Great tool for introducing coding concepts to young programmers!

Submitted 7 years ago

Community Review for Lightbot : Programming Puzzles

Jana C.
Jana C.
Teacher
Lovett Elementary School
Clinton MS, US
My Rating
Pedagogy
Supports

My Take

My take is that this is an AMAZING tool to get kids excited about coding. It's very engaging (and a little addictive!). It works well in various settings and with a variety of student populations, which is especially helpful when you have students ranging from special needs to gifted at the same time. More practice with each step would probably benefit this app (i.e. more simple puzzles should be available to solidify a concept before jumping into it too deeply). Overall, a great tool!

How I Use It

I introduced the Lightbot app to my 5th grade students after they were already comfortable with block coding. They understood coding basics (algorithms, debugging, loops) and were able to see those in Lightbot and therefore use it as a teaching tool themselves. These 5th grade students visited 4th grade classrooms during our school's Hour of Code event last year. 5th graders introduced 4th graders (in a one-on-one partner setting) to the concept of coding using Lightbot. It worked well to have a more experienced student guide students with little to no coding experience in knowing how to program the bot. The most difficultly came in with the separate programs and looping (P1 and P2). The app jumps into these on a more sophisticated level than I would prefer.

More community reviews for Lightbot : Programming Puzzles

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Melissa Z.
Melissa Z. Teacher Alfred G Zanetti School Springfield, MA
December 14, 2016

Debug the LightBot

If you are doing Hour of Code and can give some modeling time before letting them use it than it is a great website. If you are just going to let the 1st graders use it without explanation it is going to be too hard for them. If you use it with older kids I think they will pick up on it quickly. It really does a great job of teaching students to problem solve and debug a situation. Also, if you have them working with partners they can collaborate on the answers.
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Lisa S.
Lisa S. Technology Integration Specialist Sabetha, KS
December 1, 2014

Great Hour of Code Resource for Young Folks

Overall, it is important to keep in mind that this is not just playing a game. Coding and activities like LightBot encourage many "soft skills" our students need: critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, persistence in the face of challenge and failure, cooperation with others. It isn't just about creating a generation of kids who want to become computer scientists...though there will continue to be career opportunities for them, for sure!!
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Lisa B.
Lisa B. Hershey Middle School Hershey, PA
November 28, 2014

Lightbot teaches the foundation of coding and basic map reading skills

By having students sit in small groups while going through the levels of Lightbot, they were helping each other out when they got stuck. There are only basic tutorials on the app for new skills introduced, the students have to figure out many parts on their own. There were a few levels that were extra frustrating, especially to the teacher, who also couldn’t get past it nor could I help the students. The cost is an issue. I can’t justify spending $2.99 for a single lesson resource. However, there is a free version and one for the Hour of Code that was detailed enough to teach the students what I needed them to learn. It is nice that the website and app works across so many devices since my classroom is BYOT; resources need to be available on iOS, Android, phones, tablets, netbooks, etc. I look forward to using this again this year for the Hour of Code.
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