Hey there! Have you ever wondered if you can learn about computers and coding without actually using a computer? Well, there’s a cool resource called “Hello Ruby” that thinks you can! Let’s dive into what makes Hello Ruby so special and fun.
Hello Ruby started as a book series by a Finnish author named Linda Lucas. She wanted to make learning about coding easy and fun for kids. The books became so popular that they turned into a website full of activities that teach computer science concepts without needing a computer. It’s perfect for kids aged four to eight, but older kids can enjoy it too!
The best part about Hello Ruby is that it uses hands-on activities to teach. You might be cutting, pasting, drawing, or crafting while learning about important ideas like the difference between software and hardware. There are also activities about staying safe online and understanding what kind of information websites collect from you.
One fun activity is imagining what life was like before the internet. How did people watch cartoons or listen to music? You can talk to your family or teachers to find out and compare it to how we do things today. This helps you think about how technology has changed and what it might look like in the future.
Hello Ruby is great because it makes learning about computer science feel easy and exciting. Even though some activities might be a bit tricky for younger kids, you can choose the ones that interest you the most. The activities are creative and help you understand big ideas in a simple way.
While Hello Ruby is awesome, there are a few things that could be better. The website could be organized in a way that’s easier to follow, and it would be nice to see different presenters in the videos so more kids can relate to them. But overall, it’s a fantastic resource for learning about computer science.
If you’re curious to learn more about Hello Ruby and other educational tools, you can check out Common Sense Education. They have lots of reviews and lists of resources that can help you learn in fun and interesting ways.
So, are you ready to explore the world of computer science without a computer? Give Hello Ruby a try and see how much fun learning can be!
Create Your Own Computer: Gather some craft materials like cardboard, paper, markers, and glue. Ask the children to design and build their own “computer” using these materials. They can draw and label parts like the screen, keyboard, and mouse. Encourage them to think about what each part does and how they might use it in real life. This activity helps them understand the basic components of a computer without needing an actual device.
Unplugged Coding Game: Set up a simple obstacle course in the classroom or playground. Have the children pair up, with one child acting as the “robot” and the other as the “programmer.” The programmer gives verbal instructions to guide the robot through the course. This activity introduces the concept of coding by showing how precise instructions are needed to complete a task, just like writing code for a computer program.
Technology Time Travel: Ask the children to interview a family member or teacher about how they used to watch cartoons or listen to music before the internet. They can draw a picture or write a short story about what they learned. This activity encourages them to think about technological changes over time and how these changes impact our daily lives.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Hello everyone, and welcome to another Common Sense Education tool review video. You have Tanner and Chrissy here with you today. Tanner, I understand that you have a tool you’d like to tell us about.
Yes, this is one we reviewed. I can actually find out for you exactly when we reviewed it—April 2021. This is a tool we’ve had our eye on for a while because we launched a site called “Wide Up in School,” which was a support site for the pandemic, and this was one of the resources we highlighted there. Later, we had it reviewed, and it’s been a tool I’ve been thinking about quite a lot that I’d like to share with people. So let me share my screen here so we can take a look at this.
This is our review of the tool called “Hello Ruby.” Calling it a tool is a bit of a stretch; it’s more of a resource. It’s a website that started as a book series. This woman, Linda Lucas, I believe is how you pronounce her name, is Finnish. She kick-started this book series about making coding accessible to young kids, ages four to eight. This was inspired by her own struggles to learn coding. When she would run into tough concepts, she would try to explain them in a very simple way to herself and then recorded that, creating this book series that has since become a website for supporting at-home learning or school-based learning.
What I really like about it is that the lessons or activities are all low-tech and offline. Even though they’re all about computer science and coding concepts, they’re totally hands-on and crafty. She has a great aesthetic sensibility; everything looks really cool and fun. She’s also incredibly inventive with the activities she comes up with. The activities often involve cutting things out, pasting, or drawing—just sort of messing around and learning key concepts like the difference between software and hardware. There are also activities focused on digital citizenship, privacy, and security, such as understanding what kind of data websites collect on you.
We graded this for grades two through five, but some of these activities might be a bit of a stretch for younger kids who may not be familiar with data collection and different online spaces. However, you can pick and choose activities. I particularly like her learning approach, which includes wild examples that fuse historical thinking with future thinking. For instance, getting kids to imagine life before the internet and what it was like to watch cartoons or listen to music back then could be a fun activity. They might have to talk to family or teachers to figure it out and do some research, comparing that with the present day and thinking about how things might evolve in the future.
Now, we only gave this a three-star rating, which is still a good rating for us, but it wasn’t the highest. The reason for this is that the organization on the teacher’s side isn’t ideal. All the resources are listed, and you kind of scroll through them. It could be better organized in terms of the learning experience, as you can get lost in it. The learning design is solid, and she even has activities for teachers that look similar to the kids’ activities, which is great for pre-thinking. This is a huge part of the issue with computer science education—many teachers may not feel fully prepared, and this resource makes it feel accessible.
There are also great self-assessments for students built into the program, which are rare in this kind of curriculum. Reflecting on their thinking is also fairly uncommon. The self-assessment is crafty and has a positive message. However, our main criticism was that some activities feel like a great start but not the full experience, and the organization could be improved.
The videos are nice, but they all feature her, and it would be nice to see different presenters so kids could relate better. The format works well on a phone, but on YouTube, it crops strangely. We gave it a three-star rating, but I’ve been thinking about that rating because there’s incredible depth of thought in the materials, and aesthetically, it’s impressive. We just want to see more from it, which is part of the challenge of applying a five-star rating.
If it truly is just her creating all this content, that’s amazing, but it will take teachers some time to sort through everything. I love the idea of asking kids how we listened to music before the internet and helping them conceptualize what things looked like. Efforts are made in almost every aspect of the program to discuss subjects that often feel scary and complicated, making those conversations easier. It guides people into the core concepts of not just coding but computer science, including discussions on hardware, the structure of the internet, captchas, and packet switching. It covers things you rarely see in fully fleshed-out computer science curricula for K-12.
Thank you so much, Tanner, for sharing about Hello Ruby. If you want to see more reviews, please visit Common Sense Education. We have a ton of reviews and curated lists for you to explore. If you find these videos helpful, please subscribe, and we will have another video for you very soon. You’re doing great, and we’ll see you soon. Bye!
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This version removes filler words, informal language, and any potentially confusing phrases while maintaining the essence of the original content.
