Why learn to program? 

Programming skills are becoming ever more important, quickly turning into the core competency for all kinds of 21st Century workers. Learning to program is important because it develops critical thinking and problem solving abilities. It is a creative activity and provides us a mean to express abstract ideas. Thus programming is fun and is much more than a vocational skill. By designing programs, we learn many skills that are important for all professions. These skills can be summarized as: 

• Critical thinking
• Creative synthesis
• Problem Solving

Student Expectations 

• Be courteous and respectful during class time 
• Arrive to class on time, ready to work 
• Check the website at home if you miss a class 
• Take personal responsibility for your work and participation 
• Ask for help as many times as you need to find success 
• Be social, make friends, and work with a group to solve problems. Sharing is caring.
• Make sure you have read and understood the school district's internet use policy

Computer Lab Rules

1.        Arrive to class on time. Important information is communicated during the first 5-10 minutes of each class. Arriving late will put you at a disadvantage and cause you to miss valuable material.

2.        No eating or drinking in the computer lab except water

5.        A quiet work environment is expected.  I encourage you to help one another, but always respect other students’ right to work in peace (use “classroom voices”)

6.        Use respectful language at all times

7.       Use of online games, and non-class-related web sites is prohibited at all times. Any unauthorized use may result in account suspension, followed by further sanctions, up to and including suspension from school. Do not abuse your computer privileges. You have a limited time in these labs, make the most of it. Save recreational computer activities such as games and social media for outside of school.

This course is designed to introduce the basic concepts of object-oriented programming. ICT Programming will teach students to solve problems and strategize in an organized and productive way. Logic and problem solving skills will be heavily relied upon to succeed. Students will use a number of programs and interfaces such as Dreamweaver, HTML, BlueJ, Scratch, Code Academy, and Greenfoot to support their learning.

1. For the rest of the year, 20% of your time in my class will be spent working on something you want to work on.

2. It has to be some type of learning, and you have to document it using your portfolio.

3. You’ll present your accomplishments to the class twice (and will not be graded on it).

4. That’s it. Have fun. Find your passion. Explore it. Enjoy learning what you want.

Unit	Description
Intro	History of Programming
Intro	History of Video Games
1	Cryptography
2	Alan Turing: Father of Computer Science
3	Binary Code
4	BreakoutEDU: Digital
5	Board Game Design
6	Specificity
7	Wireframing
8	HTML & CSS
9	Scratch
10	Greenfoot (Java)
11	BlueJ (Java)
12	Python (Grade 12)
13	Arduino (Grade 12)
14	MIPS (Grade 12 AP)

Materials

E-Texts: 

Objects First with Java: A Practical Introduction using BlueJ

David J. Barnes & Michael Kölling

Fifth edition, Prentice Hall / Pearson Education, 2012

US: ISBN 978-013-249266-9

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Allan B. Downey

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Software: BlueJ - free download

Software: Greenfoot - free download