OMG Tech!

November 26th 2016

This is the coding team. A day at MIT. More to come...

New Scratch Resource

The Scratch Team has launched a new Things to Try page with tutorials, activity cards, and educator guides at http://scratch.mit.edu/go/

There are nine different topics. The activities have much more scope than the original Scratch Cards. Each topic comes with a series of cards. So you can build on the learning. 

Take a look at Make Music 

Includes an Educators guide:

https://scratch.mit.edu/pdfs/guides/MusicGuide.pdf

A series of Activity Cards:

https://scratch.mit.edu/pdfs/cards/MusicCards.pdf

If you click on the tutorial link it will take you directly to Scratch and you can follow along while building your project.

I think the help feature is under used in Scratch. To find the help section click on the question mark to the right of the scripts area next click on all tips. You will see all the tutorials under "Step by Step". There is also a "How To" tab and a "Blocks" tab you can select.  

I'm planning to use this for Hour of Code on Monday.

Google Draw - Portrait Art Year 4 Students

 Year 4 Students - Stunning Self Portrait

Graphic Artist - Isabella Johnston-Nimmo

Shape Art by In Young Lee - Room 17

Pikachu

How many shapes makes a Pikachu?

ROYALTY FREE MUSIC by BENSOUND

Bensound website has a great collect of music and it is provided to schools for free under Creative Commons Licence. You can use for free my music licensed under the Creative Commons License in your multimedia project (online videos, websites, animations, etc.) as long as you credit me with a link to my Website. Examples of proper way to credit me: "Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music or "Music: Song title - Bensound.com"

http://www.bensound.com/

Year 1 Students and Scratch Jr Projects

Assessment in Project-Based Learning

Assessment in Project-Based Learning 📈📊 (by @newtechnetwork) #edchat #education #engchat #elearning #edtech #pblchat pic.twitter.com/SFVcOBZkoy

— Alex Corbitt (@Alex_Corbitt) November 8, 2016

Can shapes make other shapes? - Abigail JESUDAS

Awesome maths patterns!

Catherine's Guessing Game

Try Catherine's Guessing Game

Click on the green flag to start and try and guess the number. 

To make this game we can use the concept of decomposition (breaking down the coding into parts). For the guessing game we have to think about 3 conditions; one your guess is to high, two your guess is too low and three you guess is correct.

We used two main control blocks the forever block and the if      then block. We use three operators greater than (<), less than (>) and equal (=). 

- See the code at the bottom of the post.

     

Hatsune Miku https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatsune_Miku

I liked the way Catherine used these images in her game. I thought they were funny and added to the visual appeal of her game. See below: 

I did some research and found out the name of this character. When creating projects always make sure you give credit to the owner of the original content such as the artist. Be careful not to use content that may be under copyright laws. It is best to use your own images or one that are part of the Creative Commons. https://creativecommons.org/about/

Hatsune Miku https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatsune_Miku

Catherine's Code:

Katie's Digital Dice Project

Ojas - Makes Squares from Squares

Room 17 are using Google Draw to do a mathematical investigation.

Can regular shapes combine to make other regular shapes?

Ojas has made squares from squares. His squares are special because each square is made up of 5 squares. When you add up all of the squares you get a pattern or sequence. Starting with 5 then 20, 45 and so on. 125 is the 5th block in this sequence. Can you work out what the 4th block would be? Put you answer in the comments below. 

Scratch Project by Adrian

Halloween Wishes made with Scratch

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/128396584/

Thanks Adrian

Te One's Dice Project

Room 20 

Featured Project Week 4

Digital Dice

Try Te One's Digital Dice 

Concepts 

Logic and Patterns

Approaches

Tinkering and Persevering

Learning Intentions

Recognise the patterns in the coding and using similarities to develop and extend the code to making an electron dice that would only throw 1 or 2 to throw 1 to 6. Preserve and Experiment via trial and error to establish a working code. 

   Featured Project Week 4

Te One's code was adapted from the original two sided dice. He has worked out how to repeat the coding pattern and make it work. This was not the code I expected students to come up with. I didn't think using the if else condition would work for this project. Te One proved me wrong. This solution is logical and perfectly workable. I would not normally use if else unless I was handling only to conditions such as 1 and 2. In other projects students replaced the if else with a single if condition and repeated it 6 times with a forever block.            

Can shapes make other shapes? Year 2 Google Draw Project

Can shapes make other shapes? - Elena DREW

Reinvent your Library

Build Something Awesome from Greenwich Country Day School on Vimeo.

Computational Thinking: Decomposition

littleBits Year 6 Robot Rover

littleBits Year 6 Robot Rover

Changing The Subject.

Computer science is for everyone | Hadi Partovi | TEDxRainier

The Myth of the Average

Alistair Brownlee helping brother Jonny finish his triathlon sacrificing...

This is true sportsmanship and humanity at its best. What a cool brother and friend!

So Awesome!!!

Google Photos with the Kids at Coatesville School

Coatesville School Celebrates the Olympics Games 2016

Google Slide created by Janae Windust - Making Collage and Animations using Google Photos.

Collage by Grayson Lewis

30 years of collaboration towards empowering children to be creative thinkers

30 years of collaboration towards empowering children to be creative thinkers from LEGO Foundation on Vimeo.
For the past 30 years, the LEGO Group and the MIT Media Lab have collaborated on projects based on a shared passion for learning through play. Today, the LEGO Foundation and MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten group continue this tradition, exploring new ways to engage children in creative, playful learning experiences.

The Piper Man - Senior School Production

Amelia's Awesome Art

Amelia has completed two drawing tutorials made by Tony de Saudles. She has created a showcased for her drawing using Google Slides. I like the way she has used matching background photos to compliment her drawings.   

* Click on the slide then Control Shift F to view in Full Screen.

Be The Inspiration

Stormy Night by Thomas Rm 20

I love the animation and sound effects in this project. The tree art is also very good. Did you design these trees yourself Thomas or did you get them of another Scratcher's project? Don't forget to give credit. I can tell you have put a lot of time and effort into this project remix, fantastic work. - Mr R.

Introducing my Avatar - Cassius

Photo to come see project here.

Avatar by Mona

Room 19 have been creating Avatar using Cartoonify. The first avatar is one that represents themselves. They will introduce themselves using text in a speak bubble. Mona has made a good start to this. She has created a suitable avatar and inserted it into her google slide. She has created a speech bubble using the callouts from the shape tools. Next she will need to tell us a bit about herself. Like what is her favourite sport. Does she have any hobbies? How many people in her family? Does she have pets? 

What type of information would Mona not share on this slide?
What information is ok to share?
Who will see this slide? 
How can you share your learning?

Space Teammates - Google CS First Remix by Room 20

Star Wars Poster by Zack Gava - Room 19

Made with Google Slide and Downloaded as a JPEG. To see full size version please click the following link Stars Wars.

Ruth B - Lost Boy (The Intro Live Sessions)

Favourite tune at the moment. "Lost Boy"  

Digital Art with Room 17

Room 20 - Google CS First - Reflections

Room 20 are Year 6 students and this seems to be a good fit level however I could also use this for lower age groups. The feedback has been good so far. Most students are enjoying the projects even if they find them challenging at times. Many students have completed the first two activities some are flying ahead. We talked today about pacing. We should be aiming for an activity per session. This would make most students behind at this stage. However they are the first group and it does reflect their level of independence as much as the material of the course. I can see it will be necessary for me to complete the course as a student to get a better understanding of the material covered. However overall it looks to me like an excellent program. We are currently doing the Storytelling module and I would be keen to try the others. I have told the students if they finish before the end of the term they can choose to do their own project  or another module. 

Teone's Project - The Storm!!!

       

Lunchtime in the Library with Pauline's boxes

Binoculars by three. Spy's in the library!

  Photo Bomb! Spy's exposed!

Peeka...

...boo!

Designed a New Newsletter Format using google Slides

Vector Portrait in Google Drawings

I'm going to try this soon. Google Drawing the hands of a skilled artist!

Hoyiu Kok - Star Wars Google Slide

Celebrating May the 4th

Happy Scratch Day

Created using WeVideo free version. Must view in full screen so do forget to click play and then click the icon on the top right to expand the screen before viewing.

May 4th - Star Wars Day

Students to add content today. 

Starwars Day is coming

Come to the ICT Centre at lunchtime on Wednesday and celebrate Star Wars Day. 

Games and activities and everything Star Wars.

Hour of Code 

Starwars Online Games

How to make Millennium Falcon Origami

ScratchJr Blue Car Activity (Music added)

Keah your time and  effort has paid off. You have created an amazing story with Scratch Junior. This is a most impressive first project. Way to go! I can't wait to see what you come up with next. Part 2, maybe?

Digital Passport Search Video

Online Research

Don't get lost in the WWW search smart!

Digital Passport Search Video from Common Sense Media on Vimeo.

1. How can you narrow down your search?
2. How can you be sure your information is correct?
3. What is a trusted site?
4. Think about a topic you are interested in. Come up with a question you don't know the answer to. Try the tips in this video to help you find the answer. Post a summary of your results in the comments below. Good luck!   

Digital Footprint Animation

How Creative Commons Works

Wanna Work Together? from Creative Commons on Vimeo.

Currently we are completing the Common Core  Digital Password. The module called 

"Creative Credit: Mix-n-Mash" covers Copyright and Creative Commons. This is very interesting but can be confusing. This video "Wanna Work Together?" explains Creative Commons very well. Students can share this with their parents.  

Linda Liukas: A delightful way to teach kids about computers

"Computer code is the next universal language, and its syntax will be limited only by the imaginations of the next generation of programmers. Linda Liukas is helping to educate problem-solving kids, encouraging them to see computers not as mechanical, boring and complicated but as colorful, expressive machines meant to be tinkered with. In this talk, she invites us to imagine a world where the Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow grow up to be optimistic and brave about technology and use it to create a new world that is wonderful, whimsical and a tiny bit weird." Filmed October 2015 at TEDxCERN

Forget what you know | Jacob Barnett

Stop - Think - Create

Tuesday 23 Feb 2016

Pair Programming Watch this video:

Room 8 start with Course 1. Students will create computer programs that will help them learn to collaborate with others, develop problem-solving skills, and persist through difficult tasks. Students will create their very own custom game or story that they can share.

Course 1 Starting at Stage 3. See how far you and your partner can progress.

Room 16 try Tynker:

Work with a partner using pair programming  to complete the activity challenges. Take turns to solve the problems. If you get stuck just keep trying. You'll work it out by reading the clues and thinking logically.

Introduction to computer programming with Tynker:
Activity One: Hot Wheels - Obstacle Course
https://www.tynker.com/courses/hotwheels/host
Activity Two: Candy Quest
https://www.tynker.com/hour-of-code/puzzle?c=setup&dirctx=school

Room 11 and 12 

Continue working on your Digital Passport. Go to Google Classroom for instructions. This weeks topic is Creative Credit. It includes topics of copyright, credit, and plagiarism.

Welcome back to Term 1 2016

Term 1 2016- The Learning Awakens

Topics for this Term include:

• Cyber-citizenship
• Google Apps Basics
• Learning with Google Apps
• Coding with Scratch
• 3D Printing
• Learning with iPad Apps eg. DoInk, iMovie and Scratch Junior    
• Chromebook Tricks and Tips
• Working with Google Classroom
• Learning with Lego WeDo
• Electronic maker activities

Tuesday Classes: Room 8, Room 12, Room 16, and  Room 11.

Wednesday Classes: Room 4, Room 21, Room 22 and Room 14.