•  
  •  
 

Article Title

Lightbot: Code Hour

Authors

Liz Kazandzhy

Keywords

Outstanding, Preschool, Primary, Apple, Android, Games, Puzzles, Programming, Coding

Document Type

App Review

Abstract

Lightbot: Code Hour is a relatively short app that is designed to introduce kids to coding. Users are expected to solve 20 puzzles—8 in the Basics section, 6 in Procedures, and 6 in Loops—that get progressively more difficult. Each level presents a set of square panels with a robot character placed on one of them. On the right is a “main” section in which you write the code for the robot to run using the following buttons: up (move forward one), lightbulb (light the blue tile), left (rotate left), right (rotate right), and jump (jump either up or down if there is a change of elevation). The purpose of the puzzle is to have the robot light all the blue tiles. After writing the code, you can play it back to see the result; if the objective was reached, you unlock the next level, but if not, you must continue to edit the code until it works. The Procedural section adds the concept of classes, with main being able to “call” other sets of code, and the Loops section adds the concept of repeating code.

Download

Share

COinS