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Allen Tsui
Life long Londoner, born and educated. Working as a specialist Primary and Secondary Computing teacher.
Location London, United Kingdom
Activity
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is a brilliantly silly way of learning not only how to code in Python but understanding a wider range of Computing concepts as well as cross curricular with Primary English. So fantastic.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
OK! Let’s Go!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple to follow. I must admit, I am quite experienced in terms of the topics covered so haven’t found it as daunting as I thought I might. The way the topics have been covered are fantastic and would be suitable for anybody with an interest in learning how to up level their Scratch programming skills to Python -…
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Absolutely all of this. This is what impressed my colleagues when they have been observing my programming in text based languages. Not only are learners achieving or working towards programming skills but keyboard fluency and digital literacy skills too.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Getting the code to work as expected. Checking for typographical errors. Understanding the structure of the code - esssentially what each line of code does and how it is expressed - which is why block coding in Scratch is easier to understand - from the menu of options - that the conditional blocks are exactly what they say they are. So when teaching Python,…
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Hello again. I’ve been using Trinket successfully at my school this school year. It is fabulous. Not programming in Python but my Year 4 classes have enjoyed using it for learning about html and CSS.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I’m using Trinket. Excited to have reached this point on this FutureLearn course. Let’s go!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
A desktop publishing application - GUI
A photo sharing application - GUI
Programs to performing complex file operations on a large system - CLI
A web browser for a visually impaired user - CLI
Having had experience of CLI many years ago when I was first interested in computing I can see the benefits and disadvantages of CLI and GUI. CLI has definite... -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Hello. I'm Allen. You can find me on Twitter @TsuiAllen I have been teaching in Primary schools since 2012 and from September 2020 I will be expanding my role as lead teacher for Computing to teaching Secondary Computing which will include working with A-Level students. So I am taking the course to make sure my subject knowledge for Secondary Computing is the...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'm really pleased to have taken part on this course. Thank you! Wish I had been able to do this weeks if not months ago but for reasons of timing, I just haven't been able to make time or have the commitment to do so. Will be recommending to all those I speak to that everybody should do this irrespective of whether they are specialist subject leads for...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you so much. I didn't enjoy week 3 so much but found this week so much more engaging.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you for sharing. My story is very similar.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Have you tried out any of these techniques with your learners? How did they respond? Yes and they have made some brilliant remixes as well as created some excellent original examples of animation.
What tips could you give to fellow educators? Just give it a go and don't as I've done overthink things.
Are there any common pitfalls, or tips that your learners... -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. Have already done this and set up a Scratch Educator account so that I can get the learners I'm working with to save and share their work as well as provide some examples of my own for them to remix.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
These are great ideas - especially for introduction to properties of shapes as @HannahStapleton suggested. Thank you!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. Think I'm getting the hang of this. https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/421461769
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Sorry I'm going to be a bit more factually precise about this so have added some sprites to show three options to choose from to make the 'if' 'then' 'else' routine make factual sense.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/421461769 -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Like @SarahaMatthews easier than I initially thought. More sorting than identification.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
OK. This looks interesting. Reminds me of a newspaper article I saw in July 2020 about the use of AI to identify birds.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Did you choose a different theme for your quiz? What other areas of the curriculum could be used as a basis for a quiz? Totally agree with @JamieEdmondson Maths and specifically arithmetic questions would work best with this type of format.
Did you make any improvements to your quiz, for example animating a sprite when the correct answer is given? No sorry I... -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Just added two questions. Haven't added a scoring system yet.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/421456450 -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Seems straightforward but as @BrentU says how to cope with spelling errors. Guess this type of quiz would be better for some sort of arithmetic challenge rather than text based quiz - unless it was for more advanced learners to play.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is great. Looking forward to doing this having used Kahoot to create my quizzes before.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. All of the other examples from others are excellent. Can see as @JamieEdmonson has identified going to be introducing the 'if' 'then' and 'else' function.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Since 2016 I've been using Google Forms to offer a drop down menu of options to 'measure' pupil or student satisfaction.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Sorry, I'm always pleased to take learning to a new level with a little bit of experiential and thought provoking concepts but I'm under considerable time pressure as a teacher with a busy family life so wasn't amused by the fact that the link provided https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/teaching-programming-primary-school/10/steps/532738/exercise went to...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Really looking forward to completing this course. Have learnt so much.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'll be honest as I've found this week really tough. Hopefully will find next week easier.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you for all of these great ideas.
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I've also done this in the Code Club I've co-hosted.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. Still getting to grisps with the different features of Scratch.
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Absolutely love the quiz idea.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Using some of the coding ideas from the previous polling task, could make the sprite change position after it has asked each question.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is a really useful and important part of any 'coders' skills so thank you for including this topic.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Did you make any additional improvements to your voting app? No - I found it hard enough to follow or remixing the original blocks of code.
Did you create a voting app on a theme other than ‘favourite animals’? Are there any opportunities for cross-curricular learning? Of course there are plenty of cross-curricular learning opportunities. Thinking Maths... -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Thanks. Always looks easy with the solution.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I've realisd from my attempt that I might have been overthinking how to use Scratch. I founded adding the third creature and the voting buttons really easy to do. Just can't quite get the click counter to display correctly nor the reset button to change all the values. Guess I just need to experiment a little more.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. I'm looking forward to having a go myself.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This looks pretty cool.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I work for a Primary school in London. Based on learning targets linked to the National Curriculum for schools in England, I will be introducing variables by getting the learners to create a picture using a simple piece of software like Paint then getting them to 'remix' it by changing the values of the colours they have used so they understand which part of...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I remember learning about variables from when I was first learning about Computer Science many, many years ago...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'm actually finding there is so much to learn here and I'm not very good at following instructions on screen or to be more honest don't really have the time to so I'm also supplementing my time here with a book by Rosie Dickins, Jonathan Melmoth and Louie Stowell called 'Coding for Beginners using Scratch' published by Usborne.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Thank you. This has been a great introduction to Scratch. See you next week.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Have you tried out any of these techniques with your learners? How did they respond? Yes - they're not too keen for some reason.
What tips could you give to fellow educators? Give them the codes for them to either re-mix or get them to match the codes to the outputs of either shapes or songs. -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Not quite an animation with the repeat function, but something that I remixed from another course I previously attended.
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/415272033 -
Allen Tsui made a comment
OK. Fairly straightforward.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
OK. Pretty cool.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Animation looks pretty cool.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
In terms of repetition, could link it back to the drawing task to create a regular shape. For music, it would or could be creating a bass line which continuously repeats alongside another device that is programmed to play the melody. For me, this whole making sounds using Scratch activity has so many links to music and the science of sound it is brilliant.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Pretty cool. I like the fact that the 'code' corresponding to each of the notes, for example middle C corresponding to '60' is the same for both Scratch and Sonic Pi.
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@HelenVallence Hello again Helen. Was also going to say too that I attended one of the first Raspberry Pi Educator workshops back in 2016 where I met James Robinson. I'm quite into Twitter where my Twitter handle is @TsuiAllen If you've had time to scroll through everybody's posts, you might have seen a video I posted of a news feature that CNN Business made...
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@HelenVallence Thank you for replying to my original post. Apologies that I was a bit vague previously. The school I work for is part of 13 school Multi-Academy Trust which has ten Primary schools and 3 Secondaries. As far as I know, the school I'm based at is the only one that has a Code Club which has been running since 2016. Now that I'm the lead teacher...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I had to use this as a cheat sheet to get the rest of the notes https://www.sean.co.uk/books/raspberry-pi-for-dummies/gfx/sonicpi-infographic-3e.gif
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Yes - I discovered some of these features in the previous task. Think this is where my predecessor didn't really allow the learners to experiment. All I previously saw was examples of the original Scratch Cat moving around in white space. This is brilliant!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Seems pretty cool. Looking forward to doing this.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
What did you create? A circle although I had wanted to start with making my own square from the bottom left hand corner of the display.
Were you able to draw a circle? Yes, eventually.
Did you plan what you wanted to draw in advance? Or did you prefer to tinker? I was tinkering around initially - working out and seeing what I could do. Would prefer to have a... -
Allen Tsui made a comment
Going to be honest, it's the first time I've properly had time to use Scratch and it has taken me a little while to work out what I wanted to do and how to do it. Will need more time to explore and think about what shapes I want to create and how. Am pleased with the result though.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Although I'm quite or relatively experienced at being Code Club host, am reallay pleased to have taken part on this Futurelearn course as it has given me some fresh ideas and inspiration to expand the impact of Code Club opportunities in the schools I work for or am associated with. Thank you to all those who put this course together!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
My ambition is to expand my Code Club network so that Code Clubs are held in every school I work for or am associated with.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Already do all of this. I'm on Twitter @TsuiAllen and am the Community Leader for Computing at Schools Network in Waltham Forest.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Always involve families as a celebration of the success of every Code Club member starts with the family being supportive in their attendance and membership.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Absolutely all of these ideas - especially for those older members of the school community from Secondaries who have aspirations to get into careers in Computing or teaching.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'm very fortunate to have a very supportive group of parents who get involved with fund raising so have donated over 30 micro:bits and some Raspberry Pis. Also don't be afraid to ask people to make donations - just £50 will buy a decent amount of kit to run a Code Club with. Networking with other local schools might mean being able to share hardware too.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
My USP is looking for opportunities to collaborate with other organisations - so for example am currently working with Computing at Schools as the Community Leader in Waltham Forest to expand and share ideas with other educators - potentially run a school v school hackerthon.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Sharing projects will always be done in full compliance with the School's esafety and social media policy or protocols in mind. Will never identify the children by name, age or whichever class group they are assigned to. I have already signed up for a Scratch Educator account by way of example and will expect Code Club members to use pseudonyms or allocate...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I am also intending to link some of the more advanced projects to the British Science Association CREST Awards programme which is scaled from Bronze, Silver and Gold standards with the highest standard recognised by some Universities in England towards matriculation.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Have previously made Certificate and prize presentations part of a wider whole school celebration. Will write articles published in the school's newsletter, website as well as talk about my experiences at the BETT Show in 2019 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K5ozC515jlG7MHrryNs4bJrPRjaQveO2/view?usp=sharing
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Will always present Certificates and prizes.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
For the Code Club I run, I link it back to the School's values of being creative, collaborative, thinking critically and being ableto effectively communicate ideas. Code Club members hopefully feel safe enough to do this and able to almost experiment with what they're doing. I always say mistakes are welcome learning opportunities too. Also run a whole session...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I share all of these Code Club values with exception to the 'hands up' rule as I prefer no hands up and use C3B4me instead.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is what my Code Club space looked like in 2019 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aqUrvdfk3Ob4yL5q73vUpupnncwJ275-/view?usp=sharing
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Celebrating the success of Code Club members is central to the programme I run as Code Club host. From awarding Certificates for simply attending to prizes for best projects and Digital Literacy Champions.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Had a brilliant week on this course. Thank you. Really enjoyed this week's very stimulating set of ideas.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I always run a 'wrap up' segment to every Code Club meeting where each can show others what they've been working on with a 'I noticed. I liked. I wonder' reflection before tidying up.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
For those who are not usually working in schools, would highly recommend getting or recruiting teachers to co-host or support your Code Club. Allow the Code Club members and enable your Club to be a collaborative and safe space for self-discovery and self-directed learning. Only provide support where it is absolutely necessary. Good luck!
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I use C3B4me which works really well especially as some Code Club members are more confident than others.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
My takeaway from this week's comments and articles is to display the Code Club members names on cards or labels by their workstations. I will already know many of the Code Club members as they are recruited from the schools I work for but I'm prone to senior moments.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Although it was back in 2016 that I first co-hosted a Code Club, every new school term brings fresh excitement to welcoming new members.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I prefer to think of my Code Club members as giving them the opportunity to communicate how creative, collaborative and critical they can be.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The Code Club example pretty much looks like the meetings I host.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The school I work for has been using Scratch as the starting poing for teaching coding so it makes sense to start from there.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
All great projects and will be trying them all out as the Code Club members I am working with have various skills and experiences with each project idea appealing to them in different ways.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I offer my Code Club members the chance to 'work' at one of four self-selected levels and a bit like the Coder-Dojo 'Sushi' card options where they can choose which projects they are working on. The four levels of student inquiry are available here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BkNLQF-5k4SBLIH42qC3Yplgz4Zf09Uc/view?usp=sharing
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Really excited about all of this. I will also be working in a Secondary school so the projects I will focus on for them will link to the English National Curriculum for Design and Technology too like this https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LAJPZmZjgNsoaAZYH30sXc3Cmri4u9Ye/view?usp=sharing
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'm actually less than ten years to reaching retirement so after school club provision wasn't a feature of my school life back in the 1980s. Instead, here's a video of a news feature filmed by CNN Business in 2019 which featured the school I work for showing how our Code Club works with Kano...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Because the school I work for already has a strong programme of extra-curricular activities as part of its extended school provision, our very first Code Club meeting in 2016 felt like a natural progression from the in-timetable computing lessons.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Having had some time to literally sleep on my to do list with expanding my involvement with Code Club, my 'to do' list is to create a network of Computing lead teachers across the Multi-Academy Trust I work for and to support the network to establish their own Code Clubs.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The plans that others have posted here are brilliant. Will be following similar plans for or with those schools which have yet to establish a regular Code Club meetings. For the school I'm based at September 2020 will be the fourth year that Code Club meetings have been held and looking forward to being the lead host for the first time.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This project is a fantastic way to start. There are so many other resources available to for Code Club members to work with Scratch such as Barefoot Computing which is open to schools in England to use.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Scratch 3 is absolutely brilliant. As the article says too, a Scratch Educator account means Code Club members can save, share and remix their projects whenever and wherever - as part of a Code Club meeting or continue to work on projects at home, in the library etc.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Going to use absolutely everything here mentioned in this article. Will also be using Kano well as Edublocks for those who are operating at those levels.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I've also signed up to Scratch Educator so Code Club members can save, share and remix what they create.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Being school based I also follow the protocols set by the school. As a teacher, my safeguarding responsibilities and duties are overseen by the Department for Education in England. The safeguarding protocols set by the schools I work in are very robust as well as being exceptionally well supported. It is worthwhile for Code Club leaders to find out what...
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Allen Tsui made a comment
I'm very fortunate to be school based so have an audience already. Since 2016 my colleagues and I have hosted Code Club meetings twice a week for up to 15 children each week with a waiting list of at least another 10 children wanting to take part.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The club I will be hosting will follow the hour long format. I will also be using Code Club resources as part of my in-timetable teaching alongside the Code Club which will be offered as part of the school's extended day extra-curricular provision.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Looking forward to using all of these resources to set up new Code Clubs at different schools I am involved with or working for.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
This is the Club I have hosted since 2016 https://codeclub.org/en/clubs/1f31efc5-4a6b-4799-808d-c25c427a5fdb
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The advice here to try out Code Club projects before hosting a Code Club is vital since it allows Club hosts to double check there are no technical issues to overcome.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
The Code Club I will lead or host will happen weekly where the children attending will be from the school Iwork for. Each meeting will be an hour long and be held after school.
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Allen Tsui made a comment
Had or have previously done this in 2016.
