Embark on a Cosmic Coding Adventure: An Insider’s Look at NASA’s Space Jam on Hour of Code

Hello, everyone. I wanted to share my experience and thoughts about the Hour of Code website for this week’s post. In class, we were asked to explore the website and try out a coding activity offered there. Before I dive into my experience on the website, I thought I would talk about my experience with coding first. I was first introduced to coding in grade eight when we were introduced to the website and asked to explore it. At that time, I was not great with technology, so I did not find it enjoyable. Now, whether I chose a coding activity that was above my grade level at the time or if it was just the activities I chose that made it challenging, I cannot recall, but my experience from this time was different. At first glance, the website is organized nicely to allow for easy grade-level suggestions and offers coding activities that would appeal to those different grade levels. This makes the website more approachable and user-friendly, so educators and students know what sections to look in for the appropriate grade levels. Overall, this intrigued me to explore and check out the different activities offered.

The activity I chose to do on Hour of Code was NASA’s Space Jam. It is beginner-level and best suited for grades two and up. The topic of the activity is science. All this information plus more is easily accessible to students and teachers before starting an activity. I also discovered that for NASA’s Space Jam coding activity I chose, I was able to click on the picture, and it took me to another website with even more information, including lessons and educator notes. I included a screen recording I did on my laptop to show what extra information this additional website includes.  

My overall thoughts after completing the coding activity have changed from when I was younger. Exploring Hour of Code as a future educator allowed me to understand how coding could be a beneficial activity to incorporate into my future classroom. If I could find a resource that connects to a topic we are discussing, like using NASA’s Space Jam to connect learning about space and science, this could be a great resource for students to use as a learning activity. Hour of Code could also be a useful resource to help students gain more confidence using technology. I also wanted to mention that once you complete the coding activity of choice, you get a certificate of completion, which would be awesome for younger students. As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, I feel like if I had more time to explore coding as a young learner, I may have had a different perspective on how I felt using the website. Overall, Hour of Code is a great resource that could be shared with students in my future teaching career.