Debug the LightBot

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!

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!!

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.