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The Mobile Makerspace @ WSMS LMC: Coding

This guide contains projects, tips and tutorials related to the WSMS Makerspace!

Coding Challenges

Hopscotch / Coding challenges: 

  • Create a computer game that is fun and challenging for your peers. You may use other people's games as inspiration or to learn how they coded some aspect of the game, but you must create your game from scratch. Be sure to have clear rules and objectives for your game.
  • Create an animation to tell someone you've just met about yourself. Make sure to make it interactive in some way.
  • Create a movie trailer for your favorite (school appropriate) movie. Trailer should begin when someone taps the screen. 

Coding Basics

In the past 5-10 years, computer programming has gone from a skill reserved only for those who were highly trained to an activity that is accessible to most novices. While computer programming used to be reserved to just computers, it is now also possible on mobile devices such as phones and tablets. 

On a school-issued iPad, each student should have access to a programming app called "Hopscotch". You may have used this in the past to play games, but did you know that you can use this app to create your own games? Hopscotch is a graphical programming language which uses block-like commands that snap together into a sequence. When you set this sequence in motion, you will see the result of the chain of commands that you have created. 

Hopscotch is a great way to get started programming. It will help you think about how to solve a complex problem (such as making a simple game on your iPad) into smaller commands that will achieve your end goal. Once you master this skill, you can move on to more complex coding languages like Scratch, Python or Javascript. 

Video Tutorials on Coding