Learning Computer Science in English: "Search & Sort Algorithms"

[Japan Time] Sunday, March 16, 2025, 9:30-11:30 AM
[Seattle Time] Saturday, March 15, 2025, 5:30-7:30 PM

Using the Zoom web conferencing system, engineers from Google and other companies based in Seattle, USA participated as teaching assistants. More than 140 participants and staff members joined from across Japan as well as the United States, Thailand, and Canada, representing four countries in total.

Event announcement (in Japanese) can be found here
Here is the English version of the previous event report.

【By Haruka (Staff, Kids Code Club】

📌〈Event Agenda〉

Act 0: Zoom open
Act 1: Breakout room 1 (Self-introduction & Playing cards setup)
Act 2: Introduction + Lecture : What is Algorithm, Sort&Search
Act 3: Breakout room 2
Act 4: Picture Time and Bubblesort competition
Act 5: Kahoot!

📌Group Assignment for Breakout Rooms

Activities are conducted in teams of 4-6 people, grouped based on English proficiency level and homework completion status. Each team is assigned a Teaching Assistant (TA), so participants can ask questions when they need help.

〈English Level〉
Participants select their English proficiency level (L1-L3) when registering.

L1: Primarily uses Japanese but incorporates essential keywords and simple English words. This level is suitable for those who are not yet comfortable with English or have basic school-level English skills.

L2: Uses Japanese and English in roughly equal proportions. This level is designed for those who want to further develop their English skills, are ready for a challenge, or have approximately EIKEN Grade 4 proficiency.

L3: Conducted entirely in English. This level is appropriate for those who can understand everyday conversation.

◇Act 0: Zoom open

As participants joined the Zoom meeting one after another, children's smiling faces began to fill the screen. The chat was buzzing with greetings in both English and Japanese, creating a lively atmosphere filled with anticipation and a touch of nervousness for the upcoming event. After exchanging greetings, the children moved to their respective breakout rooms.

▽Participants from all over the world!🌎✨

▽ Kids in Kumamoto joined from an on-site location！

◇Act 1: Breakout room 1 (Self-introduction & Playing cards setup)

When we split into breakout rooms, the TAs and children began introducing themselves. It seems they were talking about their favorite board games, related to this session's theme! Games like shogi, Othello, Go, and playing cards came up in the conversation. ♣

After finishing the self-introductions, we return to the main room and begin the main lecture.

◇Act 2: Introduction + Lecture : What is Algorithm, Sort&Search

This time too, our facilitator Masa, along with main TAs Utako (Japanese) and Greg (English), started with fun self-introductions in their perfectly synchronized interplay 🎉

Additionally, everyone from the Kumamoto venue (Ueki Future Space) greeted us energetically.

Now, let's jump right into today's theme! Our algorithmic topic this time is "search," in other words, the act of "finding." We'll start by thinking together about what kinds of "searching" activities we unconsciously perform in our everyday lives! (🎥Please watch the video for more details!)

For this lesson, we'll prepare a deck of playing cards (♦️) and some coins (🪙) to learn about algorithms through hands-on activities. By physically manipulating these objects, you'll gain a tangible understanding of how sorting mechanisms work.

◇Act 3: Breakout room 2

After the main lecture, we split into breakout rooms again. During this time, we worked together with cards and coins while showing our hands through the camera. We tried bubble sort, linear search, binary search, and other algorithms, learning by physically working through them. I hope everyone enjoyed the experience of recreating algorithms with their own hands!

Sort/Search Demo Apps

TAs used the following web apps to demonstrate each sort/search algorighm online. 

• Bubble Sort: ✅ Japanese ✅ English

• Linear Search ✅ Japanese ✅ English

• Binary Search：✅ Japanese ✅ English

• Selection Sort: ✅ Japanese ✅ English

◇Act 4: Picture Time and Bubblesort competition

Upon returning to the main room, we engaged in a bubble sort competition using 10 playing cards, with the TA also participating! 🔥 Everyone started simultaneously, reviewing what we had learned in the previous breakout rooms!

Cards of various colors were spread all across the screen, with everyone wearing serious expressions as they worked on bubble sort. Their earnest efforts and focused movements conveyed their dedication even through the screen, making for a lively and enjoyable time.

◇Act 5: Kahoot！

Finally, we'll end with our traditional Kahoot! (quiz). Let's review what we learned today together! (🎥 Please watch the video for more details.)

I believe the Kahoot! quizzes allowed us to review material in an enjoyable way while checking our understanding, which deepened our learning.

◇ Wrap-up

In this session, we learned about the mechanisms of algorithms through hands-on activities. By using playing cards and coins, I believe participants were able to understand the concepts more intimately and deepen their comprehension. Going forward, we hope to continue providing opportunities for participants to learn in an enjoyable way through these kinds of practical learning experiences!

The participants at the Kumamoto venue also seemed to enjoy their participation, and even through the screen, the excitement and energy from the venue was palpable.

Thank you to everyone who participated this time. We also deeply appreciate the support from all family members and your cooperation in ensuring smooth operations.

▼Next Session

Tree Algorithm 
<Japan Time> May 11, 2025 (Sunday) 9:30-11:30
<Seattle Time> May 10, 2025 (Saturday) 17:30-19:30

▼Feedbacks from Participants

What did you enjoy or appreciate about this event? Please share any changes in feelings or notable episodes. 😊

<Children's Responses>

• Playing the bubble sort card game together was really fun.

• I'm glad I was able to understand how sorting and selection work.

• Hearing authentic English was a great experience.

• It was satisfying to learn various things with friends who have similar English abilities.

• I thought, "I'd like to learn about other sorting methods too."

• I enjoy how the staff are so supportive and helpful! Their explanations were easy to understand and simple.

• I liked the engagement with the activities and the Kahoot at the end was fun to do with my sister who was also in this program.

• Thank you so much !! I enjoy this program very much, and look forward to participating every time. :))

<Parents' Responses>

• "My daughter mentioned that although she thought the computer lessons would be difficult, they were at a good level for her.

• Online events are nice because we don't have to worry about travel time. It helps with maintaining English skills.

• We were able to spend very meaningful time hearing directly from native English-speaking teachers about experiences that can't normally be had in everyday life (at school or home).

• It was the first time learning about computer science concepts.

• My child seems to have developed an interest in English and has started asking questions like 'What does ___ mean?' This is thanks to participating in this event!

• I was grateful that we could challenge ourselves in a completely new field and learn coding from high-level teachers whom we would rarely have the opportunity to interact with otherwise."

<TA>

What were the things that went well at the event? 

• The children were fully prepared, working diligently with their hands, and seemed to be learning algorithms with good concentration. I had thought it would be difficult for them to show their hands on camera, but surprisingly, they were able to do this quite smoothly.

• Since the majority of the children had completed their preparations in advance, they were able to accomplish what needed to be done.

• I think the kids were interested in the subject so was easy to get their attention.

• Kids are very smart and they catch everything fast

• Thing stayed on schedule for the most part. It was pretty smooth.

☆☆Thank You Teachers!☆☆

Anna Rose （Seattle)
Anne Zhou（Tokyo)
Charles （Seattle)
Doug （Tokyo)
Elena （Seattle)
Greg （Seattle)
Justin（Seattle)
Kazuma （Seattle)
Keigo（Fukuoka)
Kenji （Seattle)
Hagedorn（Irvine, Calfornia）
Kurt （Mountain View）
Li （Seattle)
Luis （Tokyo)
Masa（Seattle)
Masaki（Seattle)
Masataka（Fukuoka)
Masatoshi（Seattle)
Meena （San Francisco）
Reiko （Seattle)
Saki （Seattle)
Srinivas（Tokyo)
Tomoko （Fukuoka)
Utako （Tokyo)
Xin（Tokyo)

☆☆CS in English Project Team☆☆

Seattle Team： Seattle IT Japanese Professionals
Kumamoto Team： 特定非営利活動法人くまもと L R ネット
Fukuoka Team： 一般社団法人Kids Code Club

Your generous support makes our CS in English program thrive. By contributing today, you'll help us empower more students with essential tech education in English and Japanese. Join us in building tomorrow's innovation - every donation makes a difference!!

▼ Donations ▼
Japanese: 寄付で応援する｜Kids Code Club
English: Global Giving | Kids Code Club