Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) Resource Guide

This is a free online course for educators where they can learn to not only become computational thinkers for themselves, but also be able to find lesson plans and activities they can use with their own students. It also incorporates how computational thinking can be integrated into various subject areas, which is important as so many educators link this skill to STEM. It essentially makes it approachable for teachers to be able to teach this skill in the classroom.

Ben Shapiro, assistant professor, investigates how to enable children from diverse backgrounds to learn computer science through collaborative, creative expression and through the design of networked technologies to solve problems in their homes and communities. He received his doctorate in learning sciences from Northwestern University, and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Game where students have to break codes like many in history did to solve problems or decode messages. The CIA website has a “Kids Zone” that has many games and activities for children of all ages. Parents can also get involved as well.

Popular game from the 2000’s that children can play to gain practice in mathematics and logic in order to save the zoombinis and reunite them on their island. As the game progresses, the levels become harder. This game is also now available in the app store for $5 so children can play at home.

This is a series on online lessons and games students in K-12 can play with. The catch to this is they have to think about what to do in order to complete each lesson or game as there’s no specific instructions given.