Creative Computing Project – Final Report

PSC-IT and ISTE-E Standards Addressed in the Project

6.2/6b Managing Technology & Learning
Candidates manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in a variety of
environments such as digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces, or in the
field. (PSC-IT 6.2, ISTE-E 6b)

6.3/6c Design & Computational Thinking

Candidates create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and/or
computational thinking to innovate and solve problems. (PSC-IT 6.3, ISTE-E 6c)

6.4/6d Creativity
Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge, or
connections. (PSC-IT 6.4, ISTE-E 6d)

In this document you will reflect on the implementation of your Creative Computing Project.
This project could be part of your normal teaching or part of an extra circular activity in either a
formal (k-12 school) or informal (library, community center, etc.) learning setting. Projects
should include some type of computation (e.g., Scratch, Makecode, another programming
languages, or CS Unplugged Activity.)

Suggestions include (but are not limited to):

o Teaching digital storytelling with Scratch
o Doing a CS Unplugged activity to teach about the steps of an algorithm
o Using the Makecode website to teach block-based coding
o Using your SparkFun Inventor’s kit to teach students how to breadboard (e.g., make
their first LED blink and/or control the servomotor.)
o Creating a robotic pet

This activity could be done with a whole class, or a small number of students depending on your
teaching environment.

Name: Chloe Dooley

Grade level: 1st

Subject(s): All

Date of implementation: 4/15/21

Description of Your Creative Computing Project
This section should include a detailed description of your Creative Computing Project. What was
your inspiration? Why did you choose this project? What materials did you need? What type of
context did it take place in? (e.g., traditional classroom, after school program, makerspace, etc.)

When considering what platform to use for my Creative Computing Project, I was
inspired by the Scratch program, as I thought it would be the most fun for students. However,
because I am teaching within my traditional first grade classroom, I needed a program that
would not be too complex for their age. The technology specials teacher at my school
recommended using code.org, which is a first grade friendly coding program. Due to time
constraints, we were not able to begin coding lessons using this website. Instead, code.org led
us to the idea of Hour of Code, which in turn presented other resources that could be used to
conduct the Hour of Code. One of these resources was Code Spark Academy. Within Code
Spark Academy students could play and view games and digital stories that have been created
using code. In turn, students practiced coding to create and share their own game or digital
story with others. For this program, students needed a device such as a laptop or a
Chromebook with internet access.

Use of Technology and Student Learning Strategies (ISTE-E 6b)

This section should document how you managed the use of technology and student learning
strategies as part of your Creative Computing Project.

Students used the codespark.com program complete introductory coding lessons before
creating their own game or digital story to share. During this time, I monitored student
progress through lessons and game or story creation.

ISTE Portfolio Questions

1. What rules, guidelines, and parameters, regarding the use of technology, do you have
for your learners when they are working independently in alternative classroom
settings?

As with all school related activities, students are expected to follow the school
expectations and rules regarding learning and technology. Within the parameters of
this project, students must first complete the pre lessons associated with creating their
own game or digital story. They must remain on the codespark.com ‘Create’ section to
stay focused on the task. By the end of the project, students should produce a game or
digital story to show their coding skills.

2. Do you guide learners to reach out to their peers for support and troubleshooting?

Students had the option to create their game or digital story with a partner.
Students could also seek support from another peer in the collaborative learning space
to help support or troubleshoot issues during the process.
 3. What ways do/can they troubleshoot their needs, independently?

Students could troubleshoot independently by altering their code. Students had

the option to delete or add to their algorithm to change their game or what the
character did in their digital story. After making changes, students could preview their
product to see if their changes corrected the issue. Students could go back to change
their code and view their game or story as many times as they needed before officially
sharing with others.

4. How do you manage the use of technology in these alternative classroom settings?

I managed the use of technology by monitoring and guiding students in their

endeavors. I did this by checking in on student progress, answering questions, making
suggestions and clarifying any confusions in the program.

Design Process (ISTE-E 6c)

In this section you should document the five (5) steps of the design process that you used as part
of your creative computing project. Design processes could include:
 Creative Learning Spiral (Imagine, Create, Play, Share, Reflect),
 Creative Play (Inspire, Imagine, Create, Play Share),
 Engineering Design Process (Ask/Define, Understand, Plan, Create, and Improve), or
 Design Thinking (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test)

I chose to use the Creative Play design process with my students. When introduced to
codespark.com, students were inspired as they viewed games and stories already created by
other students. As students started working through the course, they could begin to imagine
the kind of game or digital story they want to create as they learned the possibilities they had
with coding within the program. Then, students could use their new coding skills to create their
own game or digital story on code.org. Then, they could try it out by playing themselves. After
playing the game, they could share their creation with others in their class by allowing them to
play their game or view their digital story.

ISTE Portfolio Question

1. How do you implement a recognized design-thinking process into your instruction?

Inspire I began by showing students examples of
projects already created by students on the
Code Spark Academy website. During this
step, students viewed these examples as a
class.
Next, I demonstrated how to work through
one of the ‘Create’ options, digital
storytelling, while students were able to view
the process and make suggestions to
contribute to the digital story.

Imagine Next, I monitored and guided students as

they worked through lessons within the
‘Create’ portion of the program.

While completing the lessons on how to

code, students learned about the different
possibilities with coding and began to
imagine what actions, characters, or other
options they wanted to include in their game
or digital story.

Create During this phase, I monitored students to

note their choices and progress as they
began creating. I also made myself available
for any questions to support students with
any issues they might have.

After completing the lessons, students used

Code Spark Academy to create their own
game or digital story. Students chose to
create either a platform game, an adventure
game, or a digital story using code. As I
viewed their game or digital story during the
creating process, I also checked the code the
student created. For some students, I made
suggestions to support them in debugging
any failures in their project. Together, the
student and I practiced trial and error by
adding and deleting parts of the code to see
how they changed their game or digital story.

Play Students entered the play phase of the

design process by trying the new game they
 created, or playing/viewing their digital story.

As students played, they walked me through

what was happening and what the objective
of the game was. I was even able to try
playing a few of the students’ games myself.

Share I viewed completed projects as presented by

students.

In addition to sharing with me, students also

shared with their classmates by presenting
their game or digital story in person on their
account, or by sharing with their class on the
Code Spark website so that others could
access and try it out using their own account.

Evidence of one or more computational artifacts (ISTE-E 6c)

This section should provide evidence of one or more computation artifacts developed as part the
implementation of the Creative Computing Project. This evidence should include one or more
photos of students project and a written description.

Students used code to create their own platform game.

 Above are pictures taken of a student’s digital story created through the
implementation of my Creative Computing Project. This digital story included
characters, feelings, dialogue, and action.

Focus on process, not product (ISTE-E 6c)

What went well in your design process? What could be improved in your design process?

During the inspire phase students were very enthusiastic and excited to learn about
something new. In the future, I would preselect which games or stories to show students to
make sure they are of quality before presenting them to students. During the imagine phase,
students were able to complete introductory coding lessons using their Code Spark account.
Then, students were able to initiate and complete their own game or digital story through the
create phase. Overall, the detail and creativity involved in the game/digital story could be
improved. This could be done by modeling, encouraging, and supporting more complex
algorithms in the students’ coding.

Failure (ISTE-E 6C)

What type of failures did you experience with the project? This could include failures that you
had with planning and teaching your Creative Computing Project in addition to failures that you
observed with students.

Initially, my original idea of using code.org to teach and practice coding did not turn out
to be feasible due to the time required to complete the lessons. The Hour of Code that we
transitioned to using Code Spark Academy also did not prove to be feasible in one hour.
However, overall the time commitment was still doable.
While creating their games, some students came across some glitches. For example,
one student programmed their adventure game to not pick up parts of the maze, but this was
still possible when actually playing the game. When creating a platform game, one student
created a code to change the characters into boulders, but the code would still keep/change
the character into a robot.

Computational Thinking (ISTE-E 6c)

Using language such as abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithms,
describe the computational thinking that you observed as part of your Creative Computing
Project. If you could redesign you lesson, what would you do to encourage more computational
thinking?

Computational thinking was incorporated into my creative computing project as

students used algorithms go through a step by step process to build code to create their game
or digital story.

When students created their own digital story they had to break down the characters’
actions into a step by step format. For example, they had to apply a specific code each time
they wanted a character to move, jump, eat, pick something up, or speak. If students came
across an error in their digital story, they could refer back to their original code and decompose
it to locate where the error occurred. Then, they could attempt to correct their error and test it
again. Students were able to continue this process to debug when necessary. One student in
particular wanted to have an army of characters battle, but once he played his digital story, had
trouble getting the characters to move toward one another. I supported this student in his
computational thinking by deposing his code to see where we could first incorporate
movement. Then, he was able to practice pattern recognition to make each individual
character move in the same way. He then repeated this process to allow each character to
bring an object with them. Again, adding movement and picking up an object was added to his
code for each of the opposing characters. Through this process of decomposition, using
algorithms, and pattern recognition, the student was able to solve his problems.

If I were to redesign this lesson, I would require all students to first create at least one
digital story before creating their own game because creating a digital story required more
intricate coding. I would also possibly set minimum requirements for students to include such
as 2 characters, having each character do at least one movement and speak at least once.

ISTE Portfolio Question

1. How do you provide opportunities for your learners to apply the components of
computational thinking?
 On codespark.com learners applied the components of computational thinking
as they used code to create a game or digital story. Within their game or digital story
students could use an algorithm to apply movement or speaking. They could continue
by using pattern recognition to have characters repeat some of the same movements or
have multiple characters take on the same or similar actions, like speaking. When
students came across problems when testing their product, they could return to their
code and use decomposition to identify the issue, make changes to the algorithm, then
test it again. Students had the opportunity to repeat this process until they were able to
resolve any errors.

ISTE NOTE 1: To meet this criteria you must show how you provide opportunities for your
learners to engage in the Design Thinking or Computational Thinking process, just presenting
on what it is, is not enough.

ISTE NOTE 2: Please specifically identify each of the steps of which process you identify in your
artifact, as well as how the details of the lesson/activity as it fits into the Design Thinking or
Computational Thinking process, in your artifact.

Nurturing Creativity (ISTE-E 6d)

Explain how you intentionally modelled and nurtured creativity and creative expression to
communicate ideas, knowledge, or connections as part of your project. Consider using the 4P
framework (Projects, Peers, Passion, and Play).

I modeled and nurtured creativity and creative expression to my students by showing

them some examples of projects that had already been created by students using
codespark.com. Students spent time playing some of the games and digital stories to see the
possibilities using codespark.com. I then went on to show students how to work through the
lessons and process to create my own game and digital story. Students were included in the
creation process as they gave their input and helped me make choices along the way. Students
were also given the option to engage in informal discussions and/or work with a partner to
explore the possibilities and discuss their preferences and ideas for what they could create.

ISTE Portfolio Questions

1. How do you demonstrate creativity and creative problem solving for your learners by
providing them opportunities to obtain feedback and showcase their final work?

I demonstrated creativity as I modeled building code to create my own game and

then my own story. I also showed how possible problems may come about and the
steps to take to try to solve the problem through trial and error. I answered questions
and offered suggestions to support students as they worked to create a final product.
Prior to submitting their work using the ‘share’ option, students had the opportunity to
unofficially share their work with me to obtain feedback and make any changes to their
code before officially sharing.
 2. What opportunities are you providing for your learners to express their own creativity?

Students were able to express their creativity as they built their avatar for their
codespark.com account by choosing from many of the options provided. Students
selected a hairstyle, mouth, accessories, and colors for all characteristics of their avatar.
They also selected their own name for their avatar.
Additionally, students could choose to make a platform game, adventure game,
or digital story. After students made their choice, they had free range to use all the
tools provided and their imagination as they made decisions during the creative process.

3. How do your learners share their work with others?

Learners shared their work with others in a few ways. If the learner decided to
create a game, they demonstrated how to play the game and then allowed others to try
it themselves. If the learner chose to create a story, they presented the story to others
by playing their digital story.
Students also had the option to share their work within the Code Spark program.
They could share their game or digital story on the codespark.com website for anyone
to play or view, or with only their class on the website, so their peers could play/view
their game or digital story using their own accounts.

4. Do you provide opportunities for peer feedback?

Students provided feedback to one another through informal conversation as

students shared and allowed others to play their game or view their digital story. In
addition, there is a space on Code Spark where players can select emojis to give
feedback about a game. A couple of these options include a heart, easy rating and a
red, yellow, or blue shape as an overall rating system.

5. Do you encourage this creativity using technology resources and/or tools?

Students were encouraged to exhibit their creativity through the inspire and
imagine stages of the design process, where they were able to view projects previously
created by students using codespark.com as well as view and practice using the tools
and other creative options such as characters and actions, provided by codespark.com.

Final Thoughts
Use this section for any additional reflection that you have about the Creative Computing
Project or how you see creativity could be better infused into the learning process.
 Overall, my students loved learning about coding through Code Spark Academy and
continue to ask if they can go back on the program to do more and share more of what they
have created with me.
Another way students may incorporate more creativity into their work on Code Spark
Academy might be to use a story they have written in class and transfer this story to a digital
story using Code Spark.
One component of Code Spark that I learned about was that students must
complete/beat their own game before they are able to publish it. I like the idea of this
requirement so that students are only sharing completed projects of value and are forced to
check the feasibility of their game and to identify any corrections that need to be made first
before sharing with others.