I've already mentioned it on the forum but I went off to investigate and was hooked by a bloody course! I'm now merrily working my way through intro to computer science on Udacity. So many of the videos there can be used to help MY learners, even though its aimed at adults many are just perfect for year 10
The technology is simple and effective, lessons are delivered by videos which are regularly peppered with quizzes to check understanding. The quizzes follow seamlessly from the videos which makes for a smooth learning experience. The screen is split into a narrow lesson list on the left with content delivered in the big pane on the right - so its easy to track progress whilst you learn. An emulator appears in this right hand panel for the practical tasks.
The pedagogy is good - everything is delivered in bite sized chunks and you can move through at your own pace. The videos appeal to a broad spectrum of learning styles as they give clear information, demonstrations and audio. The practical tasks cater well for those of us who like to get on and do things. Its an easy course to dip in and out of too.
The philosophy appears to be clear, the courses are free but for a fee you can access a tutor. Each course is clearly based around a practical problem and you learn and work your way towards a solution.
I like it so much I've got some of my super geeky year 10 students onto it - they always want to learn more programs. I would say its better suited than codeacademy which we have used before but not useful in MY classroom as YouTube is blocked for the students. Of course I am working on that....
