App of the week

Hopscotch

This is a free app that can be used to teach students problem solving and logical thinking skills in a fun and engaging way.

Benefits include;

• Simple attractive design that encourages students of all abilities to learn computer science 
• The sharing features allow students to be part of a coding community
• With its open-ended play and built in guidance, it caters to the needs of all student learning styles 

This short movie demonstrates how Hopscotch can be used in Mathematics to create 2D shapes.

Once students get the initial idea of how to use the app, you can set them challenges to create many other shapes or sequences and get them to really test out their coding and critical thinking skills.

Some great ideas on how to use Hopscotch in other subjects can be found in the iBooks App, search for "Hopscotch Lesson Ideas" and download the book onto your iPad.

You will see that it has many lesson ideas for many subjects and differing age ranges. It also offers a sample rubric with each lesson to help teachers asses the project. Play the movie below to take a peek at the content.

There are also several challenges that the app itself offers, which allows students to build up their coding skills. Students have the ability to publish their work and receive recognition.