NEWS!
Nov 16: More information for our celebration
You will find the schedule of demos for tomorrow here. You may want to remind your coders that we will show their running program from the instructor’s laptop on the screen for everyone to see. They will be given an opportunity to say a few words explaining their project or answering any of the questions they wrote during our last meeting, if they would like. But due to the number of projects, we need to limit the time they can talk to no more than a couple of minutes. So if they will say something, they should think about what they will say in advance.
To fit everything in, we need to start promptly. Please be sure your coders fill the Participant Survey and at least one parent fills the Parent Survey before 10 am tomorrow. You can complete the surveys from home or you can complete them on the 2nd floor public computers at the library. If you will complete them at the library, please arrive at least 15 minutes early so we can start the celebration on time. Please make your way to the basement by 10:00 am.
We will break briefly for pizza around 11 am. We have to be cleaned up and out of the room by noon. So the length of the break will depend on how far we are through the demos.
We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
Nov 14: Information for Nov 17 (our last meeting)
Due to the large number of projects our coders have created and so we can have time for pizza and socializing, we need to change the orginal plan and start our End-of-Club Celebration as close to 10 am as possible. So parents are invited to stay for the whole time this Saturday, not just for the last hour.
To ensure we have time for a full, fun celebration:
⚬ Please arrive on time (10 am)!
⚬ Please have your coders each complete the Participant Post Survey found here before arriving.
⚬ Please have at least one legal guardian complete the Parent Survey found here before arriving.
The surveys can be completed on a home computer or on a public computer on the 2nd floor of the library. If you or your coders will complete them on Saturday at the library, please plan to arrive by 9:45 am and proceed directly to the 2nd floor. The library staff will reserve some computers for you to use. The surveys should take 5-10 minutes to complete. When the surveys are completed, proceed to the basement.
We think you will enjoy seeing what coders have created to show you. They are a lively and creative group!
We look forward to a fun time this Saturday!
Nov 7: Information for week 6
Where did the time go? We have just two more Technovation meetings.
The meeting this Saturday (Nov 10) starts at 10 am, as usual, in the basement rooms. Please try to arrive on time. We group coders according to their progress on Grok Learning (GL). Coders who arrive late fall behind and can set back their group’s progress. This Saturday, coders will finish their projects and prepare for the end-of-club celebration.
On Nov 17, please plan to drop your coder off at 10 am, as usual, but then return at 11 am for a small celebration. In this last hour of the last meeting, coders will demo their projects for parents and receive certificates noting the modules they completed in the GL micro:bit tutorial. We will also give small prizes to coders at the different grade levels who made the most progress in Grok Learning. So please encourage coders to log into their GL account during the week to mark and submit any code they have started but not yet submitted, or to complete new problems in the tutorial. Remind them that they need to mark and submit code for us to be able to see it. Send an email if they need a GL email or password reminder.
We look forward to seeing all coders this Saturday!
Oct 31: Information for week 5
Most coders are making good progress through the Grok Learning (GL) tutorial on coding the micro:bit -- about half are working in module 4. All can benefit by logging into their GL account (groklearning.com) during the week to review past lessons (a week is a long time to remember with no additional practice or review) and try new ones. They can find their GL email address in the drop down menu here. If they have forgotten their password, let us know to send it to you or have it reset by GL.
This coming Saturday coders will learn more about variables and spend some time working on project ideas before continuing to work through the GL lessons.
We meet in basement rooms A & B again this Saturday.
We look forward to seeing everyone!
Oct 22: Practice, Videolog, & Week 4 info
About half of our coders have started on Module 3. Most of the others are close to finishing Module 2. It will be great if coders can log into groklearning.com during the week to practice using what they have learned and make sure that they submitted code for all the coding challenges they completed. (If they have forgotten their GL email, it can be found in the drop down menu here. If they have forgotten their password, we can send it to you − just let us know to do that.)
In Module 3 coders are learning how to play music with the micro:bit and how to create their own images. Along the way, they have been learning about conditionals and loops. Module 4 adds motion to the mix helping motivate the need for variables.
In the news: Rahma and Kareema have published a videolog on their YouTube channel talking about Technovation (Published on Oct 20). It is great! You can check it out here.
Technovation will be back in the basement this Saturday (in Rooms A & B). We look forward to seeing all coders this weekend.
Oct 17: Week 3 info, video, & other news
Most coders had fun last week finishing up Module 1 in the Grok Learning Tutorial. Many also got a start on Module 2. In Module 3, they will learn how to get the micro:bit to play music. It will be great if any can bring a cheap pair of earbuds to amplify the sound.
The basement room of the library is booked for another event this Saturday. We will therefore meet this Saturday in the 3rd floor conference room instead of the basement. The class will start promptly at 10:00 am, so please give yourselves an extra 5 minutes to find our new room. Ask for directions at the first-floor circulation desk as you come in.
Thanks to all who participated in the Technovation video. It came out great!!
We post these mails and other announcements on our news page (this page) since that can sometimes be more reliable than sending an email. We recommend that you check this page on Saturday mornings before you leave for class in case of any late announcements that you may have missed.
Please let us know any comments or other feedback relating to Technovation. All coders have been great to get to know and work with. We look forward to another 5 meetings with them!
Oct 12: Technovation Video
Oct 12: Info for Meeting 2
Last Saturday we enjoyed getting to meet everyone and introducing coders to the micro:bit. This Saturday we will get to know one another better, learn about the amazing coder who founded iLuminate, review the material that we covered last time, and forge ahead to learn new things. Most coders are just getting started on Module 1 of the Grok Learning tutorial, so we will begin instruction at the beginning this Saturday. :-)
We will meet in the basement room again this week. Coders who have not successfully logged into their Grok Learning account or filled the pre-survey should plan to arrive by 9:45 am so an instructor can help them be ready by 10:00 am. All other coders should plan to arrive by 10:00 am.
Parents of coders who did not fill their coders' medical information into the medical release form will need to add it to the form when they drop their coders off. Please bring the necessary information with you (physician and insurance, if any—’None’ should be indicated if coders have none). Also, all forms have to be signed by a parent or legal guardian. Coders cannot participate unless we have properly completed forms in hand.
We expect to have more laptops for Technovation this Saturday. We aim to eventually have a laptop for each coder so all can have fun writing code—no one wants to just watch!
Looking forward to this Saturday.
2019 Aspirations in Computing
The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) honors women in grades 9 through 12 who are active and interested in computing and technology, and encourages them to pursue their passions. To date, more than 12,000 women have been honored with the Award for AiC. Deadline for completed applications: Nov. 5.
2018 CSforALL Summit
October 8−10, the national computer science (CS) education community will convene in Detroit, Michigan at Wayne State University to celebrate progress on the CSforALL movement and announce new commitments to reach the goal of access to rigorous, inclusive, and sustainable computer science education for all US students. Open to all!