Computer programming is the primary building block for online businesses and institutions. You can use it to create websites, automate online tasks for companies, and more. Learning about these topics can help to give students essential skills to pursue computer programming as a career – or just understand technology better.
When it comes to education, Python is a prominent and popular language to use to teach students coding. As you can imagine, there are a lot of platforms out there that provide teachers with resources to do just that. The question is, which providers have the best lesson plan resources for teaching Python?
Continue reading to learn what you should look for in a Python lesson plan resource, what the best Python lesson plan resources are, and more!
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What Is Python?
Python is a computer programming language that you can use to create websites, analyze business data, and more. Python doesn’t specialize in a particular program, making it very versatile.
Additionally, the creators of Python made it easy to understand. The syntax was specifically made to read as close to English as possible, which stands in stark contrast to lower-level languages like C++. As such, it’s become immensely popular as just about any coder can learn to pick up Python.
This being said, there are multiple features in Python along with coding principles to learn, so learning how to use them can take time. Therefore, there are numerous lesson plan resources for Python so students can learn to use it at a young age.
What Qualities Should You Want In A Python Lesson Plan Resource?
Before we detail the best Python lesson plan resources (and the top providers for those resources), we need to display the essential qualities you should look for when choosing a Python resource provider.
There are several things you should want in a Python lesson plan resource. Here are the main elements to look for to ensure your students get the best experience.
It Shouldn’t Be Overcomplicated
One of the worst things a Python lesson plan resource can be is overcomplicated. Although Python has many tools and features, a Python lesson plan resource should only focus on one or two at a time to ensure that the students retain the information. The only exception is an introductory lesson plan, but introductory teachings should be simple anyway.
A Python lesson plan resource can be more straightforward by using simple English and having a clear and concise focus.
It Should Contain Crucial Details To Inform Students About Python
Although simplicity is essential for a Python lesson plan resource, that doesn’t mean that the resource should feel empty. On the contrary, a student should’ve learned something beneficial to their understanding of Python from the teaching resource.
By this, we mean students should always be picking up coding fundamentals, or practical applications for Python in the use of app development, data science, and more.
That being said, there should be no time wasted in a Python lesson plan resource; if a piece of information only needs a few slides to explain it, then there should be no more than that. Things need to balance being detailed while also being digestible.
It Should Entertain Students And Engage Them
Finally, if a student finds the Python lesson plan resource boring, it has failed. Therefore, all Python teaching resources should be entertaining and have a variety of tasks and resource styles to keep students engaged.
An easy way to engage students with Python is to show them how to create a fun project using it. However, it is also optimal if the resource includes several ways to learn. This can include:
- Video courses and lessons
- Text lessons
- Interactive online activities
- Quizzes
What Are The Best Lesson Plan Resources For Python?
Before we detail the top providers for Python lesson plan resources, you need to know all about the different types of teaching resources for Python. These include introduction lessons, courses based on a specific project, and more.
Here are the best kinds of lesson plan resources for Python.
Introduction Courses
Before students can get stuck into the more challenging courses (intermediate project-based courses, for example), they need to understand the basics of Python’s functions. Therefore, many providers will offer introduction courses to Python.
These introduction courses typically include a brief overview of all the critical features for a specific function of Python.
Zenva Schools offers multiple introduction courses to tools and functions on Python that can serve as an example here. These are adapted for different student levels, as Python is a robust language capable of making any sort of software.
Here are the introduction to Python lesson plan resources on Zenva Schools for you to take a look at to see what we mean:
- Intro to Coding with Python Turtle: Students can learn algorithms and coding with this course. The course helps to build an understanding of programming. It also shows students how to draw shapes, change colors (shapes and backgrounds), control the filling and spacing of shapes, design algorithms, and implement them with programming.
- Intro to Object Orientated Programming in Python: A beginner’s course that teaches students how to structure a program (software, for example) into digestible pieces of code. This focuses on object-oriented programming specifically – the style of programming used in everyday life for actual programmers.
Project-based Python Courses
When students complete the introductory Python courses and retain the information, the next step that a teacher should take is to get them to complete some project-based Python lesson plans.
A project-based Python lesson plan resource will help students understand how to perform a particular task on Python, such as making a game or programming a piece of software (all real-life applications).
As an example, here are some project-based courses on Zenva Schools that exemplify the project-based type of approach.
- Python Turtle Mini-Projects: A course that teaches students to complete three Python Turtle mini-projects. During the project creation process, students will learn how to save data and manipulate it with multiple variables, reuse code by designing loops, create conditional branching paths, debug issues, and utilize these teachings to complete the projects.
- Intermediate Python Project – Pygame Game: A more challenging project for students that teaches them Python and Pygame (by getting them to create a game). It will teach them how to develop and implement game windows, draw images they can use on the screen, generate object classes for the player and enemy characters, find key button presses to control character movement, detect object collisions and create win and loss conditions.
Resources That Focus On Data Science
Although Python is used widely in things like automation, another area is has a big application is data science. Once students are comfortable with projects and applying coding principles with Python, the next step would be to move on to data science. This is also perfect for older students.
These sorts of resources focus on how all our data-based decisions often have Python compiling things in the background. They should cover things like databases, charts, and so forth.
To example again, Zenva Schools offers numerous topics on data science as well that showcase what sorts of resources teachers should be looking for:
- Data Manipulation with Python and Pandas: A course that can teach students to read and manipulate data using Python and Pandas. The course will show students how to access Pandas and its library, collect data from files (CSV and Excel), structure data with DataFrames, select specific data sets, sort data, and group it.
- Data Visualisation with Python: The course shows students how to visualize data using various plotting libraries (Seaborn, Bokeh, etc.). Students can use the plotting libraries to create pie charts, column charts, line charts, multiline charts, joint plots, scatter plots, and interactive elements.
- Intro to SQL using Python and Intermediate SQL Databases with Python: These courses focus on the basics of databases. This includes not only manipulating databases to read and obtain data, but creating, updating, and deleting data as a whole.
- Reading Data from APIs with Python: Students can find out how to retrieve data and information from APIs using Python. Additionally, they can learn how to understand APIs, Create data retrieval requests, format data, write data to fit into a CSV file, and read data from local files.
What Are The Best Providers For Python Lesson Plan Resources?
The final step to finding the best Python lesson plan resources is comparing the top competitors in the teaching resource industry. Because there are so many competitors, some offer unique Python resource types to help them stand out.
So here are the best providers for Python lesson plan resources.
Brite
Brite is a teaching resource product focusing on multiple programming languages, including Python.
They offer over 200 courses on many of the top programming languages, with 27 of those being focused on Python. The courses cover all the necessary material, from introductory courses to project-based courses. There’s also a huge range in age appeal, with courses plenty suitable even for super young kids.
It’s worth noting, though, that Brite’s content tends to come from third-party providers, so quality is a bit mixed here.
PythonForBeginners
PythonForBeginners is a Python teaching resource site for those wanting beginners courses (including students). They offer a free package with some basic topics to give students and beginners a taste of what the package can offer. This includes a focus on the most fundamental coding principles.
However, with their paid package users receive access to 70 lessons that range from introductory content to the covered project-based program writing. The topics also scale effectively, so students can go from a complete novice to advanced users.
This being said, this particularly resource is geared more towards individuals then school use.
Zenva Schools
What should be no surprise, Zenva Schools is an excellent option for schools wanting to teach Python to their students. They offer numerous teaching resources at entry, beginner, and intermediate levels.
Additionally, they have multiple teaching resources to give students the most well-rounded package. Some of these resources include video course lessons, downloadable project files, written text summaries of lessons, interactive content, live coding content, quizzes, and more. Thus, the material is very accessible regardless of learning style.
Per the previous mentions as well, Zenva Schools hits all the criteria needed for a good lesson plan. On top of this, they have many features specifically for in-school use, such as classroom management tools and student reports. So they offer more beyond just the Python content itself!
What Is The Best Python Lesson Plan Resource Provider?
There are a ton of Python resources out there, so which is the best? Well, the “best” usually depends on your specific needs. There are more providers out there than just what we named. And each teacher is very different – so the best is always a personal decision.
That being said, Zenva Schools from our list stands out as a top provider, covering not only all criteria, but providing numerous tools for school use. The collection of Python courses is also very extensive, so every teacher will find something available.
In the end, though, Python is worth teaching regardless of which resource you pick, and can set students up for a bright future!