Creative Computing is “a collection of ideas, strategies, and activities for an introductory creative computing experience using the Scratch programming language”. Activities are used to acquaint students with working with code, making it a fun way to introduce computer science and computing-related subjects to young people and utilizing interesting projects that have a personal connection. It also gives students agency to design and create, allowing them to become producers, and gives students skills they can use in all aspects of their lives and across disciplines. This is similar to the benefits of art education in that it effects areas outside of it’s own field, and provides lifelong skills that can be used in many ways. This also relates to my knowledge of art in that it allows students to use their creativity and imagination, and involves creating something and being able to share the experience with others.
Three ways to assess Creative Computing projects are Artifact-Based Interviews, Design Scenarios, and Learner Documentation. Artifact-Based Interviews utilize conversations and questions about computational products and practices. Design Scenarios utilize projects involving critiquing, extending, debugging, and remixing. Learner Documentation utilizes reflection on student’s own learning process. These assessment strategies can be used in an art classroom by having one on one check in discussions with students to ensure comprehension; creating art projects that utilize concepts of critiquing, extending, debugging, and remixing; and having students journal about what they learned in class and any ideas and inspiration for future artwork as a daily/ weekly homework assignment.
One lesson I would like to try out in my future art classroom is Unit 1: Exploring, because I think it would be a great opportunity to each student’s foot in the door with coding, and spark the initial intrigue. Aside from that, the ideas of learning sequence and organizing ideas that this lesson consists of develops skills that can be transferred to future projects as well. Another lesson I’d like to try out is Unit 2: Animations, because it utilizes art-themed activities, and thus I think it would be a good way to demonstrate to students that art is an interdisciplinary field. Also, I’d like to try the lesson Unit 3: Stories, because it will provide students with the opportunity to work collaboratively, which I will use to encourage them to share different perspectives and learn from each other. Furthermore, the concepts the lesson teaches of experimenting, iterating, reusing and remixing can be transferred to future art projects as well.
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