You can find more information on teaching computer science in 7 Ways to Celebrate CS Ed Week, Computer Science With Apple, Be Internet Awesome, and Responsible Digital Citizenship.

Mozilla Organization

You probably know them as the Firefox company, but Mozilla is a foundation that does a number of things all in the pursuit of ensuring an open internet. This is timely discussion considering the current decisions regarding net neutrality. They hold the annual MozFest to bring people together to celebrate open connectivity.

The Mozilla Learning Network is eager to help students and teachers become digital citizens. All of their content is based on their framework of essential 21st-century skills (problem-solving, communication, creativity, & collaboration) that they believe are necessary for future success.  Their series of lessons include a range of topics like web literacy basics, animation, and Minecraft.

In that effort, they have created a number of tools to aid teachers in instructing (and students in learning) how to create and recreate web content. They are highly supportive of an environment of open educational resources (OER) which you can learn more about at OER Commons.

Connect to their community which includes the Hive Learning Networks, a group that is advancing instruction of digital skills and web literacy through connected learning. They’ve helped schools set up various programs like innovation labs, media literacy programs, and Makerspace meetups.

All of their content is based on their framework of essential 21st-century skills (problem-solving, communication, creativity, & collaboration) that they believe are necessary for future success.  Their series of lessons include a range of topics like web literacy basics, animation, and Minecraft. They even include lo-fi/no-fi activities for anyone acquainted with network issues. Try the offline Tag Tag Revolution activity to familiarize your students with coding/scripting in a fun and physical way. Do you want students to have a fuller understanding of how the internet works? Try the Perform the Net activity. Do you want them to think about online privacy? Play the Like Cookies Through the Internet survey game.

Web Tools

The 3 main tools they have created for web learning are X-Ray Goggles, Thimble, and Webmaker which are detailed below. Their series of lessons include a range of topics like web literacy basics, animation, and Minecraft. They even include lo-fi/no-fi activities for anyone acquainted with network issues.

X-RAY GOGGLES

X-Ray Goggles allow you to remix the code of a website without worrying about doing any real damage. It’s mistake-welcome learning. One recommended way to use it is to have students “Hack the News” and remix their chosen articles. Students can change the text and images and make their own ridiculous story on the New York Times homepage.

THIMBLE

Thimble is a code editor that simplifies HTML (content) and CSS (visuals) editing to help students create fun web content. Students are essentially creating/editing their own web pages with direct HTML/CSS interaction in a simplified framework. One suggested lesson has students creating their own variation on the keep calm and carry on logo. I had fun making a pirate name generator.

WEBMAKER

Webmaker is currently an Android specific app for creating and sharing content on your mobile device. If you have the appropriate equipment and are up for the challenge, try creating a Webmaker project.

Offline Tools

You may have seen offline computer science activities at CS Unplugged, but Mozilla has its own series of offline icebreakers. You can also try the Tag Tag Revolution activity to familiarize your students with coding/scripting in a fun and physical way. Do you want students to have a fuller understanding of how the internet works? Try the Perform the Net activity. Do you want them to think about online privacy? Play the Like Cookies Through the Internet survey game.