Who are we?

We live in a digital world and our kids belong to the digital generation where digital technologies surround us. Students arrive at school with a varied array of experience using computers, Smart-phones, tablets, video games, and others. They use these devices almost confidently, but they may lack the knowledge of how they work and skills of how to control these devices to make them more effective. Over the last few years, education has shifted greatly where coding has evolved from learning programming language to include developing trends in the context of the real-world technologies that are affecting our kids’ lives such as abstraction, decomposition, design thinking and pattern matching. Geek Express prepares children to become digital citizens and offers a series of courses that provide students critical thinking and problem-solving skills with the opportunity to innovate through exploring, experimenting and creating.

Engaging in coding does not imply that students will become computer programmers; in fact, children learn skills to solve problems, think critically and logically while being empowered to take risks in a safe environment. In Geek Express, we believe that these skills are life-long skills that students apply to all areas of their life and use in any career they choose to pursue. Our tracks include projects and activities that are standards-based, high-quality, career relevant, and accessible to all students at all grade levels, K-12 and beyond.

Our trainers follow the CSTA and ISTE standards ensuring a student-centered learning approach where pupils design, create and implement their own project ideas. Our courses are designed based on the TPACK framework (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) that combines technology with our content and pedagogy using the latest applications suitable for our students’ age. Also, our sessions are offered following the engagement spectrum model (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) for the best learning environment for our kids (Skilling, et al, 2016).

Depending on each grade level, Geek Express tracks and courses aim to ensure that students:

1. Understand the fundamental concepts of coding computer programs.
2. Apply problem-solving strategies and critical-thinking techniques to resolve computational problems.
3. Analyse basic algorithms and high-level programming languages to solve real-world problems.
4. Use pedagogical strategies and approaches to design projects through different modes of ICT including multimedia environments.
5. Design appropriate goal-oriented tools to store and share their projects.
6. Build personal authentic projects from the design to the implementation phase.
7. Apply the basic principles, models, and algorithms of AI.
8. Recognize, model, and solve problems in the analysis and design of Web applications.
9. Analyze the structures and algorithms of a selection of techniques related to searching, reasoning, machine learning, and language processing.
10. Interact respectfully and ethically with others online as responsible digital citizens for more diversity, equity, and inclusion.

What are CSTA Standards?

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is a professional association that supports and promotes education in the field of computer science and related areas. CSTA advocates for k-12, higher education, and industry computer science teaching and professional development. As one of the participating organizations in the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, CSTA produces a set of recommended Computer Science Standards for public outreach to provide support for computer science in the core curriculum of education.

What are ISTE Standards?

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a worldwide community of global educators who believe in the power of technology to transform teaching and learning practices. ISTE advocates for the use of technology to inspire educators and innovate to reach their greatest potential while empowering learners with high-impact learning experience. ISTE publishes Standards that offer the skills and competencies for teaching, leading, and learning in the digital age. ISTE Standards are used as a framework for teachers, trainers, and coaches to implement digital strategies for an accessible and equitable education.

What is the TPACK Framework?

The technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is a conceptual framework/model that enables teachers and trainers to implement ICT in their classrooms and workshops, to select specific features of hardware/software, and to use these tools pedagogically in effective manners and appropriate to learners’ age and needs.

According to Mishra and Koehler (2006, pp. 1026-1029), TPACK has seven components.

What is the Engagement Spectrum model?

Skilling et al. (2016, p. 9) designed the Engagement Spectrum and highlighted three main types of engagement: "behavioral," "emotional," and "cognitive."

• Behavioral engagement refers to the active student participation, intense effort, communication including initiating and answering questions, interaction with others, and persistence.
• Emotional engagement refers to student interest, perception, the value of learning and success, attitudes, and emotional reactions such as enjoyment, boredom, and frustration.
• Cognitive engagement refers to students who have a sense of control over their learning processes and on their academic outcomes such as openness, perseverance, and self-regulation that mainly affect their creative problem-solving strategies.

References

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers college record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

Skilling, K., Bobis, J., Martin, A. J., Anderson, J., & Way, J. (2016). What secondary teachers think and do about student engagement in mathematics. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 28(4), 545-566.