) is the harbinger to transform globally man's short slavish existence to a better one - a world community defined by longer, richer and freer life experiences. She believes it is imperative that our schools empower our young children with his new knowledge, and Lilian herself did help reshape the Computer Science Department of an independent boys' school as Head of Department. She has produced for children more than 75 YouTube (online) videos on Computer Science and Programming - and has had more than 12,000 hits globally.
