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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

New computer classes follow updated standards

With the implementation of the CSTA standards, three new classes have been added to the course catalog: Exploring Computer Science, Web Development — Design and Coding, and Mobile Applications Development.

Exploring Computer Science will be a lower level class, while Web Development — Design and Coding and Mobile Applications Development will be AP level or above.

Exploring Computer Science

Exploring Computer Science will replace Computer Applications for the 2015-2016 school year and beyond. Students will be introduced to five main topics: computer programming, web design, robotics, computer applications and ethics.

“The Exploring Computer Science class is what I would call a sample platter,” computers teacher Nathan Mattix said.

The class is one semester long and is the lowest level of the computer classes.

“If students wanted to pursue other classes, they can,” Mattix said. “If they are not interested in computer science, it satisfies the graduation requirement.”

Computers teacher Rajendra Shrivastava said the class caters towards students who are undecided on whether they would like to further pursue the computer science field. Students who already know they want to take higher level computers classes can skip the class altogether.

“[They] can go straight to Joy of Computing or even with permission, up to the Web Coding,” Shrivastava said. “For a few exceptions, we are okay with Web Coding being done first then the AP being done later on. But the sequence really should be Joy of Computing, AP, Web Coding then Mobile Apps.”comps3EDITTED

Web Development — Design and Coding

Web Development — Design and Coding places an emphasis on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Java Applets, and PHP, as well as learning about databases and software engineering.

“Whereas previously anything we did in web design was more along the lines of the computer apps class, which was pretty low level,” Mattix said, “this is going to be more along the lines of AP Computers and beyond. It should only be students who have done programming before that are taking the class.”

Shrivastava, who will be teaching the class, plans to focus the first semester on HTML so students can learn how to understand webpages and websites. They will also be introduced to APIs, CSS, JavaScript and frames.

“[The goal is that] students in that class are not only reading a webpage, but they’re able to re-engineer it, break it down, understand the nuts and bolts behind the webpage, as well as the website,” Shrivastava said.

The second semester will delve deeper into scripting and programming.

“So the first semester is mainly static, while the second semester is going to be more dynamic, [learning about] databases, cookies, the concept of storing information, admin rights and privileges, etc.” Shrivastava said. “You don’t need programming skills, but you certainly pick it up by the second half of the year because of the JavaScripting. You learn as you go.”

Mobile Applications Development

Mobile Applications Development is a semester course that will be the highest level of the computers classes.

Students will be using App Inventor programming language on Android systems to extend their programming knowledge and skills. The class will follow a curriculum designed by University of San Francisco professors from a National Science Foundation grant.

“The idea is for our students to learn what it takes from concept to deployment,” Shrivastava said. “They’ll be testing it out on their own phones or the phones the school will provide. I’m not sure if the school will provide phones, but at least we’ll have Android tablets so they can get the feel for it.”

Shrivastava said he is asking that students have at least a year of computer science experience, preferably including AP Computer Science and one semester of Web Development — Design and Coding.

“Realistically, I’m asking for a combination of Java, JavaScript and HTML skills,” Shrivastava said. “You need all three of them to actually deal with the mobile devices.”

Students will also be interfacing with APIs and integrating with SDKs.

“The way we see it is it’s an extension of the web design/coding class,” Shrivastava said. “So the web coding class really becomes a three semester sequence. This class, if you do it correctly, also should blossom out into the new AP Computer Science course that’s going to be offered in 2016-2017.

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