40 Hours Down, 60 Hours To Go!
“It was fun, but good fun. I’ve got a bit of a headache but I think I’m probably cleverer now.”
The sentiments of one Year 6 student at Fulham Prep School succinctly capture recent reactions to Hakitzu during Kuato Studios’ introductory programming sessions. Hakitzu has helped launch the Studio’s 100 Hours of Code initiative; a commitment to allocate 100 hours of studio time to introducing teachers and students to the language of programming, namely JavaScript.
To date, the studio has delivered 40 hours of coding in primary and secondary schools across London and the South East. In addition to wrangling with the finer points of JavaScript syntax using Hakitzu, staff and students have also gained industry insights from Kuato staff. Designers, programmers, artists and sound engineers have all shared their creative talents with young people at Queensbridge Primary, St Thomas the Apostle College, Thomas Tallis School, Snowfields Primary and Halcyon International School.
Visiting schools across the capital is just the foundation of an initiative that will take us to schools throughout the UK in advance of the summer holidays and the new Computer Science curriculum in September. However, with immensely positive feedback thus far and further interest from institutions as far afield as the US and Russia, there are signs that 100 hours may not be enough!
Students, as ever, provide the best validation for a game, as some of these comments illustrate:
“I think this is a well thought out game, and a game of tactics which teenagers could learn and think things out.”;
“An enjoyable way to use code. And educational too!”;
“An intuitive way of introducing children to coding …”;
“Great because it teaches you how to code at different levels.”
“Really good because it is based on chess, but really evolutionises it!”;
“Super fun - especially the coding.”; “Great game, and amazing idea.”
Teachers too have been given very favourable responses
“Kuato Studios seem to have found a sweet spot between pedagogy and fun. My Year 6 students all thought the sessions they had was the most fun they'd had for a while, but they all found it challenging.” Fulham Preparatory School “We have been using Hakitzu in school as a way to deliver an element of our computing curriculum. It has been one of the most engaging tools we use to teach some of the more complex elements of the PoS - such as the text based language requirement. We have seen a dramatic increase in 'out of school' participation from children in regards to developing their skills - this is down to the manner in which the game enthralls and engages the learner.”- Snowsfields Primary School
‘Hakitzu is a fun and engaging tool to introduce programming. I had a Hakitzu game session with my year 8 students and they absolutely loved it.’ Thomas Tallis School
‘This is a fantastic game that my students loved. It teaches them coding in a fun and easy way. I like the different levels of difficulty and how keen my students were to progress. I found that students spent a lot of time after my lessons continuing to play the game too!’ Halcyon International School
If you would like us to come and introduce your students to JavaScript, sign up for one of our free #100HoursofCode sessions here: http://bit.ly/100hoursofcode