2022 Logo Summer Institute Sessions

Click the title of a session to go to the session description below. 

3D Fabrication at IDEAStudio in Houston and Hewitt School in NYC

During this session, participants will go to either the Houston Community College IDEAStudio or the Hewitt School in NYC.  A tour will be given and students will have the option of utilizing a 3D Printer, Laser Cutter or the Industrial Stitching Machine for their projects.   Participants will prepare their files ahead of time for use on the machines.  Those that are virtual can send files and items can be sent after production. 

Session leaders:
Jordan Carswell, Robin Nagy and Israel Garza of IDEAStudio

Erik Nauman of The Hewitt School

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3D models in turtleSpaces and BeetleBlocks

Beetle Blocks is built on Snap! but adds the Z axis to the turtle graphics display, so you can code the beetle to create designs in 3D. There are several different options for downloading designs, including .STL for 3D printing and .SVG for fabricating on a WatercolorBot or laser cutter.

turtleSpaces is a version of Logo that is especially good for generating 3D images. In addition to being great for animations and games, these 3D images may be exported for fabrication with a 3D printer. 

Melody Ayers-Griffiths, April Ayers-Griffiths, and Erik Nauman

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ArtLogo - Variation through variables

Numbers play a big role in ArtLogo. A number can be used to specify a size, a thickness, a color, a shade, a number of times to repeat etc., etc. Numbers are great but they are not very flexible. Something that repeats 10 times does it exactly 10 times, not 9 or 11 times. Some programs benefit from not having to be so rigid. For instance a collection of flowers can include big ones, small ones and sizes in between. To use the same program for, for instance, different sizes of flowers, we can use variables in the places we would use numbers  This workshop will introduce variables in their various forms: locals, globals, and inputs to procedures.

Prior to the session: 

Some familiarity with LOGO would be helpful, but is not essential. ArtLogo is at  http://www.playfulinvention.com/artlogo/. ArtLogo Help is here: https://www.playfulinvention.com/artlogo-help/

Session Leaders:
Artemis Papert is an artist creating art in both traditional, mainly acrylic and pastel, and digital media, using code as the medium. After a first career as a research biologist she retrained in the healing art of shiatsu. With an interest in dream and fairy tale interpretation and as a lifelong learner, she has trained as a Jungian psychoanalyst. Artemis has led TurtleArt workshops for a wide variety of groups in many countries.
Since the late 1970s, Brian Silverman has been involved in the invention of learning environments for children. His work includes dozens of LOGO versions, LogoWriter and MicroWorlds among them, Scratch, LEGO® robotics, TurtleArt, the PicoCricket, and the Phantom Fish Tank. Brian has been a Visiting Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, enjoys recreational math and is a master tinkerer. He once even built a tic-tac-toe playing computer out of TinkerToys. He been part of several teams that send satellites into orbit. 

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Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and the Finch Robot

Jen Norton, Tom Lauwers

Computers can distinguish different faces, spoken words, gestures, and printed symbols. They can use this information to make decisions. Your smart phone unlocks when it sees your face, but not other faces. You give spoken commands to Siri or Alexa and maybe get an appropriate response.

How do they do this? By examining a large number of specific cases that are placed into categories, a computer program can examine a new case to see which category it best fits into. This identification can then be used by the program to take action. For example, you could train the computer to recognize one of several Star Wars characters or Muppets and then write a program to direct the Finch to do a dance routine or play a song based on which one is seen. You can program the Finch to respond to spoken commands, gestures you make with your arms, or printed symbols

In this workshop you will train your computer to recognize patterns using Google Teachable Machine and your machine learning models. You will use these models in Snap! programs to control the Finch Robot.

Some prior familiarity with Snap! and the Finch Robot is useful, but not essential.  This workshop is not just about the Finch. The machine learning models you will develop can be used in a wide variety of programs that do not involve the Finch.

For this session you will need:

• A laptop or Chromebook with latest version of Chrome web browser

• A functioning webcam

• A Finch Robot is recommended but not required 

• Three or more objects you would like your model to distinguish between. For example, three puppets, stuffed toys, or potted plants. We recommended objects that are at least 3” long in at least one dimension.

• Tom Lauwers founded BirdBrain Technologies in 2010 after receiving his doctorate in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Tom seeks to design educational tools, such as the Finch Robot and the Hummingbird Robotics Kit, that catalyze positive making, coding, and engineering learning experiences in the classroom.

• Jen Norton provides Finch and Hummingbird technical support, curriculum development, and classroom integration strategies to teachers. With over 11 years of teaching Math and Computer Science, Jen is passionate about making Computer Science education accessible for all students.

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Circuit Playground Express: Introduction

Circuit Playground Express is a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. It is packed with sensors, buttons, switches and colored Neo-pixels. Learn to use MakeCode to program it and communicate with other CPXs.

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Circuit Playground Express: Next Steps

We will explore the contacts around the outside of the CPX, using them to create circuitry that can extend further out into the physical environment.

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A Computer Culture for Children

The computer and the programming language play a vital role in creating an exciting atmosphere where programs, people, and computer-controlled devices like turtles interact with one another and learn from one another, In this environment people become researchers, and actions and ideas take on animate qualities.

There are several components such as: a computer, a computer language, computer-controlled  peripherals, projects, a meta-language, a relationship between teacher and learner, bridging activities like juggling, puzzles,etc, and so on. All of these components are interdependent, and the special virtue of this culture follows from their coherence with one another.  

For example, one would expect very limited educational benefits to come from teaching programming in an “abstract” environment or from using turtles as toys without a vision derived from the computer culture.

When I teach I see myself and the learner (child) engaged in a genuine joint research activity: we are jointly trying to understand what is happening in this unique situation. 

Cynthia Solomon’s  focus has been on creating thoughtful, personally expressive, and aesthetically pleasing learning environments for children. Her collaboration with Seymour Papert resulted in Logo, the first programming language designed specifically for children. Her paper with Papert, “Twenty Things to do with a Computer” is a classic in the field. Recently she  co-edited a book of education essays, Inventive Minds: Marvin Minsky on Education..

Before the session
Some background reading:

1. Leading a Child to a Computer Culture by Cynthia Solomon 

2. Inventive Minds: Marvin Minsky on Education

especially chapter 1

3. Teaching Children Thinking by Seymour Papert

4. Cynthia's papers on introducing children to a computer culture

5. TurtleStitching: At Least Twenty Things to Do With a Computer and a Computerized Embroidery Machine

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Converting 2D images to 3D for Fabrication

Learn how to take images programmed in TurtleArt or Lynx and convert them into 3D objects fabricated on a 3D printer or laser cutter. See this flowchart for an overview of 2D to 3D with TurtleArt.

Session Leader:

Erik Nauman

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Exploring the Natural Language Microworld with Logo

The original Logo microworld developed by Cynthia Solomon was one based around  language. Based upon the LISP (LISt Processing) programming language, Logo (as implemented in Lynx and turtleSpaces) has powerful string and list handling functions that can be used to create generative poetry, word games, text adventures and more. Come join us as we explore the potential of language in Logo, from Madlibs to Wordle!

Session Leader:

Melody-Ayres-Griffiths

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Finch: Introduction

The Finch is a programmable robot that brings computer science to life by providing students from kindergarten to college a hands-on representation of their code.

Session Leader:

Erik Nauman

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FunKey

The FunKey board makes it simple to connect sensors to Scratch to make game controllers, science measuring instruments, Theremins and many other projects.  FunKey also has an “unplugged” mode that doesn’t require a computer:  sensors directly to outputs so you can prototype things like “EZPass” where sensors control servo motors.  In this session, you’ll see how plug and play connection is made where sensors send keystrokes directly to Scratch without any installation, drivers, Scratch plugins, etc.

Long time Inventor Stephen Lewis has developed many interactive software products for STEM, Scratch, Javascript and many other environments.

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Generative Art and Music

Generative art and music use computer algorithms to introduce unpredictable and surprising results in making visual or musical ideas. We will demonstrate ways to use Scratch, TurtleArt and ArtLogo to create programs that produce varied outcomes. For more about this topic look at www.logofoundation.org/genart 

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Hatch Kids - 3D Coding in the Classroom

Hatch Kids is a 3D/AR/VR game creation platform. It is built with the purpose of teaching students the fundamentals of programming in a fun and interactive way, with the help of drag-n-drop code blocks similar to Scratch.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

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Hummingbird: Introduction

The micro:bit powered Hummingbird uses all the sensors and outputs of the micro:bit in addition to the Hummingbird sensors and outputs including the distance sensor, rotary knob, light sensor, sound sensor, leds and motors. The Hummingbird Bit can be programmed in many different languages. This session will focus on learning to program in Snap!

Session Leader:

Hope Chafiian

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LEGO Education SPIKE Prime

LEGO Education officially retired the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robotics platform in June 2021. LEGO Education SPIKE Prime is the next generation of LEGO robotics for the classroom. It is the go-to STEAM learning tool for grade 6-8 students. Combining colorful LEGO building elements, easy-to-use hardware, and an intuitive drag-and-drop coding language based on Scratch, SPIKE Prime continuously engages students through playful learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems, regardless of their learning level. From easy-entry projects to limitless creative design possibilities, including the option to explore text-based coding with Python, SPIKE Prime helps students learn the essential STEAM and 21st century skills needed to become the innovative minds of tomorrow... while having fun! The SPIKE Prime core set includes a programmable hub, motors, sensors, and a collection of colorful LEGO Technic bricks.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

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LYNXcoding: Introduction

Michael Quinn

LYNX is a cloud-based programming environment for learners to create sophisticated, interactive projects across the curriculum. This text-based language supports computational thinking for all. 

LYNX was designed by a  team that worked with the late Dr. Seymour Papert for decades and is therefore built upon a fifty year tradition of designing programming environments for learning.

LYNX is the child of MicroWorlds EX and entered the world in late 2019.  Almost all the Logo primitives found in MicroWorlds are present in LYNX and you can import your MicroWorlds projects into Lynx.

Think of LYNX as the next step after block-based coding tools and the step before professional programming languages like Python.

Take LYNX for a free test drive at http://lynxcoding.club.

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LYNX for Upper Elementary Students

In this session we will look at projects you can do with students in the upper elementary grades (3-5) using the text-based programming platform LYNX.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

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micro:bit and Machine Learning

Experience the magic of Machine Learning on the micro:bit! Learn how to use Google's Teachable Machine to train a visual or audio model with a webcam or mic, then use Microsoft MakeCode to trigger behaviors on the micro:bit when different classes in your model are recognized. The website A Micro:bit of AI ties it all together with a seamless and easy-to-use interface. You will learn how to follow the workflow of training a model, coding the micro:bit behaviors, and testing the result and then have time to explore on your own.

Session Leader:

Erik Nauman

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micro:bit and MakeCode

Microsoft’s MakeCode editor is the perfect way to start programming and get creating with the BBC micro:bit. The color-coded blocks are familiar to anyone who’s previously used Scratch, and are powerful enough to access all the features of this tiny computer. You can also switch to JavaScript or Python to see and work with text-based equivalents to the blocks code. 

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Microworlds and Powerful Ideas

The subtitle of Seymour Papert’s 1980 book Mindstorms is Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Chapter 5 is “Microworlds: Incubators for Knowledge.” We pretty much know what children and computers are. But what are Powerful Ideas, and what are Microworlds?

We’ll look at Turtle Geometry and other microworlds discussed in Mindstorms, and the powerful ideas they can make accessible.  We’ll discuss the constructing of microworlds and exploring powerful ideas as a way to organize teaching and learning.

Session Leader
Michael Tempel

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Open Lab

These sessions have no preset agenda. Come if you have questions, or a project that you want to share or need help with. Meet other Logo Summer Institute participants, see what they're up to, and share ideas and plans.

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Our Favorite Microcontrollers

Overview of some of our favorite other Microcontrollers: CPX, Lilypad, Arduino

Circuit Playground Express

•  packed with sensors, buttons, switches, colored Neo-pixels and expansion ports. 

• Can communicate with other CPXs (using Makecode). 

•  great to use to create wearable devices

Arduino is a great platform to extend the basic circuitry students learn with Hummingbird, Makey Makey, and micro:bit. Explore basic circuits with LEDs, servo motors, switches, and sensors and program them using blocks programming in Tinkercad Circuits, and extend the Arduino into physical computing in Snap4Arduino, where the Arduino circuit can interact with sprites on the screen.

Lilypad   

•  designed especially for wearable applications. 

• Use conductive thread to sew circuits connecting sensors and actuators

•  developed for an easy integration in clothes and fabrics. 

Hummingbird Duo

Original  Hummingbird was built on the Arduino

Allows to program in Arduino

Session Leader:

Hope Chafiian

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Python Overview

Python is a powerful way to introduce learners to text-based programming in many coding environments. We will preview use of the Python Turtle module for turtle graphics coding as well as Python for coding microcontrollers and robots, such as the Circuit Playground Express, Micro:bit, Finch 2, and Hummingbird. Participants can explore these environments further based on their needs and interests.

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Robotics for Little Kids

Overview of robots and robotics kits for elementary school classrooms including Bee-bot, Finch 2.0 Robot, and LEGO SPIKE Essential.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

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Scratch: Game Programming

Karioki Crosby

Make a platform game in Scratch.  Learn how to use variables to create a timer and keep score. Learn how  to program  music, gravity, the Scratch color sensor  and a variety of neat tricks in the game.

Before the Session

You should have an account on Scratch and some prior experience programming in Scratch.

Karioki Crosby is the Founder of Latimer Heights and has developed the Harlem Maker Fair  as a Columbia University Community Scholar.  Latimer Heights produces the Harlem Maker Fair and offers digital literacy workshops for children, youth, and adults at Columbia University, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Microsoft, and HIP HOP HACKS. 

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Scratch: Getting Started 

If you have little or no experience with Scratch, this session will get you started. After a brief tour of the Scratch environment you will create one or two projects such as an animated story or game.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

Before the Session:
If you do not have an account on Scratch, go to the Scratch website  and click on "Join Scratch" in the upper right corner of the screen.

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Scratch: Quizzes, Conversations and Madlibs

Learn how to create interactive conversations, quizzes and madlibs using Scratch variables and lists.

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Scratch: Stories

Learn a variety of techniques and strategies for creating animated stories in Scratch:

• getting the story to start at the beginning each time it is viewed

• moving from one scene to another

• making sure characters appear and disappear when they should and in the right place

• controlling the timing of actions

• using events to control the flow of the story

• and more...

Session Leader:

Hope Chafiian

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Scratch: Tips and Techniques

If you are already familiar with Scratch, we'll look at some lesser known features and possibilities with Scratch including:

• the text-to-speech and translation extensions and how they can work together to enhance your projects

• Incorporating real-world data into Scratch projects, for example https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/585163046/ uses rising sea level data from 1880 to 2014

• Working with clones

• the video sensing extension that allows a Scratch program to act on motion detected by the computer's camera.

Session Leader:

Michael Tempel

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Scratch with micro:bit and Makey Makey (or  Funkey)

Adding a micro:bit or Makey Makey to Scratch projects allows you and your students to build out your Scratch world into the physical world with simple craft materials and an exploration of simple circuitry. You can also use  the micro:bit’s  internal sensors. Create simple input interfaces to design a game controller, a musical instrument, or interactive text.  

Session Leader:

Erik Nauman

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Scratch Jr. : Introduction

With ScratchJr, young children (ages 5-7) can program their own interactive stories and games. In the process, they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer.

Session Leader:

Alissa Blumberg

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Snap! : Introduction

Snap! is an extended reimplementation of Scratch that allows you to Build Your Own Blocks. It also features first class lists, first class procedures, first class sprites, first class costumes, first class sounds, and first class continuations. These added capabilities make it suitable for a serious introduction to computer science for high school or college students. 

Session Leader:

Hope Chafiian

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Supporting Teachers to Incorporate Digital Technologies Into Their Classrooms

Teachers are expected to integrate technology into their classrooms. Technology integrators are charged with assisting teachers in making this happen. This process sometimes does not go well.

We will address this topic through our personal stories:

Michael was an elementary school teacher at Public School 75M in New York City for 12 years at a time when there were no computers in schools. He was part of the Open Classroom, a progressive program based on the learning theories of Jean Piaget. When he encountered Logo in 1979 it was an obvious extension of what he had been doing since Logo was also rooted in Piaget’s theory of learning. But many of his colleagues didn’t see it that way. 

Michelle’s experience with progressive education began as a fifth grader in the same school that Michael taught in; in fact she was a student in Michael’s fifth grade class in 1970-71. The experience of moving from traditional classrooms into the Open Classroom environment transformed learning and school for Michelle, and when she ultimately became a teacher, was the inspiration for how she taught and the environment she created.  

Michael and Michelle reconnected in 2010 at a gathering of former PS75 students and teachers. They talked about the challenges of getting classroom teachers to engage with and embrace digital technologies. They went on to organize workshops, including two Logo Summer Institutes at High Meadow School. This was part of an ongoing effort that supported teachers and the school’s technology integrator to incorporate digital technologies into the life of the school.

By sharing our experiences, we hope to offer some insights into how to support teachers and technology integrators in their work with each other and with students.

Session Leaders:

• Michelle Hughes has been a teacher and teacher leader in a variety of educational settings for more than thirty years. A graduate of Bank Street College of Education in Elementary and Museum Education, she began her career in Museums, but soon fell in love with the classroom. Michelle joined the public school teaching corps, where progressive-constructivist practices formed the foundation of her teaching. For twelve years she co-taught in a collaborative inclusive learning environment. In her twelfth year of teaching she was recruited to found a middle school program in an independent school, High Meadow School in Stone Ridge, where she eventually became Head Of School for ten years. Michelle became interested in the different ways boys and girls learn, and took the opportunity to join The Albany Academies where she was director of lower and middle schools for the past five years. She is now launching LARC an education coaching and professional development consultancy. 

• Michael Tempel is president of the Logo Foundation 

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TurtleArt and ArtLogo: Introduction

TurtleArt lets you make images with your computer. The Turtle follows a sequence of commands. You specify the sequence by snapping together puzzle like blocks. The blocks can tell the turtle to draw lines and arcs, draw in different colors, go to a specific place on the screen, etc. There are also blocks that let you repeat or name sequences. Other blocks perform logical operations. The sequence of blocks as a program that describes an image. This kind of programming is inspired by the LOGO programming language. 

ArtLogo is a version of the Logo programming language that was designed to be easy enough for children and yet powerful enough for people of all ages. ArtLogo focuses on making images while allowing you to also explore geometry and programming.

Visit these links before the session:
ArtLogo
      programming environment:  http://www.playfulinvention.com/artlogo/
      reference:  https://www.playfulinvention.com/artlogo-help/
        also look at  ArtLogo secrets
TurtleArt
    programming environment: https://playfulinvention.com/webturtleart/
     reference, samples, and tutorials:  http://turtleart.org/

Session Leader:

Michael Tempel

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TurtleArt:  Form and Variation

Artemis Papert and Brian Silverman

Our TurtleArt images rarely have their final form from the start. What often happens is that there is a first image that is in an embryonic, unfinished state. An unfinished image can be a starting point or a trigger for a more developed image. That image can in turn be the trigger for yet another image. The process can repeat again and again. In the end, we hopefully have an image that we are willing to call finished.

Before the workshop: You should have at least some familiarity with TurtleArt. Go to  http://turtleart.org/ for information, tutorials and sample programs. The software is online at https://www.playfulinvention.com/webturtleart/ 

Session leaders

• Artemis Papert is an artist creating art in both traditional, mainly acrylic and pastel, and digital media, using code as the medium. After a first career as a research biologist she retrained in the healing art of shiatsu. With an interest in dream and fairy tale interpretation and as a lifelong learner, she has trained as a Jungian psychoanalyst. Artemis has led TurtleArt workshops for a wide variety of groups in many countries.

• Since the late 1970s, Brian Silverman has been involved in the invention of learning environments for children. His work includes dozens of LOGO versions, LogoWriter and MicroWorlds among them, Scratch, LEGO® robotics, TurtleArt, the PicoCricket, and the Phantom Fish Tank. Brian has been a Visiting Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, enjoys recreational math and is a master tinkerer. He once even built a tic-tac-toe playing computer out of TinkerToys. He been part of several teams that send satellites into orbit.

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turtleSpaces: Game Programming

Can turtles play games? You bet they can! In fact, turtleSpaces contains a number of different built-in functions to make creating games simple, straightforward and fun, including proximity detection, missiles, bales (groups of enemies), terrain generation and much more! Watch as we easily create a simple shooting game from scratch, and then together we’ll expand upon it, before briefly exploring a number of different tutorials available on the turtleSpaces website, to give you a further sense of turtleSpaces’ potential.

Session Leaders:

Melody Ayres-Griffiths is the architect of turtleSpaces, and the creator of its example programs and tutorials. She learned Logo as a child in the early 1980s and is passionate about working to provide a similar experience of wonder and exploration to today's youth. She previously published technology history magazine Paleotronic and is currently developing a history-centric code camp for kids, Codernauts, with turtleSpaces as a central focus.

April Ayres-Griffiths is the developer of turtleSpaces; she holds a bachelor of computing from La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia and has worked for several of Australia's top companies, including National Australia Bank, Bendigo Bank and Sensis in software programming, support and training roles. April is a 'polyglot' coder - one who can easily pick up any programming language - and she believes that an exposure to multiple programming languages early in life is critical to the development of good coding skills later.

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TurtleStitch - Artful Arcs

This session is an introduction to TurtleStitch. By commanding a graphics creature known as a turtle you will  make geometric drawings for computerized embroidery machines. You will be able to save your work in a file format for the embroidery machine. We will show you how to hoop fabric and use an embroidery machine. You might stitch your design  during Thursday’s in-person workshops at IDEAStudio or the Hewitt School. Otherwise  we will do it and forward the result to you after the session.

We start by commanding a graphics turtle (not unlike the one in TurtleArt and Snap!)  to move and turn on its graphics grid. We will then use arc drawing primitives  to make original designs..

Session  Leader:

Cynthia Solomon’s  focus has been on creating thoughtful, personally expressive, and aesthetically pleasing learning environments for children. Her collaboration with Seymour Papert resulted in Logo, the first programming language designed specifically for children. Her paper with Papert, “Twenty Things to do with a Computer” is a classic in the field. Recently she  co-edited a book of education essays, Inventive Minds: Marvin Minsky on Education..

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VEX Robotics

The VEX robotics platform offers a rich educational robotics building and programming experience. Different levels of the platform are offered to create age appropriate experiences for grades K-12: VEX 123 for lower elementary, VEX GO upper elementary, VEX IQ for middle school, and VEX EXP and VEX V5 for high school. Curriculum can focus on participation in a competition league or STEM based classroom activities.  In this session participants will learn about the materials used to build robots, options for programming robots, and resources available.

Session Leader:

Erik Nauman

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VEXcode VR

VEXcode VR lets you code a virtual robot using a block-based coding environment powered by Scratch Blocks. VEXcode VR is based on VEXcode, the same programming environment used for VEX 123, GO, IQ and V5 robots.   The block-based code can be converted to C++ or Python text.  Students can then make additional changes in text and then save and share their project in text. The website is https://vr.vex.com/ 

Session Leader:

Ralph Hamilton teaches Robotics, AP CS Principles, CS I and CAD Design at Energy Institute High School in Houston.  He enjoys learning and growing with JavaScript, Python and C++. He started teaching Robotics with Lego Mindstorms after 20 years in Public Access cable television.  He is also the coach of his school's successful VEX Robotics team.  He also enjoys playing chess. 

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