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Git yourself a leg up for student projects

Friday 12:20 PM–12:50 PM in Hall B

Part of the Education specialist track

Using Git and GitHub for version control are industry essentials for any aspiring developer and open-source contributor, but do students even need to learn this “tricky” process? But, GitHub has more to offer teachers and students than just version control (although the peace of mind of knowing that those major works are safe and secure on the cloud is a big bonus!).

I’ll tell you why using Git is just like an Instagram-worthy shopping trip, and with this analogy and some tools using GitHub will soon be child's play. I’ll also show you the tools for teachers to help keep your students on track, from project templates to documentation, and automated testing with GitHub Actions and some quick Python scripts.

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In this talk, I’ll show how I make Git approachable for new users with my analogy comparing code-add-commit-push to an Instragram worthy shopping trip, and how it’s easy to get students to use GitHub with inbuilt tools like VS Code extensions (or those you find in GitHub.dev).

To help students get on board with the basics and get moving on projects, I’ll show you how to set up your own GitHub Templates for creating project scaffolds such as a Python Flask app for a portfolio site, bringing students into the world of GitHub in a friendly way while ensuring their code is safe in the cloud from the beginning! We’ll also discuss how you or your students can leverage the ReadMe or other markdown files for teacher instructions or student project documentation.

Finally, I’ll show you how you can leverage GitHub Actions to run Python scripts on each push, encouraging students to take full advantage of GitHub and cloud backups by pushing code often, whilst also keeping students on track with automatic checks and tests designed by you (or them!).

Renee Noble She/Her • @noble_renee

Renee Noble spends her time uniting tech, teaching, and community in as many ways as possible.

As a Microsoft Cloud Advocate, she spends her time teaching the community through global events, live streams, and community workshops for students and professionals. She is also the National Director of the Girls’ Programming Network, recently founding a charity, Tech Inclusion, to extend that work, and has also started her own Business, ConnectEd Code, bringing tech education opportunities to schools.

Well known for her work in tech education and the advancement of women, she’s been listed in the AFR 100 Women of Influence, was ICT Educators NSW Leader of the Year, and has been featured in Women’s Weekly and CREATE magazines.