Teen Tech Week: Coding Games and Paper Circuits
By Meg Coker, Teen Librarian, San Antonio Public Library
May 2, 2018
For our Teen Tech Week festivities, we borrowed laptops from our system's Central Teen Library to create a temporary computer lab for coding games with a variety of options for students to choose from, including Hour of Code activities and the Alice animation studio.
We also made paper circuits using guides and printables from Make magazine, Instructables, High-Low Tech, Makerspaces.com, Spark Fun, and the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio. We used copper tape, watch batteries, and LED lights (links go to where I got them in bulk on Amazon because we can occasionally have large crowds), often starting with the printed templates, then students would experiment on their own to see if they could improve upon the template design, sometimes even trying to create their own designs or science-driven artwork with the materials and blank paper.
Last but not least, we pre-printed copies of a resource guide for different technology-related topics the teens had expressed interest in to give them a starting point and tools for further exploration.
Type: Self-directed
Age: High school
Optimal size: 11-20
Estimated cost: $1 - $25
Planning time: <1 hour
Frequency: One-time
Learning outcomes
Students demonstrate problem-solving, logic, scientific reasoning (via experimentation), creativity, and initiative.
Instructions
The coding games area was simple enough, setting up a handful of laptops and then having them ready for students to select from online coding games via Hour of Code or the (pre-downloaded) Alice animation studio. If you only have a few devices available, both activity types are great for pairs or small groups to work together on a project. If you don't have any devices available (and teens can't bring their own), the Hour of Code site includes curricula for "unplugged" sessions. Teens were usually able to figure out what they wanted to do and how to do it with minimal to no help from staff. If you want a more structured program but have no familiarity with coding, Hour of Code's site includes a listing of local volunteers you can contact for coaching or on-site visits.
Paper circuits are surprisingly easy to figure out (thanks to the guides I linked to in the overview). Most participants (including staff) started with a (free printable) template to figure out the basic techniques for assembling and tweaking a paper circuit, and then branched out from there once they felt more comfortable with it. You can get fancier with switches, circuit stickers, and other hardware, but at the end of the day you can do some pretty neat stuff with just paper, copper tape, watch batteries, LED lights, and a little bit of patience for trying different ideas to see how well they worked.
Evaluation
I wasn't sure how the teens would approach this project, but a surprising number of them really got into it and enjoyed it -- perhaps it was the allure of blinking lights and computer games?
All of my paper circuit participants chose to start with a template to learn the process, but then most of them branched out on their own initiative, testing to see if they could improve the template design or even trying to make their own design on blank pieces of paper. Students who were not sure if they could do it found their footing relatively quickly and displayed confidence in their abilities by the end of the program. And it was a great way to let them experiment without pressure of making something "perfect" but just trying out different ideas and seeing what worked and what needed more work.
The coding gamers chose a variety of different projects to work on, from customizing games they were already familiar with to trying to make something of their own. Some of them tried out several different activities while others picked one thing and stuck with it to try out all of the options for it. They remained excited the entire time and often showed off whatever they were doing to their friends and coordinated who would try what coding activity or how to do something fun in the coding game.