IT project with schoolchildren: a few recommendations

Over the past 5 years I have managed to create a dozen educational projects together with schoolchildren of 8-11 grades in the field of information technology. And so I decided to share my experience in this article, hoping for a constructive conversation on such a relevant topic. In the article I will try to reveal the technology of implementing an IT project as a way of learning, and also touch on technical aspects that will help your team achieve a result.

Let's first determine what the project is. By the way, there is a lot of talk today about project activities in the field of education and they are trying to introduce this method of education into the educational process, which I personally strongly support. Why? Yes, everything is simple: in a short time together with the team you are creating a product, and at the same time your players are learning something new.

You will find a huge number of definitions of the concept "project", but I will try to give my own. A project with schoolchildren is a process of implementing the final product, aimed at exploring new teamwork tools, creating a working prototype or first product version, and exploring technologies that go beyond the school curriculum.
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The key words in this interpretation are “process” and “product”. Many of the projects I have seen are research projects, i.e. proving or disproving some hypothesis. The results of such projects are usually a presentation and a report. Many projects are informational, i.e. aimed at collecting and systematizing information about the object, problem, phenomenon. The result of such a project is, again, a presentation, a report, a discussion.

I would like, nevertheless, to focus on the word “product” and say that the ultimate goal of an IT project should be the demonstration of something tangible created during the project implementation process. Moreover, I do not in any way deny, but on the contrary, I emphasize the importance of research projects that are aimed at creating breakthrough technologies and developing new concepts in the field of information technologies. Just a few people can be engaged in science and research, and, most likely, this is a lot, after all, of higher education.

Idea and product

Be careful about the choice of the theme of your project carefully and carefully. Why waste the next few months, right? The goals can be completely different: to improve the world, to win the competition, to earn money, but your entire team should clearly understand why you are wasting your strength and resources by creating something new.

Another non-obvious point: when you create something tangible, the likelihood that the project will be implemented is much higher. Very often it happens that, having ignited an idea, the team does not finish the job, just without clearly understanding, what are we doing?

So, the first thought came to mind, you walked with this thought and decided that this is it! Look for analogues, make a detailed search for existing solutions. It may happen that before you have already implemented everything. Do not despair if you do not want to change the theme of the project - do something like this, but in another way, add functions or change the design. But it is better, nevertheless, to create something of their own.

The themes of projects can be very different, and a mentor plays a very important role here. The student due to lack of experience may simply not understand the significance (or lack thereof) of a particular topic. A schoolboy can do something just for the sake of the process, without giving a report on the meaninglessness of what is being created. For example, let's make the light in the room turn on the clap of the palms? An interesting idea, but ask yourself why, who will need it, if such solutions are already a dime a dozen. For the sake of learning something new? Yes, this goal can also be achieved by project activities, but it is not the most important one. The main thing, in my opinion, is to teach the guys to create and create something necessary. Analyze, argue, persuade and defend their point of view. Search for options to improve the existing, create new. There are not so many people who can invent, and the value of such specialists increases every year.

So, what could be the product of an educational project in the field of information technology? Highlight the main obvious options.

Site

This is a kind of Internet service that implements something new or complements the already created concept. Please note that you can take a ready-made solution and, not engaging in plagiarism, but, inspired by the idea, develop something different, more perfect, or just with a different functionality. For example, you can create a new service for testing or questioning. What technologies will guys learn? Website design, layout, programming. A lot, in fact.

Mobile app

More interesting and more complicated than the site. There is no limit to the field of fantasy, and such an interesting point emerges: you can create a project for landscaping your neighborhood, but format the result as a mobile VR application with the ability to “walk” around the created territory for a more complete immersion into the realized concept. What are we learning? Modern design trends, object-oriented programming. And, of course, new development tools. And at the same time landscape design.

Computer game

This product is accepted for sale by the guys without any unnecessary explanations and is usually brought to a logical end. The game can be made for kids, the game can be made educational. You can make a multiplayer browser game, you can make a game for smartphones and tablets. What are the guys studying? Receptions and methods of gamification, design of elements of a computer game, object-oriented programming.

Program

A product that will automate something. Teach students to think about the user, to put themselves in the place of the person who will work with the program. Learn to test your creations. Let the program be small, but with unique functionality. A new calculator, weather widget or news aggregator on your desktop - just look around.

Another great method is to create something for yourself. You analyze, and what you lack in your activity or daily life? Guaranteed such a product will be popular, because if you create a solution that automates your need, there will be a circle of people who have the same need. For example, I recently had to add signatures on different templates when publishing materials on a site. Constantly formatting different signatures is tiring, so I wrote a Wordpress plugin that allows you to partially automate this process. I did it for myself, but I'll post it in open access later.

A film, a poster, a magazine, three-dimensional visualization - all this can be the result of your project.

Let me give my recommendations on the implementation of an educational project in the field of information technology. You can agree with them or we can argue, but maybe my thoughts will help you. Some stages will be useful for projects in the field of ecology, tourism, literature or the Russian language, as they are fairly general in nature and will be valuable not only to IT people.

Concept formulation

Come up with an idea - write it down. Formulate the relevance of the project, the goals you want to achieve, describe in simple words the final result of your project, the final product.

Shared folders

Be sure to create for your project a cloud storage with shared access of participants. If this is Google Drive or Mail.ru Cloud, then create shared folders. In one project we had 8 of them: “Models”, “Textures”, “Database”, “Backgrounds”, “Pictures”, “Scripts”, “Settings”, “General”. You can probably use more advanced tools, for example, Bitrix24, I have not tried. It is necessary, by the way, to pay attention to this. Surely, there are still tools for joint project activities.

Implementation plan

An important document, spend more time on it. In this document you need to break your project into small stages with a description of the result at the end of each. Only this way you will reach the end. Cutting an elephant, we can eat it entirely. The student must constantly feel that time has been spent for a reason, that a small goal has been achieved, the basic concept will soon be realized. Such a document can be called a plan - schedule of work. Moreover, when you create it, a mass of useful trifles will pop up that need to be implemented.

Draw the result

All that is in the head, should be thrown on paper. Make a program - draw windows. Make a website - draw pages. Make an application - draw all views. Make a game - draw a process and graphic elements. On ordinary sheets of ordinary pen or pencil. Save all the sketches, do not throw anything out. Schemes, ideas, buttons, windows, faces and sticks - save everything! In general, there should be a common folder where all paper utilities for the project will be added.

Name the team

Be sure to give your team a name! It will unite the participants. If possible, choose a logo, at least from free ones, and create a slogan, a motto. Suppose you are “IT guru” or “Kodyata”, but the name of a team of even two people can be the beginning of the whole story. Be sure to think of the name of your final product, let it be capacious and biting. “Lawnmower 2.0”, “Web notes” or “Weather in your pocket”. Yes, be sure to separate the functions within your team: let someone create a design, and someone writes code, someone searches for analogues and texts, and someone selects photos or sound files.

Adding economics

Calculate the cost of the project. Let the sums be large, it does not matter, the most important thing is that they be real. Include hardware and software, time costs, depreciation and force majeure. This will teach the guys to be more responsible and not to do something that cannot be realized.

Choosing Tools

There is a plan, there are sketches, now is the time to choose the software for the project. Read what is used today in real development, what is in trend, which will be useful to the project participants later. Try different IDEs and editors, but do not focus on the curriculum, go beyond it. Please note that many developers are going to meet educational organizations, ask them for free versions of their products. So does Autodesk and JetBrains, for example. Consult with experts. Make the learning project the right tools.

Version Control

If there is a code, be sure to create a repository for version control. It will save a lot of time, and the guys will get used to this technology. I once noticed that switching to a versioned code control system changed my attitude towards what I was writing. The code has become for me very important and valuable, or something. Every change has become more thoughtful. Deleting the code all the more. The development time is also becoming more valuable. Store all files remotely and in shared access.

We create a prototype

The first biggest result of the project should be minimally working. Those. it should be something starting up and performing basic functions, something that implements the basic idea.

We are testing

We give the first version of the product to friends, acquaintances, classmates. We are preparing for criticism and immediately tune in to its adequate perception. When you inside yourself decide that criticism will be, it becomes immediately easier. We carefully listen to and write down, be sure to write down, we save all the tips and suggestions. We remember about the folder where everything is added.

Finish

We look at the clock. We estimate the terms and finish the project in accordance with the schedule. Moreover, you can have both short-term goals (to win the closest competition) and long-term goals (to finish everything and release a product). We are finalizing the main thing, remembering the wishes and choosing the most critical ones.

We present

Everything is ready, take time to create a report and presentation. I recommend sticking to the following sections in the presentation:

• Introduction: tell the main provisions, the purpose of the project, talk about the team;
• Relevance: we talk about how the project is useful and what we achieve, change, improve its implementation;
• Goals: here we are telling the audience, and what goals were or will be achieved by the implementation of the project;
• Tasks: show the tasks that were performed during the work on the project;
• Review of analogs and prototypes: we show already existing solutions and talk about how yours differs from the rest;
• Selection of tools: in this section of the presentation we justify our choice of development tools;
• The economic part: we talk a little about money, so that the audience appreciates the degree of project feasibility;
• Target audience: talk about your consumer;
• We show the product: here you need to take time to demonstrate the work of the created solution;
• Development plans: talk about what we will do next. You can split plans into several queues.

That's all, the project is ready!

The ball is blown away

Everything is good on paper, but in reality it is always a bit more complicated. On the way to the project with students there are several problems. The first - and when to do? There are several options, maybe it will be within the circle, maybe it will be high school students in classes without exams (8th and 10th grades), maybe on holidays.

The second problem is control. So that the ball is not blown away, it must be inflated all the time. I was faced with the fact that the guys quickly begin, but, the most terrible thing, they quickly finish, without finishing the matter. Here, without the constant intervention of a mentor in any way, it is necessary to remind, pull by the hand, ask for results. Again, the project should be divided into small parts, let the guys do something at home and send the results or add them to a common repository.

And the third problem - what's next? Create a project site, try to make so that he paid attention, try to complete the project to the end. Frankly speaking, he himself put almost all the projects on the table, solving only momentary tasks and not developing further. I wrote these lines and decided to return to some stories, maybe they will turn into something more.

Project activities are the most effective tool for learning new things besides lessons. The project can help reveal hidden talents in children. Someone will learn to speak and defend publicly, to program someone, someone to create graphics, and someone will become a project manager in the future. Take us more successful and interesting projects!