ECIS is the European Council of International Schools. They have an ed tech conference every two years. This year, the ECIS Technology Conference will be at Bavarian International School. My first “Coetail” online friend, @vzimmer is from that school.
Coetail Co-founder, @mscofino will be keynote speaker. Besides Kim, there are a number of Coetailers on the speakers list: @davidwbeaty, @carriezimmer @jocelynsutherland @triciafriedman
I’m excited to find out that one of the Coetailers that I mentor, @emilyroze, will be attending. What fun! I’ll get to meet her face2face!
“Yours truly” will also be giving a presentation and workshop entitled “Getting into the Loop: Coding in the Primary School”. (Don’t come and, above all, don’t heckle me! 
)
“A friendly introduction to the ‘lay of the land’ for coding in the Primary School”
You’ve heard the buzz around the Hour of Code, felt and wanted the energy, but have no clue how to code?! This is a friendly introduction to the ‘lay of the land’ for coding in the Primary School. Learn about the pedagogical history and rationale, the inclusion of computer programming in national curriculums, various age appropriate programs to teach coding—including ‘unplugged’ activities that don’t require a computer, ideas for integrating it in the curriculum, discuss transitioning from visual-based to text-based coding, making meaning by coding to make interactive projects or robotics. Workshop portion has you learning music through the integration of coding. No prior coding or music skills required!
- Skill level required Beginner
- Audience Primary School
- Pre-requisites Participants need to bring a wifi equipped laptop to access internet in order to participate in the workshop portion, where they play with coding to create music. Participants with no or little music background will need to access website https://scratch.mit.edu They should create a profile at the website (join Scratch) before the day in order to save workshop time. Participants with some music background and who want more of a challenge for the workshop portion should preinstall software before the day. They must go to https://sonic-pi.net/ and have downloaded and pre-installed “Sonic Pi” for their Mac or Windows laptop
- Learning Objectives Confidence that they can guide students to learn how to code, despite not having a coding background. Handout of a list of websites and apps that students can open and start learning how to code right away. Handout of a few unplugged coding activities (activities to teach coding without the need of a computer). Leave with ideas of how they might be able to integrate coding skills into their curriculum
- Equipment needed Laptop, Headphones/Earbuds for the workshop portion if outside noise bothers you
Coetail Meet-Up
Since there are so many Coetailers at the conference, we’re going to try to arrange a time for a Coetail meetup. It might not be Learning 2.15, but we can call it Learning TOO.15 (yuck, yuck :p)
In the meanwhile, I’ve a load of homework to do to get ready for my presentation. During Coetail Course 3, we learned a lot about visual presentation but most of it focussed on the visual presentation slides. The other parts of giving a presentation involve vocal tone, inflection & delivery, body language, and the actual “story” of your presentation. I’m finding it very interesting thinking about these other aspects.
~Maybe see you at the conference?! If not, follow the Twitter trail! #ECISTECH2015
Vivian
