Very sad to report that Vizwik has ceased operations (Sept '16)
Coding with VizWikVizWik is a "visual coding" tool to help you build Phone Apps (iPhone & Android). It is brand new, after being beta tested for the 2013-2014 school year by select students in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
VizWik Coding Activites (available on this site)All instructions for these apps involve watching YouTube videos created by Mr. Rich. These do not need to be done in this order, or in any order. However, #1 or #2 below are strongly recommend before moving on.
(Text & graphical instructions may be available at some point in the future.)
(Be sure to check out Mr. Rich's tips for TROUBLESHOOTING VIZWIK!) A Video Introduction to VizWik
VizWik is a "visual coding" tool to help you build Phone Apps (iPhone & Android). It is brand new, after being beta tested for the 2013-2014 school year by select students in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Many teachers have asked me, "What comes after Scratch?" By this, they are referring to Scratch, as many have made their own modules or used the Scratch Frogger Game instructions on this site. Before VizWik, I had to recommend either Python, Visual Basic, C# or Java. Now, I can recommend VizWik as, like Scratch, it is a drag-and-drop visual coding tool. I find that spelling and syntax are the two main barriers for the average student, and therefore computer programming (coding) seems to "hard" for them. A visual coding tool means that they can get results without spelling and syntax frustrations. Of course, visual coding can have it's own frustrations. If you're used to programming in text, then it will be annoying to have to find the correct item to insert (although VizWik has some great search features to make your life easier). And VizWik's "edit" features sometimes freeze while the rest of it continues to work normally. In Intro videos 1b and 1c, I prove that closing and re-opening Google Chrome will fix 90% of these issues, (although be sure to wait 5-15 seconds so Chrome can close fully before re-opening). If you haven't used VizWik before, then I suggest you work your way through the Introduction & First Assignment (a "Business Card App"). The videos will walk you through how VizWik works and what you need to do. and start with those videos. (Future student assignments will also be posted on this site.) |
Why VizWik?I'm a teacher who has taught Scratch for years.
But this awesome tool looks and acts like something for an 11-year-old! So what should a teacher have older students do for a coding unit? My recommendation is VizWik. There is definitely a learning curve at the beginning, so I'm making these teacher-friendly videos. However, I have taught text-based coding in the past (Python, Java) and it's not easy. You learn that spelling counts and syntax matters! So how do we encourage a broad range of students to engage with "real world" coding? Enter VizWik. It may not be the most amazing thing you've ever seen, but it's miles better than anything I've ever used. And it's built on JavaScript, so if students want to switch to a real text-based programming language, then this is a great stepping stone. I hope you enjoy teaching this as much as I have. - Graham ps. No, I'm not employed or in any way connected financially with VizWik. I'm just a public school teacher. :-) |
Next: VizWik - Intro Activity
