Ignite coding with Codespark Academy and The Foos

A Discovery

I only just came across this coding app a couple of weeks ago whilst traveling in Bali. I have since tested out all the levels and introduced it to Year 1 & 2 students. I love this coding app – and so do my students! Yet another app that can get your students coding today.

An Overview

There are a lot of different areas to explore and code, in this delightful coding app from Codespark Academy. In each area, your students will have to complete a different set of challenges that revolve around giving a character on the screen instructions. Take for example Donut Detective This area is broken up into 17 levels, where you control what direction and actions the Donut Detective takes in order to collect the stolen donuts! The students will need to drag and drop the correct blocks to complete each mission; these get progressively harder as they progress.

In Practice

I went through the first 3-5 levels in Donut Detective with the students, to get them used to the user interface and to explain the coding parts. At each level, the students must tap on the detective to test the code. If they got the code in the right order they complete the level and are awarded between 1 and 3 stars. When I did the demonstration I showed them an example where I only got 2 stars and asked them how could we improve; which allowed me to get into bug/debugging. We then went back, changed the order of the code, and got 3 stars. For me, it makes sense to use this coding app after you have tried out Daisy the Dinosaur, or perhaps Scratch JR.

Moving Forwards

Codespark has provided a LOT of free resources with this app when you sign up as an educator – thank you so much! The resources include a full 15-20 hour curriculum, complete with lesson plans, resources, draw your own foo, solutions, and a link to standards amongst others. Later on, your students will learn about loops, and events and they will even get to design their own levels! As well, when you log in as admin, you have access to individual student progress throughout all of the levels/areas; which of course helps with spotting any failings in understanding so that you can address them with your students. You can also lock and unlock areas that the students can complete, which is great for pause and reflection. This app should be part of every schools coding curriculum.

Click here for the video review