Digital tools for education

To make education sessions more interesting you can use a wealth of online multi-media tools with your kids.  Here are some examples (some of which are from itunesU course KQED Education Digital Tools).

wordle - create cloud of words


Popplet - online mind mapping tools - simple and fun to use

 Timetoast - Create online timelines and add lots on annotations







padlet - Create wall of visual media

easel.ly - Infographic tools


pinterest - Pin visual media





 

Programming for the web

There are many options for programming for the web. These are some of the key technologies that you would definitely want to start with. There are plenty of courses and books on  these but the key is to practice.

HTML5 - markup language for structure of web page
CSS - cascading style sheets control visualisation of web pages
JavaScript - controls the behavior of web pages

CMS - Content Management System - stores web content in a database. A good tool to start with available for free is Drupal.

Code editors
There are many, many great code editors  for free and for a fee.
A good one on Mac is Brackets, available for free from Adobe. There is a large community also using Eclipse available on multiple platforms.

Graphic editors
Gimp is a free tool - but can be a difficult learning curve, though many learning resources on the web
Inkscape is a great free tool for vector graphics
Adode tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Dreamweaver etc are widely used in the industry but costs

Programming for younger kids

I was asked how do I get my kids into programming - where do we start? There are a lot of choices but the key is to make it fun, interesting, diverse but also educational.

Here are a few choices for younger kids. What are some other ones you would recommend?

Scratch
Created by MIT. Fun way to create programs with graphical programming blocks.

Raspberry Pi
Created to inspire kids to work with computers. But a ~$40 Raspberry Pi, set it up and program.

Lego Robotics
Nuff said!

Khan Academy
Has an increasing number of programming courses - typically JavaScript

Code
Try the hour of code challenges. Lots of courses.