10 Things to Ask About a Coding Curriculum: Question 5 Custom Content

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    As you look at a coding curriculum, you may never find every bit of content you need. The curriculum may have great coding lessons and great core class lessons, but it will never cover every standard in 50 different states. There is simply too much content for almost any company to fill, including the big boys.
    That means the ability to create custom lessons becomes very important. It’s a higher-level skill, but as you get deeper into coding, you should be able to diagnose what you need to complete that creative activity quickly. Building that content has a couple of needs, which is what this blog is all about!
    Let’s start by talking about building content with a block language. At that level, you need to have a clear tutorial for younger students to follow to build a component project. You could add items such as required blocks, graphics, and voiceover to that tutorial. It’s also great to add outside content like Google Docs, YouTube, Padlet, and FlipGrid to upgrade that experience. These need to be more about the learning experience students get from coding rather than the actual code.
    If you are going to do this with scripted languages, you can use almost any platform. Most scripted languages have a commenting feature that allows you to add content that does not affect the actual code. For instance, if you add a # sign in Python, anything after it does not apply to the code. Each language has its own system. It’s just a matter of finding the correct command.
    The other key with custom content is the ability to share and assign it easily. Some platforms have easy-to-use classroom setups, and others allow you to share the URL. It’s just a matter of finding a system that works well for you. 

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