Created as an A5 booklet to sit next to pupils as they code in Python. In my teaching I constantly reinforce the importance of looking at examples of code when learning to program. Although this was created for the new Scottish National 4/5 courses the reference guide could be used by anyone learning to code using Python 3. Please leave feedback G Reid

This unit was written for the Scottish, Computing - National 4/5 - Information Systems Design &; Development Unit. It covers what info systems are, their purpose, the data types they contain and an examination of user interface design. The unit is mainly theory work but has a variety of tasks built in. Send me a message with your e-mail address if you wish the files that accompany the unit. Please give feedback. G Reid

This unit was written to improve pupils understanding of the hardware and software components which are required to build a computer system. By learning how to understand specifications pupils should be able to make informed choices when they choose components. Geeky but great fun and engaging. The unit covers the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, Es & Os 3-08c and 4-08d. Have fun Greg P.S. Please leave feedback.

Please note this download is only useable if you already have a copy of Serif WebPlus. The application has been discontinued. In this practical unit pupils create a website on the London 2012 Olympics while learning how to use Serif’s excellent WebPlus X5 software. This is intended as an introductory unit to web design and creation. All the text and graphics are supplied to the pupils. Following this unit, my pupils work in groups of four to design and implement a website for a client. The files are saved in a Dropbox folder. Send me your e-mail if you wish to use the files. Please leave feedback.

This theory unit was written by my colleague Arthur Kerr and edited by myselfIt was written for the Scottish National 4/5 Computing course but could easily be used with other exam systems. It covers: - Networking - Security - Legality - Environment Please leave feedback

This booklet was written for the Scottish National 4/5 courses but could be used as part of any programming course for beginners. The booklet covers the following topics - What is a program? - Design Methodologies - Programming Construct Definitions - Program Constucts exemplified in Pseudocode (with several tasks to teach pupils design & pseudocode at the same time) - Readability - Types of Errors - Interpreters vs Compilers Please leave feedback Thanks

This assessment was written to be used with my tutorial sheets for Serif DrawPlus (also on TES). The assessments is done in three stages to test Basic, Intermediate and Advanced skills as taught in the tutorials. It is expected that most pupils will achieve section 1 and only a few will be capable of all the required skills. Written to take place during 1, 53 minute period. Please leave feedback.

App Inventor was developed by MIT to teach students programming in a fun context that every modern student understands, mobile phones! My students love this unit. It allows them to move at their own pace, be creative and solve problems. For many of them it is their first introduction to the world of programming. I first created this resource in 2012 but have recently updated it for App Inventor 2. The original free version was downloaded over 30,000 times with consistently exceptional feedback so I have written this new version as a commercial product. The unit contains: 8 pdf copies of the workbooks Teaching notes Pupil files required for each workbook An app design sheet Have fun!! snegreid (The Android Robot, screenshots and images from App Inventor for Android are created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License located at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.)

These 7 lessons were written to be delivered as part of a Scottish Qualifications Authority workshop to discuss with Computing Science teachers alternative ways to deliver web coding. They are designed to introduce fun problem solving exercises (some paper-based, some practical) and are intended to be used as lessons starters or simply to break up longer coding exercises. The lessons cover: 1. Basic Tags/Elements (h1, h2, p, title) Pupils are given cut out pieces of web content and code and must arrange the pieces on a blank A3 HTML template printout. 2. Coding Basic Tags (h1, h2, p, title) Pupils are given an HTML file with page content (as a single paragraph of text) but no elements. They must separate the text out and add tags to format the content. They are also asked to research how to create the bullet point list required by the task. 3. Division Tags (div) Similar to lesson 1 but introducing the concept of sectioning off a page using division tags. 4. Adding In-line Styles (text colour, text size, background colour, fonts) Pupils are given an HTML file, printed on A3 paper, with spaces for styles to be added. They must arrange a number of cut-out styles on the HTML file to match a screenshot of a finished page. 5. Adding In-line Styles Pupils are given an screenshot of a finished page with annotations showing colours, fonts and text-sizes used. They must edit the styles in a given file to match the finished page. 6. External Style Sheets Pupils are shown the same site implemented using in-line and then an external stylesheet. This is used to discuss the advantages of external styles. Their task this time is to edit, delete and add to the stylesheet to alter the look of the website to match a fnished example. 7. Cascading Order Pupils are given 5 A3 sheets each which shows an HTML file, a CSS file and a screenshot of the page when shown in a browser. These examples must be examined carefully and used to research the precedence order used when a browser interprets styles (i.e. In-line over-rules external, ID overrules external). This a a difficult task requiring a lot of code reading and problem solving. Level: (Beginner / Intermediate) Duration: (Around 3 to 4 hours in Total) Teaches: (See above)

This unit covers Data Representation & Computer Architecture for N4 é N5. It covers: Binary Units Bin to Den and Den to Bin conversion ASCII Bit-Map Storage and Calculations of File Size Vector Graphic Storage Machine Code Computer Architecture (memory, processor components, buses, addressibility) é Interfaces Three calculation sheets accompany the unit. For access to all the files send me a message with your e-mail address and I’ll register you for the Dropbox they’re stored in. Please leave feedback. G Reid

In this enterprise task, pupils create a website for a client (another member of staff, local group, charity or company). Pupils are expected to work in groups, identifying their own skills, sharing workload, communicating with their client and meeting deadlines. This is the next step after my Basic Web Design unit where pupils learn how to use web editing software. Greg Reid Please review for future updates.

These sheets are part of a Curriculum for Excellence course for S1 pupils. The format of these sheets was an attempt to get away from workbooks where pupils work from step 1 through to step 50 without thinking. Pupil are taught skills and encouraged to try things (in other words problem solve). An assessment at the end requires pupils to demonstrate that they understand where to use each Word facility appropriately. This style of teaching takes a bit of getting used to and is definitely harder work. The benefits outweigh this though. Good luck! Greg

These were written as part of my new Curriculum for Excellence course for S1 pupils. Pupils are not forced to work through the help sheets but use them when required. All pupils then work through the Comic Life Projects sheets to a level of their own choosing. Each new project is more challenging. If you definitely wish to use this unit, please e-mail me for a copy of the files as there are too many to upload. Thanks Greg Reid

This resource was created to accompany my school's Internet Safety Unit. The resource can be used to instigate class discussion regarding the accuracy of Internet information, as an information sheet or maybe as a homework exercise (you'd have to write the questions though). Please leave feedback. Thanks.

There are several skills required to be a good programmer. One of these is being able to identify the order of code. In this Scratch homework students are given a description of a short animation and the blocks required to build it, Their task is identify the correct order of the blocks. The homework starts with a worked example. There are three questions making this homework about a 10-15 minute task. Students love this style of problem solving homework.

There are several skills required to be a good programmer. One of these is being able to debug programs by identifying errors in code. In this Scratch homework students are given a description of a short animation and are required to find the errors in the code. The homework starts with a worked example. There are three questions making this homework about a 10-15 minute task. Students love this style of problem solving homework. Have fun!

There are several skills required to be a good programmer. One of these is being able to modularise programs by identifying blocks of code. This Scratch homework is based around the “broadcast” block which can be used to modularise programs allowing greater control over order, reuse of code and gives sprites the ability to communicate with each other. The homework starts with a worked example. There are four questions making this homework about a 10-15 minute task. Note that question 4 will be out of reach of most younger pupils and should possibly set as a challenge (possibly with a certificate or prize for those who successfully solve it) Students love this style of problem solving homework. Have fun!

(Greg Reid has written two Computing text books for the Scottish education system. His resources are used in thousands of schools all over the world.) Computational Thinking (learning to think in a logical/problem solving way) is the buzz word in the teaching of programming. By teaching students to predict the outcome of small pieces of code they naturally become better at building their own programs. Although this homework uses Scratch program code, the code is simply a vehicle to ask the questions and the homework may be used with students who have never seen Scratch. Permission has been granted by the Scratch team to uses images of Scratch code. Have fun. My students loved these! Previously downloaded 30,000 times on a few websites comments have included: “Thanks, these look like really good examples and introduce code in a fun and engaging way.” “Very useful. I’ll use for a Maths class as well.” “Great examples to understand code. Thank you for sharing it.”

Many students these days wish to be games programmers. This booklet is the first in a series of four that teaches students the tool and techniques of object orientated programming required to become a beginner games programmer. In Project 1 students will use the programming language Python, along with its add-on Pygame, to write an object orientated game called Balloon Burst. The booklet covers: . object orientated programming theory . coding Balloon Burst (with full instructions) . extension tasks . ways to improve your coding This could be your first step to becoming a games programmer! This booklet was co-written with my colleague David Stott for the Scottish Advanced Higher Computer Science course but could be used as part of any advanced programming course or games programming club. Project 2 is also available.

Students are provided a scenario with four parallel arrays where each array stores the air pressure of a car tyre (front left, back right etc). Each question asks students to write code to solve a stated problem. Answers require that students write: find maximum - code that finds the largest value in an array find minimum - code that finds the smallest value in an array linear search - code that traverses an array looking for values count occurrence - code that count the number of times values are found in an array. The questions get progressively harder. Although many programming languages contain functions to carry out some or all of the above, knowing how to code these algorithms aids code understanding and gives students the ability to write alternative versions of each algorithm. Marking Instructions and a completed Python program with the solutions are supplied. The questions are suitable for any programming language your students may be familiar with. The marking instructions could be adapted for solutions in different languages. These could also be turned into practical tasks by providing a partial program that sets up the data in the arrays.