All posts by Vern

What’s an elif in Python? [Answered with vids and gifs]

In short,  an “elif”  means “else  if”.. If you’ve used other programming languages, you’re probalby used to writing [crayon-6766f6cc485d0858592352-i/]  or [crayon-6766f6cc485db634783793-i/] , but python contracts that to the single word [crayon-6766f6cc485dd152350296-i/]  .   The video below, from our middle school cu rriculum for teaching kids python, explains how to use an elif     If  you’re not a video … Continue read...

Back to school announcements

As the new school year is starting up,  we have pushed out a large new curriculum update to Penjee. The first few units have several new videos and about 20 new assignments. The new lessons focus on debugging syntax and logic errors, white space, pseudo code , and much more. In case you missed it, we now also have … Continue reading Back to school announcements →

What is Computational Thinking ?

A phrase that you hear a lot in the CS education community is “computational thinking.” Let’s explore what computational thinking is and what it isn’t. The term was first used by Seymour Papert, a well-known figure in CS Ed history as the maker of the Logo programming language. One question that you hear a lot … Continue reading What is Computational Thinking ? →