Learning Text Based Coding

Played around with a fun site today that can introduce you to TEXT BASED coding by learning JavaScript.

It allows you to log in  and save projects.  Then takes you to some tutorials where an animated character will WRITE JavaScript for you.

It start by creating a sprite  and then prompts you to make your sprite DO SOMETHING! 

Move Around the Screen!
Make Noise!
and more!

Check it out at   https://www.scriptacademy.net/

My first thought was that there was to much happening at once for a young coder to be really learning JavaScript.  But then, I remembered learning English at age 5.  I entered First Grade not speaking English.  My introduction to English was NOT limited to a few words and once piece of syntax at a time until I mastered it.  I was immersed in a way where I kept hearing English that I did not understand yet.  The more I heard, the more I recognized the wounds, words, meanings that filled my daily life at school. 

I absolutely think that many block based coding sites are perfect for younger learners. But I think having a chance to see Text Based Code be created with this fun little Code Helper can also help young learners better understand how Code is used to create the world around us!

Give it a try!
I know we'll be trying this at TechSavvy Girls camp!

https://www.scriptacademy.net/

TechSavvy Girls 2018

TechSavvy Girls Summer Camp 2018  has been scheduled! 

It will be our 18th year in a row!

Come join us in 2018  the week of July 30
 in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom! 

A few years ago I committed to posting regularly to the TechSavvy Girls blog!
Last year, most of my post went into other projects.
Noticing that this blog was neglected in 2017, I think it's time to rectify that in 2018!
Look for more post throughout 2018!

TechSavvy Girls Camp 2017 in a NEW Location

TechSavvy Girls Camp 2017 dates announced!  Join us for our 17th year in a row of TechSavvy Girls Camp July 24-28 in a brand new location -- the North Country Career Center in Newport, Vermont!  Discounted tuition scholarships are available students attending any of the sending schools to North Country Career Center.   Check with your principal or guidance counselor for a tuition voucher. Click HERE for more information and registration information. For incoming 3rd - 10th grade girls who like to have fun, learn new technology and INVENT new things and make new friends. Girls will use fun tools like littleBits, Makey Makey, SCRATCH, 3D Printers, and Codable Robots to experience fun projects and challenges that use Creativity, Circuits, and Code.  Girls will build confidence in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) and learn about high tech career opportunities as they CODE, CREATE, and MAKE. For parents who understand the value of building BRAVE innovative girls  - Reshma Saujani, creator of Girls Who Code claims that we need to raise our girls to be brave. One goal this week is to help the girls  develop a new mind-set about how to tackle challenges, develop skills  in technology, and overcome obstacles.

Meet Izzy an inspiring 8 year old maker

Recently I had the opportunity to meet an outstanding techsavvy girl-- You have just got to meet her too.

During a recent visit  to the San Diego Fab Lab,  I noted four female makers on the poster board that featured their Resident Maker Experts -- one seemed a little younger than the rest.

Yesterday  I got to meet this most amazing young maker at the San Diego Fab Lab - 8 year old Isabelle (also known as IZZI).   When I met her, I could see why she was part of the Team That Gets Things Done at the Fab Lab.  

Izzi knows her way around a maker space! As you can see in this video, Izzi is totally at home with the space, the tools, and supplies.  

When I asked her to show me what she likes to make, she darted towards a back room, stopping  by a box of jumpers, and told me that she was learning to code and then identified a numerical value for each color jumper.

I was immediately curious to know more because, I had never heard anyone assign a numerical value to jumpers before.  But then Izzi proceeded to pull out a set of resistors calculating the value of the resistors by the color bands and then explained that one of her fellow resident makers used the colors on the jumpers to ‘drill her’ about these values. That is totally brilliant!  Izzi has some smart mentors who understand both making and learning!

Izzi quickly moved on to what CLEARLY was one of her favorite rooms filled with black and yellow crates that contained lockable plastic pieces, wheels, gears, pulleys, and a remote.  She pulled down a bridge from a high shelf,  rummaged through the drawers until she found a remote and then became entranced with the structure and its moving parts.  It was obvious that the world of mechanical engineering was one that fascinated her.  

Although I’ve seen a lot of different STEM products, I had yet to encounter the Rokenbok STEM kits and what better way to learn about them than through Izzi’s eyes. This reinforced my beliefs that STEM does not have to be pink or girly  to engage girls, but it does need to have a variety of entry points. The Rokenbok STEM kits quickly went on my list of  products with low threshold, high ceilings, and wide walls which I feel are  key to engaging a more diverse population of tech-savvy creators, makers, innovators, inventors and problem solvers.

When I  learned that another area that fascinated Izzi at the FabLab was the sewing area. filled with different types of sewing machines for various types of maker projects, I shared with her my interest in using Arduino in eTextile projects and showed her my latest hat project -- a black hat designed to show off an Arduino Bean that controls blue and white LEDs sewed into embroidered snowflakes. She was particularly fascinated with the fact that the project included a sensor that triggered a buzzer to play Star Wars music and started dancing to set off the accelerometer.

I asked her if she’d like to do some making together with some of my supplies.  We broke out some sewable LEDs, a sewable battery holder, conductive thread and quickly created a felt bracelet.   Her  comfort with circuits and ability to problem solve shined as she dashed across the room to find a multimeter when our LEDs failed to light on the first try.  

True confession:  My comfort with a multimeter pales compared to Izzi’s.   But her confidence with the tool inspired me to use mine more often until it becomes as second nature as it was for Izzi.  After learning that she had given the mayor of San Diego a soldering lessons, I was tempted to ask her for pointers.    But alas it was time to go and I wanted to leave Izzi with some supplies that would help her move our project to the next steps.   

I pulled out a  LilyPad Twinkle, some conductive thread and  some more sewable LEDs to leave with Izzi so  that she could  experience the way microprocessors  can be used  in her next sewing project. Then I showed her how I was using a more powerful microprocessor called the LilyPad Arduino to control some multi-colored neopixels on a unicorn headband project I was working on.

I would so love to come back and show Izzi to code a future Arduino project.  But my guess, is that Izzi is not going to need me to learn to code.  Izzi is fortunate enough to be surrounded with fabulous mentors from the FAB LAB who have taken her under their wing -- including her mom (Joy) who serves as  Community Relations Manager for the FabLab - San Diego.

The joy I was feeling while hanging out and making with Izzi was slightly dampened when hearing that Izzi school environment doesn’t seem to provide the opportunities for Izzi’s passion to shine.  The strong confident voice I heard from this young lady is not part of the Izzi you might see at school.

It’s sad that more kids don’t get to bloom the way Izzi obviously has by being surrounded in a rich environment for learning like the FabLab.   

It’s sad that students with passions for creating and making often don’t find a place to use that passion as part of everyday learning.  

Thankfully more schools are integrating more STEM/STEAM opportunities for students, and many educators I  work with are building their own maker spaces in their schools.

Thankfully more and more products like the Rokenbok STEM kits are being created with thoughtful attention to engaging a diverse group of students to “think like engineers gives them the skills and confidence to change the world.”

Thankfully many places like the FabLab are offering outreach opportunities to help our schools create tomorrow’s innovators.   

I can’t wait to see what path Izzi will follow as she continues to learn -- but something tells me engineering is somewhere in her future.

STEM Leadership Camp for Vermont Girls

If you know a Vermont girl whose entering 9th or 10th grade,  I would highly recommend you encourage her to attend the following fabulous opportunity.

VERMONT TECH 

Rosie’s Girls STEM Leadership Overnight Camps & follow-on Mentorship Program  

for Vermont girls entering 9^th and 10^th grades (fall 2016)

June 20 - 24  or   July 11 -15

Vermont Tech - Randolph Center Campus 

Modeled after Rosie’s Girls Day Camps by Vermont Works for Women (http://rosiesgirls.org/), Vermont Tech’s summer camps create positive, safe, supportive, girl-centered environments,with teamwork, healthy body image and tons of fun woven in! A place where girls can enhance their leadership skills as well asget their hands dirty, express themselves creatively, explore what the world has to offer them, what they have to offer the world and take positive risks! It’s a great place for girls who have previously participated in Rosie’s Girls Day Camps now entering 9th or 10th grades or who have never participated and want to try something new.

Rosie's Girls rosiesgirls.org Rosie's Girls Summer Program ™ A 3-week summer day camp that helps build strong, powerful, confident girls through hands-on exploration of STEM activities and the ...

Potential program offerings may include an introduction to: Computer Info Tech; Civil/Environmental & Architectural Engineering Tech; Construction Management; Agribusiness; Welding; Fire Science; Entrepreneurship; Mechanical &Manufacturing Engineering Tech/Renewable Energy; plus loads of activities, creative arts, and more!!  

Experiences to:

o   Try out a variety of trades and technical fields

o   Increase self-confidence and self-worth and push past preconceived limitations

o   Consider careers in STEM-based, nontraditional fields

o   Develop new areas of physical and emotional confidence

o   Expand math and science skills through concrete applications

o   Develop leadership and teamwork skills

o   Have fun; make new friends with likeminded spirits - and much, much more!

                       

For more information and for an application:

http://www.vtc.edu/rosies-girls-stem-leadership-camp

Way to Go - Mark Zuckerberg - great advice for all girls!

Every year Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, post a New Year's resolution on Facebook that catches the attention of his friends, followers, and the media. This year's resolution caught my attention, more than usual. Yes, I think its cool that Mark Zuckerberg is going to spend some time 'making something for himself' this year and that it will be in the area of AI (Artificial Intelligence) which resonates with my interest in MAKING and in personalized learning. But what really caught my attention was the first comment on his New Year's resolution post and Mark Zuckerberg's response to it.  HERE

Mark Zuckerberg's response to it. I LOVE that response!  Every Mom and Dad should encourage the world to be the next inventor, not simply to 'marry' one.  Nice job Mark Zuckerberg!  

With advice like that,  I'm sure that Max (Mark Zuckerberg's new daughter) is doing to turn out to be an amazing young lady.

Can you imagine the confidence our girls would have if their Dad read to them about Quantum Physics or dressed them as Star Wars clothing! 

Research has shown that Dad's have a a huge influence on their daughter's career choices.  In my work with young women, I have found that to be true.  Thanks for being a role model to Dads and reminding all of us about way that our message to girls matters. 

Day 100 ~ CodeGirl Screening at Generator

How appropriate for my 100th POST this year for or about girls and tech features the first public screening of CodeGirl the Movie.    It feels like the perfect special occasion for this milestone.

Tonight I will be at the Generator in Burlington Vermont welcoming folks to the screening.

and encourage any of you watching to participate in the backchannel that during or after the viewing that I set up on Today's Meet at https://todaysmeet.com/codegirlvt

I've prepared  the following 5-6 minute welcome  and will
I will be adding more resources to this blog from the conversations that we start tonight.