iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

Peter Farrell spent more than a decade teaching math and computer science. Somewhere along the way, he began using Python to create programming challenges to pair with his lessons. But what started as a way to reinforce math concepts gradually developed into something else — a gateway to a more practical approach to math education.

Peter saw how coding projects allowed students to shift from passively learning concepts to actively working, reasoning, and playing with them. In other words, code helped them to go from learning about math to actually doing math. As he says “Why should the science, art, and home-ec students have all the fun? It’s about time we heard students saying Look what I made in math class!”

DigitalOcean’s How To Code in Python 3 tutorial series is available for free as an open educational eBook in both EPUB and PDF formats. Having these tutorials together in an eBook format provides you with a resource that you can use on your favorite e-reader without maintaining a constant internet connection. This way, you can use the book to learn key concepts while offline, or as a reference guide while you are coding on your computer.

Because it is available in an eBook format, How To Code in Python can be used as an Open Educational Resource and therefore as an alternative to a textbook in the classroom. Additionally, the eBook can be made available for the wider public through libraries.

This course introduces computer science through the Python programming language. It is built on the feedback of thousands of educators and hundreds of thousands of students who have used it to learn computer science and apply it to everyday problems. The lessons are designed to be easy for beginners, and test your understanding through problems and visualizations.

Codesters is another excellent website  we are adding to our collection of coding resources. Codesters provides students with an easy and simple editor where they can engage in creative coding projects using Python. Using its drag-to-text toolkit, students will be able to drag snippets of Python codes right into their programs and see them translated into text allowing them to learn the syntax of coding in a natural way. Alternatively, they can type their own codes  and when they are done they simply click on ‘Run’ to see their program in action. Some of the interactive projects students can create using Codesters include games, simulations, animations, graphical images, and many more.

As we move more and more toward a world filled with screens, those possessing coding skills have never been more in demand.

If you’re trying to break into the field, whether you want to program robots, design websites, or become a more desirable employee, learning Python is a good place to start.