How to Teach Computer Science

Rebecca Franks and I talk about Enrichment, but as Rebecca is co-founder of Flip Computing, we can't resist going back to the subject of the last episode: inclusion. Flip Computing and Quality First Teaching get a mention, then I hear all about Flock XR, the new, free, 3D creation tool that bridges the gap between Scratch and products like Blender. Also Alan waits while you donate to keep the podc...

I chat with the co-editor of "Inclusive Computing Education in the Secondary School", Ellie Overland. We discuss the moral imperative for inclusion, how all teachers want to include everyone, the limitations of seating plans, coloured paper and fidget spinners. How it's all about curriculum, role models and language - looking at you, Paxman. We critique one-size-fits-all lesson planning templates...

The brilliant Miles Berry and Becci Peters and I chat all things AI in education. Becci gives us practical tips for lesson planning and engagement. Alan explains why students still need to know stuff. Do they need to code though? Alan writes an app with AI, Miles names it "six impossible things". We discuss the "Barefoot" poster and ask "Is CT 2.0 just tinkering in fancy clothes?" Miles favours a...

Almost an hour of cracking bantz from Dave Cross, Becci Peters, Andy Colley and myself covering ways to reduce workload in the Computing department. Centralised curriculum, beg-steal-borrowing resources including from CAS, co-planning, feedback NOT marking, and getting behaviour right. And how to use dictionary coding for your feedback if you really MUST mark everything that moves! Daily retrieval...

I discuss Issues and Impacts of computing with the wonderful Beverly Clarke MBE. We discuss AI (of course), and the impact of automation on jobs and the economy, The value of Tik Tok (and the danger). Digital wellbeing and how you can plant trees while regaining control over your doomscrolling! Universal basic income, digital wellbeing, and involving young people in decisions about tech. And helic...

ECDL, CIDA, DIDA, we taught them all! Nowadays we're all about Computer Science GCSE but how do we get there? Andrew Virnuls returns, joined by Becci Peters of CAS to talk about the key stage 4 curriculum and qualification landscape. How do we teach the KS4 Computing national curriculum? Should there be two GCSEs? Should coursework make a return? None of these are answered definitively in this lat...

S2 E01: Pete and I discuss Microbits, Pis and the hassles of getting permission to drop something from a drone. Making computing interesting - don't say "fun"! And we go off-topic about AI, report-writing and much more. Series 2 begins with a bang, my dog gets another new name, and there will be jokes. Terrible, terrible jokes. You have been warned.

The concluding part of my chat with David Morgan aka "The Lesson Hacker". We talk AI-drawn Labradors with two tails, AI failing to get Star Trek uniforms right, and the end of the costume rental industry! We also talk about important stuff like adaptive teaching and personalised learning.  Transcript at httcs.online/blog David's website: mindjoy.com Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/mraharrisoncs   Use t...

David Morgan of Craig'n'Dave and Mindjoy joins me to talk about the future. Apparently it's here already, who knew? Personalised teaching bots, the history of cheating and how to become a "10x teacher". We talk ChatGPT, CS50.ai and making our own PRIMM bot. We bond over Microsoft Encarta and a shared dislike of differentiated worksheets (*shudder*). This episode features the phrase "I spent the we...

One of the best known creators of computing education content, one half of Craig'n'Dave, Dave Hillyard, joins me to talk about Hungarian Dancers, Snakes and Ladders and the day we did a "collab". It's abstractions all the way down in this epic that you must listen to if you teach algorithms. Transcript on my blog at httcs.online/blog Buy me a coffee at ko-fi.com/mraharrisoncs Buy my book and more...

Rachel Arthur from Teach First joins me to talk all things Initial Teacher Training. We discuss the joys of teaching computing, routes into teaching, what to expect from your placements and why we need more recruits for the robot apocalypse! And find out if Rachel and I are even human or perhaps just deepfakes. Confused? You will be in Episode 7! Transcript at httcs.online/blog Buy me a coffee at...

Miss Tough joins me to discuss exam preparation: revision techniques, retrieval practice, making mind maps (or not!) answering exam questions. Playing Taboo! and corny computing jokes. I tell you what happened in the 80s when I swung on my chair and we discuss teacher cliches like "it's your own time you're wasting!" Transcript on my blog at httcs.online/blog Listen for a discount code for 20% off...

I meet the teenagers behind "Mission Encodable", a Python tutorial website, hear their stories of learning to code and why they made the product. I reminisce about my classroom days when I wrote "10 PRINT "MY TEACHER IS AN IDIOT" / 20 GOTO 10" and I share a promo code for my books and more at johncattbookshop.com .  Mission Encodable is here missionencodeable.com   The full Transcript is here and...

In this episode I explore pedagogy, the art of teaching, with the help of highly experienced computer science teacher Andy Colley. We talk explicit instruction, cold calling, checking for understanding, PRIMM and much more, and agree that lots of computing-related jokes are not very funny. I wrestle with a printer and Andy goes off on a tangent more than once. A bumper 43-minute episode you cannot...

What have Braille and Burger Emojis got in common? I take a deep dive into the subject of Data Representation with the help of my special guest Andrew Virnuls of advanced-ict.info , we demystify binary, bit depth and sample rate, talk about cross-stitching, and I reveal the winners of recent competitions!  Transcript at httcs.online/blog . If you enjoyed this episode, buy me a coffee at ko-fi.com/...

How to Teach Computer Science episode 2, "What IS Computer Science", in which I attempt to cover the whole spec in 30 minutes, from Data Representation through Programming and Algorithms to Issues and Impacts: a whistle-stop tour of the core and hinterland. Transcript at httcs.online/pod002 Full episode list at pod.httcs.online Buy me a coffee at ko-fi.com/mraharrisoncs Thanks!

Hello and welcome to "How to Teach Computer Science", the podcast. I've had a lot of people say to me, Alan, your book has been recommended to me and it looks fantastic, but I just don't have time to read it. So if that was you, here it is. Here's the pod..  And welcome to the opening episode. There are jokes, a competition and lots of pedagogy. Transcript is available on your podcasting app and o...