Creative Computational Thinking

Answers not on the Screen

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 14:41:00 +0100

2. The answers not on the screen
Hill, G., Turner, S. J. and Childs, K. (2017)

Abstract: Reflection from two areas on the issues of getting students in Higher Education (HE) to become better problem-solvers earlier. Asks some questions about should HE increase the use of unplugged activities? If so, is there any evidence that it will help? What lessons can HE learn from what is happening in Primary Schools? What can schools learn from what is and has happened in HE teaching of programming and problem-solving?

To find out more click here.

References

1. Hill, G. and Turner, S. J. : Problems first, second and third. International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE). 3(3), pp. 88-109. 2155-496X. (2014)

2. Hill, G. and Turner, S. J.: Problems first. In: Hussey, M., Wu, B. and Xiaofei, X. (eds.) Software Industry-Oriented Education Practices and Curriculum Development: Experiences and Lessons. Hershey, Pa.: IGI Global. pp. 110-126. (2011)

3. Turner, S. J. and Hill, G: Robotics within the teaching of problem-solving. ITALICS. 7(1), pp. 108-119. 1473-7507 (2008)

4. Turner, S. J. and Hill, G : The inclusion of robots within the teaching of problem solving - preliminary results. In: Steede, H. (ed.) 7th Annual Conference of the Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences. Dublin: Higher Education Academy Subject Network for Information and Computer Sciences. 0955200539. pp. 241-242.(2006)

5. Bell, T., Alexander, J., Freeman, I. and Grimley, M.: Computer science unplugged: School students doing real computing without computers. The New Zealand Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology, 13(1), pp.20-29. (2009)

6. Department for Education Statutory guidance

7. CAS Barefoot: Barefoot[online] http://barefootcas.org.uk/ [Accessed: February 2017] (NA)

8. Bell, T., Witten, I.H., Fellows, M., Adams, R. and McKenzie, J:. Computer Science Unplugged: An enrichment and extension programme for primary-aged children. (2005)

9. Turner, S. J. and Childs, K: Artists. In: Caldwell, H. and Smith, N. (eds.) Teaching Computing Unplugged in Primary Schools: Exploring Primary Computing Through Practical Activities Away from the Computer. London: Learning Matters. pp. 51-72.(2016)

10. Papert, S: Mindstorms: Children, computers and powerful ideas. 2nd edn. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, ISBN 0-465-04629-0. (1993)

11. JICC5: Java & the Internet in the Computing Curriculum, Higher Education Academy (HEA) – Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) Conference, South Bank University, London, 22nd Jan, [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=127 [Accessed: February 2015]. (2001)

12. IEEE/ACM IEEE CS, ACM Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, IEEE Computer Society Press and ACM Press. [online] Available from: http://www.acm.org/education/curricula.html [Accessed: February, 2015]. (2001)

13. Colyer, J.: Making inquiry work in your classroom – OHASSTA [online] Available from http://en.ohassta-aesho.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/OHASSTA_2013_Colyer_Inquiry-1.pdf [Accessed: February, 2017]. (2013)

14. Royce, W: "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems", Proceedings of IEEE WESCON, 26 (August): 1–9. (1970)

15. Wing, J. :Computational thinking. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 49(3), 33 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215

16. Wing, J.: Computational thinking. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (2008) 366, 3717–3725 doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0118. (2008a) https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2008.0118

17. Wing, J. M. : Five deep questions in computing. Commun. ACM 51, 58–60. (doi:10.1145/1327452.1327479). (2008b) https://doi.org/10.1145/1327452.1327479

18. Hill, G. J: "Review of a problems-first approach to first year undergraduate programming", Software Engineering Education Going Agile: 11th China–Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education (CEISEE 2015): Kassel S., Wu B (Eds.), Springer, pp. 73-80, ISBN 978-3-319-29165-9. (2016) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_11

19. Caldwell H and Smith N : Teaching computing? Try switching off your screens[online] https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/mar/01/teaching-computing-try-switching-off-your-screens (2017)

20. CAS - Computing At School : QuickStart Computing: A CPD toolkit for primary teachers, CAS, ISBN: 978-1-78339-521-7. (2015a)

21. CAS - Computing At School: Computational thinking: A guide for teachers, CAS, Available: http://community.computingatschool.org.uk/files/6695/original.pdf

22. Smith, N., Sutcliffe, C., & Sandvik, L.: Code club: bringing programming to UK primary schools through scratch. In Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education (pp. 517-522). (2014). https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538919

23. Code Club: Code Club [online] available from: www.codeclub.org.uk [Accessed:Febuary 2017] (NA)

24. Straw, S., Bamford, S. and Styles, B.:. Randomised Controlled Trial and Proces Evaluation of Code Clubs. Slough: NFER. (2016)

25. Shelton, C: "Time to plug back in? The role of "unplugged" computing in primary schools" ITTE Newsletter, Spring (2016)

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Teaching of Genetic Algorithm with Excel

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 08:20:00 GMT

Originally posted in https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/genetic-algorithm-teaching-with-excel.html

In a previous post I discussed using Scratch and Excel to model neurones. This post looks at using Excel and six-sided dice as a way of developing insights into how Genetic Algorithm work, before going on to program one.

A very simplified version of Tournament Selection is used for the parent selection and the mutation works by rolling a die to get a number between 1-6.

The problem to be solved is to find the lowest values for x and y in the equation
(x-6)*(x-6)+(y-1)*(y-1).

Routine

Using an Excel spreadsheet, roll two dice six times. Fill in the first two columns with these numbers - these are X and Y values for each solution.
The fitness scores should be calculated based on the equation. Low values for this problem are best.
1^st Parent: Roll two dice, if the numbers are same reroll one die to until the numbers are different. Use the two values to select the 1^st parent, the solution with the lowest fitness of the two. Take the X part of the selected parent and it forms the X part of the new child solutions.
2^nd Parent: Roll two dice, if numbers are the same or appear in 1^st parent, reroll until you get two different numbers (including different to the 1^st parent). the solution with the lowest fitness of the two. Take the Y part of the selected parent and it forms the Y part of the new child solution.
Mutation: Roll a die for each part of the child solutions. If the roll is 1, roll another die and replace the appropriate element with the new number – even if the same as the previous value.
Copy the average into the table and the lowest value

Copy the child solutions after mutation (orange) into the yellow area and repeat steps 1-6 10 times

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon

Thomas's Tangle updated - plugged and unplugged

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 18:35:00 GMT

This simplifies the algorithm Thomas' Tangles (named after my son who helped develop it) in Chapter 3 of the book discussed in http://compuationalthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/how-to-be-unplugged-artist.html

Using crayons, pencils or pens, we are going to follow an algorithm to create a random drawing. This could be done in pairs and you will need squared paper.

Person A: Rolls the dice and reads out the instructions - their role is to roll the dice, interpret the algorithm and tell the 'robot' what to do.

Person B: Is the ‘robot carrying out the instructions'. The lines are solid blocks of colour so move four squares does also mean colour in the squares between the start and finish in the direction of movement.

When a new central square is needed the roles of A and B swap (so A is the ‘robot’ and B rolls the dice and reads out the instruction). The roles keep swapping.

Algorithm

Start from a random square – call it the centre square

Repeat until end of game

If die roll = 1

Roll die for number of moves

move die roll number of steps up the page

If die roll = 2

Roll die for number of moves

move die roll number of steps down the page

If die roll = 3

Roll die for number of moves

move die roll number of steps to the left

If die roll = 4

Roll die for number of moves

move die roll number of steps to the right

If die roll = 5

Roll die

If die = 1 change colour to Red

If die = 2 change colour to Blue

If die = 3 change colour to Black

If die = 4 change colour to Green

If die = 5 change colour to Orange

If die = 6 change colour to Yellow

If die roll = 6

Roll die

Return to current centre square

If the second die roll=6

randomly select new centre square

if block is off the page

randomly select new centre square

The Scratch version can be here https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/135816631/ if you wish to see the code or by clicking below to play it.

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Training a Neuron using Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 20:13:00 GMT

In a previous post http://compuationalthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/artificial-neuron-in-scratch.html I used Scratch to build a working artificial neuron.

In this post, the training of a neuron all written in Scratch is tackled. The video shows it action and you can have a go at using the software yourself at the end of the post. The Scratch code can be found at https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/132915502/

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Computer Science for Fun - cs4fn: cs4fn Magazine+: Issue 22 Creative Computing

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:07:00 GMT

Computer Science for Fun - cs4fn: cs4fn Magazine+: Issue 22 Creative Computing:

cs4fn Magazine+: Issue 22: Computing Sounds Wild

ISSN 1754-3657 (Print)

ISSN 1754-3665 (Online)

A pdf is available to download for free from our download site.

'via Blog this' All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon

Artificial Neuron in Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:15:00 GMT

Instructions:

Set the inputs by pressing the buttons marked input 1 and input 2 (Red is off(False or 0) and Green is on(True or 1))
Change the weights by changing weights 1 to 3, wx goes with input x and weight 3 is the bias.
To activate the neuron you need to click on the the yellow ball ('the neuron').

The video below show it in action and explains the code.

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

How to be an Unplugged Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 6 Nov 2016 13:00:00 GMT

Original post at: https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/how-to-be-unplugged-artist.html

A recently released book Teaching Computing Unplugged in Primary Schools edited by Helen Caldwell (University of Northampton) and Neil Smith (Open University) has a number of interesting chapters by authors who are passionate about how computing is taught in schools. The central theme is unplugged activities, without using computers, but still teach the fundamental of computational thinking.

Ok, confession time. I co-wrote, along with Katharine Childs (Code Club), Chapter 3 Artists so I am biased here, but I believe in the central theme of Unplugged Computing. Computing, and Computational Thinking in general, is not just about programming and using a computer (though using computers and programming are vitally important to Computing) but it is also about many other things including problem-solving, being creative and working collaboratively.

Chapter 3 is about linking these computational thinking ideas to produce visual art, by applying computing principles including repetition, following and refining algorithms, and abstraction. The chapter also looks, how these links have already being made, with examples such Sol Le Witt where not all the work that was produced by the artist himself, but some by others following his written instructions - in other words an algorithm. There is even a game Thomas's Tangles

The other chapters make links with areas such as Robots, Musicians, Explorers, Magicians, Gamers, Cooks and Scientists.

References

Barr, D., Harrion, J., and Conery, L. (2011) Computational Thinking: A Digital Age Skill for Everyone Leading and Learning with Technology, ISTE, March/April 2011 [accessed via http://www.csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/CurrFiles/LLCTArticle.pdf on 26/12/2015]

Barr, V. and Stephenson, C. (2011) Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12, ACM Inroads, Vol 2. No 1, pp 48 - 54 [accessed via http://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/CurrFiles/BarrStephensonInroadsArticle.pdf on 26/12/2015] https://doi.org/10.1145/1929887.1929905

Computing at School (2013) Computing in the National Curriculum: A guide for primary teachers [accessed via http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/CASPrimaryComputing.pdf on 13/3/2016]

Denning, Peter J. (2009) Beyond Computational Thinking, Communications of the ACM Vol 52, Issue 6, pp 28 - 30 [accessed via http://sgd.cs.colorado.edu/wiki/images/7/71/Denning.pdf on 26/12/2015]

DfE: Department for Education (2013) National Curriculum in England: computing programmes of study

Freedman, J. (2015) Cycloid Drawing Machine [online] URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1765367532/cycloid-drawing-machine accessed on 3/3/2016.

Google. 2016 Project Jacquard [online] URL: https://www.google.com/atap/project-jacquard/ accesed on:1/3/2016.

Knuth, D. 1968. Preface, The Art of Programming vol 1., Boston: Addison-Wesley.

Knuth, D. 1996. Foreword. In: Petkovsek, M., Wilf, H., Zeilberger, D. A=B.. Natick: A K Peters/CRC Press, vii.

Koetsier, T., 2001. On the prehistory of programmable machines: Musical automata, looms, calculators. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 36(5), 589-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2

Menegus, B (2016) CDMS: Built with Processing [online] URL: http://wheelof.com/sketch/ accessed on 4/3/2016

MoMA. 2012. MoMA\| Video Games [online] URL: http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/11/29/video-games-14-in-the-collection-for-starters/ accessed on: 1/3/2016.

Papert, S (1993) The children's machine: Rethinking schools in the age of the computer. New York: Basic books

Pearson M (2011) Generative Art: A practical guide using Processing, New York: Manning, 3-12

Selby, C. and Woollard, J. (2013) Computational thinking: the developing definition University of Southampton [accessed via http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/356481/7/Selby_Woollard_bg_soton_eprints.pdf on 26/12/2015]

The Art Story (2016) Sol LeWitt [online] http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lewitt-sol.htm accessed on: 6/3/2016

Wing, J. (2006) Computational Thinking Communications of the ACM Vol 49 pp 33 - 35 [accessed via https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~15110-s13/Wing06-ct.pdf on 26/12/2015] https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215

Wing, J. (2011) Computational Thinking - What and Why The Link - News from the School of Computer Science, Issue 6.0, Spring 2011 [accessed via http://www.cs.cmu.edu/sites/default/files/11-399_The_Link_Newsletter-3.pdf on 26/12/2015]

Liukas L (2015) Activity 7 The Robots Hello Ruby - Adventures in Coding, New York: Feiwel and Friends, 94-97.

Schofield, S (2016) Generative Artworks [online] URL: http://www.simonschofield.net

Turner S (2016) 3 'Art' Scratch Projects [online] URL: http://compuationalthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/3-of-my-scratch-projects-for-week.html accessed on: 12/3/2016.

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruonAll views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Microbit and junkbot?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:18:00 +0100

What is a Junkbot?

For this project, it is a moving ‘bot’ made from waste materials, combined with an electric motor and a programmable device (in this case a Micro:Bit) to control (or try) it. An example is shown below. More details on junkbots can be found at http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/

Stage 1 - The start of a Junkbot

This stage is relatively simple. Tape some pens or straws to a drinks can.

Stage 2 - Physical arrangement of Microbit and motor control board

The control part is this via a Micro:bit (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4hVG2Br1W1LKCmw8nSm9WnQ/the-bbc-micro-bit). Kitronik produce a motor driver board, and provide quite a bit of support for it, for the Micro:Bit (the latest version of the board can be found at https://www.kitronik.co.uk/5620-motor-driver-board-for-the-bbc-microbit-v2.html ). A 6v battery pack is connected (see on the left of the image) and wires going to a motor are attached to the first block on the front left (marked as motor A).

The overall arrangement is show below, including a broken propellor as an unbalanced load to make the motor vibrate - the propellor was to hand but if you can secure something a clothes peg this could be used.

Stage 3 - Built Junkbot
Now we just need to put them together by taping (or fixing somehow) the motor to the junkbot built in stage 1. A further possibility is to attach the Micro:Bit, motor driver board and battery pack to the junkbots; but this adds weight.

Stage 4 Code
Using Micropython via the online editor https://www.microbit.co.uk to program the board and therefore the junkbot.

An example piece of code is shown below:

from microbit import *

def startIt():

pin8.write_digital(1)

pin12.write_digital(0)

pin0.write_digital(1)

pin16.write_digital(0)

def leftTurn(duration):

pin8.write_digital(0)

pin12.write_digital(1)

sleep(duration)

def stopIt():

pin8.write_digital(1)

pin12.write_digital(1)

sleep(2000)

while True:

startIt()

if button_a.is_pressed():

leftTurn(100)

if button_b.is_pressed():

stopIt()

Unplug the Micro:bit from the motor driver board and download the code to the microbit. Unplug the download cable and plug the Micro:Bit back into the motorboard, with the battery pack attached there is enough power for the Micro:Bit and the motor - don't plug in any other power including the programming cable when it is in the motor driver board.

Stage 5 In action

Suggested Resource List

Small Electric Motor
Kitronik Motor Board
Battery Pack
BBC Micro:bit
Pens
Junk (Can or Bottle)
Wires
Tape
Scissors
Broken Propeller or un-balanced load
Screw Driver

Stage 6: More control
In the remained of this post I want to show a modification to it, to use one Micro:Bit to control the junkbot controlled by another Micro:Bit. A nice feature of the Micro:Bit using micropython, is it can send and receive simple messages via radio - so here is my take on it.

The first problem is the Python editor available on https://www.microbit.co.uk/ does not seem to work with the radio API. One solution to this is to change to the mu editor.

Two pieces of code are needed.

Stage 7 Sending Code for the 'remote' control:
Essentially it is set up to send two messages, via the built-in radio module, spinl or spinr depending on which button is pressed.

import radio
from microbit import button_a, button_b

radio.on()

while True:
if button_a.is_pressed():
radio.send('spinl')
if button_b.is_pressed():

radio.send('spinr')

Satge 8 Junkbot Code
This takes an adapted form of the previous Junkbot code to work by; on receiving spinl or spinr via the radio link; spin the motor clockwise or anticlockwise.
import radio
from microbit import pin8, pin12, sleep

def leftTurn(duration):
pin8.write_digital(0)
pin12.write_digital(1)
sleep(duration)

def rightTurn(duration):
pin8.write_digital(1)
pin12.write_digital(0)
sleep(duration)

def stopIt():
pin8.write_digital(0)
pin12.write_digital(0)

radio.on()
while True:
incoming = radio.receive()
if incoming == 'spinl':
leftTurn(500)
stopIt()
if incoming == 'spinr':
rightTurn(500)
stopIt()

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Traffic Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 22:42:00 +0100

Ok, one of my quirks is I think the programming exercise of programming simulated traffic lights is fun and interesting! Here are two examples; the first in Scratch and the second using a BBC Micro:bit and GlowBugs (programmable LEDs).

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Review of a Problems-First Approach to Programming

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Wed, 6 Jul 2016 16:38:00 +0100

Review of a Problems-First Approach to First Year Undergraduate Programming - Springer:

Gary J. Hill

Published in Software Engineering Education Going Agile Part of the series Progress in IS pp 73-80

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_11

This paper, predominantly discusses the teaching of programming and problem solving to undergraduate first year computing students, using robots/robot simulators and visual programming to emulate the robot tasks. The needs to focus initial programming education on problem solving, prior to the teaching of programming syntax and software design methodology is also considered. The main vehicle for this approach is a robot/robot simulation programmed in Java, followed by the programming of a visual representation/simulation to develop programming skills.

References

1.

Beaumont, C., and Fox, C.: Learning programming: Enhancing quality through problem-based learning. In: Proceeding of 4th Annual Conference of the subject centre for Information and Computer Sciences of the Higher Education Academy (pp. 90-95). Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland: Higher Education Academy (2003).
2.

Hill G. J., Turner S.: Chapter 7: Problems First. In: Software Industry-Oriented Education Practices and Curriculum Development: Experiences and Lessons, M Hussey, X Xu & B Wu (Eds.), IGI Global, USA, pp 110-126, ISBN: 978-1-60960-797-5 (2011).
3.

Hill, G., Turner, S. J.: Problems first, second and third. In: International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE). 3(3), pp. 88-109. 2155-496X (2014).
4.

Williams, A. B.: The qualitative impact of using Lego Mindstorms robot to teach computer engineering. In: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) Transactions on Education, 46, 206 (2003).
5.

Štuikys, V., Burbaitė, R., Damaševičius, R.: Teaching of Computer Science Topics Using Meta-Programming-Based GLOs and LEGO Robots. In: Informatics in Education - An International Journal (Vol12_1), pp125-142 (2013).
6.

Kariyawasam, K., A., Turner, S., Hill, G.: Is it Visual? The importance of a Problem Solving Module within a Computing course. In: Computer Education, Volume 10, Issue 166, May 2012, pp. 5-7, ISSN: 1672-5913 (2012).
7.

HEA-ICS Development Fund: HEA-ICS Development Fund [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/development-fund/index.php[Accessed: February 2015] (2015).
8.

HEA-ICS/Microsoft Innovative Teaching Fund: Developing problem-solving teaching materials based upon Microsoft Robotics Studio [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/development-fund/fund_details.php?id = 88 [Accessed February 2015] (2015).
9.

Adams, J. P., & Turner, S. J.: Problem Solving and Creativity for Undergraduate Engineers: process or product? In: International Conference on Innovation, Good Practice and Research in Engineering Education July 14-16, 2008, Loughborough, England, Higher Education Academy. 9781904804659 (2008).
10.

Adams, J., Turner, S., Kaczmarczyk, S., Picton, P., & Demian, P.: Problem solving and creativity for undergraduate engineers: Findings of an action research project involving robots. In: International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2008), Budapest, Hungary (2008).
11.

Turner S., Hill G. J.: Robots in Problem-Solving and Programming. In: 8th Annual Conference of the Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, 28th - 30th August 2007, pp 82-85 ISBN 0-978-0-9552005-7-1 (2007).
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Gallopoulos, E., Houstis, E., Rice, J. R.: Computer as Thinker/Doer. In: Problem-Solving Environments for Computational Science, IEEE Computational Science and Engineering pp 11-23 (1994).
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Houghton, W.: How can Learning and Teaching Theory assist Engineering Academics? [online] School of Engineering - University of Exeter. Available from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/learning-teaching-theory.pdf [Accessed: November 2015] (2004).
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Bloom, B. S. (Ed.): Taxonomy of educational objectives. In: Handbook I: Cognitive domain. White Plains, NY: Longman (1956).
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JICC5: Java & the Internet in the Computing Curriculum, Higher Education Academy (HEA) – Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) Conference, South Bank University, London, 22nd Jan, [online] Available from: http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=127[Accessed: February 2015] (2001).
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Computing Curricula: IEEE CS, ACM Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, IEEE Computer Society Press and ACM Press. [online] Available from http://www.acm.org/education/curricula.html [Accessed: February, 2015] (2001).
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Koulouri, T., Lauria, S., Macredie, R., D.: Teaching introductory programming: A quantitative evaluation of different approaches. In: ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. 14, 4, Article 26 (December 2014), 28 pages, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2662412 (2014).
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Turner S., Hill G. J.: The Inclusion of Robots Within The Teaching OF Problem Solving: Preliminary Results. In: 7th Annual Conference of the ICS HE Academy, Trinity College, Dublin, 29th - 31st August 2006, Proceedings pg 241-242 ISBN 0-9552005-3-9 (2006).
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Turner S., Hill G. J.: Robots within the teaching of Problem-Solving. In: ITALICS, HEA-ICS, Volume 7 Issue 1, June 2008, pp. 108-119, ISSN: 1473-7507 (2008).
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Turner S., Hill G. J.: Innovative Use of Robots and Graphical Programming in Software Education. In: Computer Education, Volume 9, May 2010, pp. 54-6, ISSN: 1672-5913 (2010).
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Turner S, Hill G, Adams: Robots in problem solving in programming. In: 9th 1-day Teaching of Programming Workshop, University of Bath, 6th April 2009 (2009).
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Gold. N.: Motivating Students in Software Engineering Group Projects: An Experience Report. In: Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences 9(1), 10-19. DOI: 10.11120/ital.2010.09010010 (2010).
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Greenfoot: Teach and Learn Java Programming. [online] Available from http://www.greenfoot.org/ [Accessed: February 1, 2015] (2015).
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Microsoft: Microsoft robotics studio [online] Available from: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics/aa731520.aspx [Accessed: February 2015] (2006).
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Savin-Baden, M. & Wilkie, K.: (eds) Challenging Research in Problem-based Learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press/SRHE (2004).

To read more go to: Review of a Problems-First Approach to First Year Undergraduate Programming - Springer

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Posting on the site does not imply endorsement in any way, by the blog owner or any organisations the blog owner is associated with.

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated withAll views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Enhancing Computing Student Employability Skills Through Partnership Working in STEM Outreach - Springer

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 4 Jul 2016 19:07:00 +0100

Enhancing Computing Student Employability Skills Through Partnership Working in STEM Outreach - Springer:

Scott Turner
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_10 or http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_10

Published in Software Engineering Education Going Agile Part of the series Progress in IS pp 67-71

Abstract

Student volunteering is growing in the UK and elsewhere, and there is an ongoing debate about whether it is really “self-evidently a ‘good thing’” or there is a greater need for reflection to determine whether this statement is true (Holdsworth and Quinn, Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113–127, 2010). This paper presents a personal reflection of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) volunteering as a potential route to increasing Computing student’s employability.

References

STEMNet (2015) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network [online] Available at: http://www.stemnet.org.uk/ Accessed on: 24thJanuary 2015

Sinclair J, Allen A, Davis L, Goodchild T, Messenger J, Turner S (2014) "Enhancing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach; the University of Northampton approach " HEA STEM Annual Teaching and Learning Conference 2013: Enhancing the STEM Student Journey, University of Edinburgh, 30th April-1st May 2014

Holdsworth, C., & Quinn, J. (2010). Student volunteering in English higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113–127.CrossRef

Brewis, G., Russell, J., & Holdsworth, C. (2010). Bursting the bubble: Students, volunteering and the community. Research Summary.

Junkbots (2015) Junkbots [online] Available at: http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/ Accessed on: 24th January 2015.

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Posting on the site does not imply endorsement in any way, by the blog owner or any organisations the blog owner is associated with.

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

10 lines of code challenge - my examples

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 30 May 2016 15:08:00 +0100

The 10 lines of code initiative is a challenge to write code with only ten lines of code to encourage efficient coding, whilst still having fun - the choice of language is up to you. The video from http://www.amazingict.co.uk outlines the idea:

Here are a three simple Scratch projects only using 10 lines of code - very happy for someone to take and improve them, especially if you comment and share your results. Click on the Green Flags below to see them in action.

The code is available at https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/111834277/

The code is available at https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/110952076/

The code is available at https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/111835204/

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Rise of Rabbitsapien

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 19:52:00 GMT

A little more detail on my experience of PiCademy December 2015 and the project a few of us developed - RabbitSapien.

To have a go, you may have to have the following:

The latest version of Raspbian, at the time of writing Jessie (https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/)
Import the following

sudo apt-get install python-twython
sudo pip3 install explorehat
sudo pip3 install gpiozero

Rise of Rabbitsapien - A team of us put together a project of a robot with a rabbit (no other soft toys were available) with a Passive IR sensor in its belly; that carries out a set routine when movement is detected. All control by a Raspberry Pi via an Pimoroni Explorerhat.

It was also great to come away with some many resources both physical and activities. Thank you to the Pi Foundation for such a good experience.

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with.All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Dark in Sonic Pi

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 14:37:00 GMT

I am not a musician but I do love playing/coding (not difference really) Sonic Pi and video (using Voila http://www.globaldelight.com/voila/index.php) so I came up with this, it was just fun to do.

Please someone take it and improve it.

use_synth :prophet
in_thread do
loop do
sample :ambi_choir, rate: 0.1, attack: 4, release: 4
sleep 10
end
end
in_thread do
loop do
sample :bass_trance_c, amp: 0.75, release: 3
sleep 2
sample :bass_trance_c, rate: 0.5, amp: 0.5, release: 5
sleep 4
sample :bass_trance_c, rate: 0.3, amp: 0.25, release: 9
sleep 10
end
end
sleep 4
sample :ambi_drone, amp: 0.75, release: 3
sleep 8
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 0.75, release: 3
sleep 7
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 3, release: 6
sleep 6
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 3, release: 5
sleep 5
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 4
sleep 4
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 3
sleep 3
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 2
sleep 2
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 1
sleep 1
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 0.5
sleep 0.5
sample :ambi_dark_woosh, amp: 5, release: 0.5

Dark by Scott Turner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with.

3 'Art' Scratch Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 09:21:00 GMT

Grid painting - Simple system that allows images made up on 8 x 8 grid. Click on the Green flag to start. For the code go to: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/101415120/

Whirleygig 1 - straight random lines. Click on the Green flag to start. Foe the code go to: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/99053538/

Whirleygig 2 - random lines. Click on the Green flag to start. For the code go to: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/100924783/

The last two are loosely based on the idea of Generative Art. A good book, in my view, on this is available from Amazon at Generative Art

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Random picture Generator using Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 8 Mar 2016 08:59:00 GMT

This short post is about a simple idea that was turn into a Scratch solution. I had developed a computational thinking based paper game with my son around following an algorithm to draw lines randomly using dice to select direction and length of the line.

Here is a Scratch program to do something similar. It is random in three ways
- The time taken is random.
- The direction is selected randomly
- the length of the line is selected randomly

To run it just press the green flag.

Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/99053538/ for more details.

Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/100957552/ for more details.

Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/100924783/ for more details.

Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/101630166/ for more details.

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Best coding games for kids: programming toys to teach children how to code - Test Centre - PC Advisor

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Thu, 3 Mar 2016 20:38:00 GMT

Best coding games for kids: programming toys to teach children how to code - Test Centre - PC Advisor:

SAM Science Museum Inventor Kit Labs Toy

Sphero SPRK
This is the only one on the list I have actually played with. Fantastic device and as well the software you download from the manufacturer, there are some other bits of software you can download for it. My particular favourite is the TickleApp because it allows programming control of the sphero's but also other devices such as some of the Parrot drones. The BB-8 Sphero is great fun as well.

ThinkFun Code Master Programming

STEM - Robot Mouse Activity Set
https://www.learningresources.co.uk/product/stem-coding-set.do

Robot Turtle Game

Kamibot
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kamibot/kamibot-teach-your-kids-to-code

To read more of the original article go to: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/gadget/best-coding-games-for-kids-3635899/

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All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with. The recommendations made in the article http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/gadget/best-coding-games-for-kids-3635899/ are theirs and not necessarily those of the blog author.

Teaching social AI with robots and chatbots

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 08:23:00 GMT

I managed to do something I have want to do for a long time this week, thanks to the recent purchase of NAO robots by the University of Northampton, I have managed to include a physical example of Social Robots into my teaching. The aim of the session was to teach about social AI, revolving around the using social cues, to a certain extent, using natural language through chatbots, for us to communicate with machines.

The robots were used as an example of a social robot, the way we want to play with or work with them, without having to going through a steep learning curve on how to use them. Students were encouraged to consider why this was and that anthropomorphisation plays a part (NAO basically has some of the characteristics of a small child). The fact that it responds to voice commands, its looks, has a childlike voice, that it always moving (even slightly when standing) and the way it moves; were spotted by the group as ways it attracts us to it - it is really hard not to talk to it like a child sometimes (but perhaps that is just me).

This session also included the use of chatbots (one example, ALICE used is shown here) and AIML, Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, (a link to more about AIML is included below). Just as a bit of background, chatbots (also called variously, chatterbots, conversational agents, etc) are programs that hold a conversation with us using through either text or speech. The chatbots were used to show how we can create intelligent-like behave by in effect providing responses to questions. Followed by, how we then take this further by using the responses people give, while using the chatbot, to 'fine-tune' the model.

To read more about NAO robots go to https://www.aldebaran.com/en

To read more on AIML go to http://www.alicebot.org/aiml.html

Example chatbots

ALICE http://alice.pandorabots.com/ (the one shown in the picture above).
Mitsuku http://www.mitsuku.com/
An example of an MSc student's work on Chatbots http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/msc-student-work-chatbot-innovative.html
A good source of further examples can found at https://www.chatbots.org/country/uk .

If you would like to create your own chatbot personally I think one of the easiest ways to start is through https://playground.pandorabots.com/en/quickstart/

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

5 tools to get kids coding | Web design | Creative Bloq

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 2 Feb 2016 00:10:00 GMT

Creative Bloq put forward 5 tools to get kids coding | Web design | Creative Bloq: 'via Blog this'

I have only played with two of those suggested and they are fun.

Hello Ruby

Ozobots - programmed through light, and can react to patterns on a track to change actions.

Third one, Hackaball is on order - it is, at the time of writing, a Kickstarter project details can be found at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hackaball/hackaball-a-programmable-ball-for-active-and-creat

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with.

Simple X-Wing in Minecraft

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Fri, 1 Jan 2016 10:54:00 GMT

figure 1

This post is co-authored by my son Thomas as a joint project to get a X-Wing into Minecraft. The goal was get Python to build and move the X-Wing.

It builds on ideas from the book Adventures in Minecraft (see link at the bottom) on using Python and Minecraft using a Raspberry Pi.

1. Static X-Wing

To start with we just placed the X-Wing above the player by placing blocks in the shape (roughly) of the X-Wing.

Find the position of the player;
To avoid building on top the player the starting position of the X-Wing is set by:

add 5 to the x position of the player;
add 10 to the y position of the player(The bit I have to keep reminding myself is the y-axis is vertical.);
add 5 to the z position of the player;

Using these values build using, Wool blocks, the X-Wing - 0 for white, and 14 for red blocks.

It is admittedly quite a simple code (see below) and the finished X-Wing can be seen in figure 1.

from mcpi.minecraft import Minecraft

from mcpi import block

mc=Minecraft.create()

pos=mc.player.getTilePos()

x=pos.x+5

y=pos.y+10

z=pos.z+5

mc.setBlock(x,y,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x-1,y,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x-2,y,z,block.WOOL.id,14)

mc.setBlock(x-3,y,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x,y+1,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y+1,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+2,y,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+2,y+1,z,block.WOOL.id,0)

#wings

mc.setBlock(x+1,y+2,z-1,block.WOOL.id,14)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y+2,z+1,block.WOOL.id,14)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y-1,z-1,block.WOOL.id,14)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y-1,z+1,block.WOOL.id,14)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y+3,z-2,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y+3,z+2,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y-2,z-2,block.WOOL.id,0)

mc.setBlock(x+1,y-2,z+2,block.WOOL.id,0)

2. Get it to move.

We want it to move across the screen, for the moment, happy for it to just be animated.

The block approach is ok for the static version, but could lead to mistakes with getting the co-ordinates right if we were not careful. There is an other option to be found in chapter 8 of the book of using MinecraftShape were the shape is defined as relative values to a starting block, so for what we were doing they don't change but the shape can move in across the world.

Essentially the same as before but using shape;
place the shape in the world;
move it vertical (looks like it is taking off);
move it horizontal (this bit can be seen in the video).

from mcpi.minecraft import Minecraft

from mcpi import block

import mcpi.minecraftstuff as minecraftstuff

import time

mc=Minecraft.create()

xPos=mc.player.getTilePos()

xPos.x=xPos.x+5

xPos.y=xPos.y+5

xPos.z=xPos.z+5

xWingBlocks=[

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(0,0,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(-1,0,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(-2,0,0,block.WOOL.id,14),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(-3,0,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,0,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(0,1,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,1,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(2,0,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(2,1,0,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,2,-1,block.WOOL.id,14),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,2,1,block.WOOL.id,14),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,-1,-1,block.WOOL.id,14),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,-1,1,block.WOOL.id,14),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,3,-2,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,3,2,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,-2,-2,block.WOOL.id,0),

minecraftstuff.ShapeBlock(1,-2,2,block.WOOL.id,0)]

xWingShape=minecraftstuff.MinecraftShape(mc,xPos,xWingBlocks)

for count in range(1,20):

time.sleep(0.1)

xWingShape.moveBy(0,1,0)

for count in range(1,40):

time.sleep(0.1)

xWingShape.moveBy(-1,0,0)

xWingShape.clear()

The very shaky video below shows the X-Wing moving across the sky.

3. Where next
Two areas:

Control: either through keys or by using external controls.
Getting turning to work, we will looking into where this has already been done (and for Star Wars ) at http://www.stuffaboutcode.com/2015/03/minecraft-star-wars.html and http://www.stuffaboutcode.com/2015/12/minecraft-microbit-and-x-wing.html

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

playing with Sonic Pi

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 11:39:00 GMT

If you haven't played with it SonicPi (http://sonic-pi.net/) is well worth a go, it combines programming, computational thinking and music (or trying to create music in my case). Raspbian on the Raspberry Pi has it as standard, but is great that SonicPi is available on the Mac and PC as well.

Here is an simple (if I am honest, because of a lack of musical ability) piece I have been play with. You can end up playing for hours trying out different sounds, synths, effects etc.

in_thread do
loop do
sample :ambi_choir, rate: 0.1, attack: 4, release: 4
sleep 10
end
end
2. times do
sample :bass_trance_c, amp: 0.75, release: 3
sleep 2
sample :bass_trance_c, rate: 0.5, amp: 0.5, release: 5
sleep 4
sample :bass_trance_c, rate: 0.3, amp: 0.25, release: 9
sleep 10
end

Here is the sneaky bit, even in the code above there a mixture of threads, loops, sequences as well designing of the 'shape' of the sounds.

There is also a community producing material/examples. For example at https://gist.github.com/rbnpi/7713ac59ed553d3f336e you can find code for the Star Wars theme. It is very hard to resist playing with the theme and adding drums, etc.

There are some great tutorials available on The MagPi magazine site https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Have a Sphero BB-8 - now what?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 15:50:00 GMT

Previously I have shown the Sphero BB-8 rolling around the room under its own control, under the control of Sphero's own software - which has some fantastic features, I especially like the Augmented Reality message replicating the holographic projection in the film. At the time of writing (27th December 2015) this was number one best selling robot toy and 14th best toy overall in Amazon.co.uk toy list that day. The video below is the Sphero BB-8 Droid on patrol one of the options in the App.

But what is you want to take it a little further? What if you bought it and now want to program it?

One of the features of this device is it is programmable; and there is more than one option, two are presented in this post.

First option, by one of my favourite apps - TickleApp which has been discussed in previous posts. This app allows control of a quite an impressive range of devices using the same interface. Examples, some of which have been discussed previously (e.g Parrot Minidrone or Dash and Dot), are shown below - including Sphero BB-8.

The App uses an graphical programming interface similar to Scratch or Blockly to produce code. The example here it a very simple one of:

Spin twice for one second;
Move roughly in a square;
If the BB-8 collides (or is bumped) it is set to spin twice for a second.

Ok, not the most sophisticated bit of coding; but it does demonstrates the simplicity of controlling this robot with the app.

BB-8 is great fun, and with the head appearing to float over the body and facing in the direction of movement it is hard resist. The video below shows it action.

The Tickleapp is not the only alternative software, the Tynker App can also control it.

This is also a graphical drag and drop programming tool, that you can connect certain 'toys' to. Though the App, like Tickle, is mainly concerned with developing programming skills, the ability to add physical device is an enhancement.

The BB-8 can be connected to Tynker (or how I did it anyway) by:

Clicking on the Create button on the opening screen;
Clicking on Blank Template;
Deleting the 'Actor' that has there and clicking on the + button in the top right hand corner of the screen;
Clicking on connected toys and selecting the grey ball;
On the main screen it should say spherobot with a code button at the side, click on the button;
You should get a screen with some code for changing the colour shown and then moving in a square- you can change this for your own code.

Not all the commands, listed down the side, will work with the BB-8 - I restricted myself to the ones under common (star in the list). The Tynker app is a nice tool anyway with lots of games related activities to try. Having the ability to connect and program certain devices is a benefit.

Personal note, if you have one of these toys I would say give programming them a go.

If you have comments or experiences with Tynker, Sphero BB-8 or Tickle app please add them to the comments below.

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with.

This the droid I've been playing with...

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 16:32:00 GMT

I have been fortunate to be able to get Aldebaran NAO robots (https://plus.google.com/100795863694331917596/about or https://www.aldebaran.com/en) and have a play.

Funding for these came through matched STEM investment from HEFCE (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/). Bought for teaching, especially around the growing area of Social Robotics but also for outreach and in-reach activities.

These are very cute but very well featured robots and also out of the box they are engaging. For reason, before they were fully set-up, I had my first opportunity today to try an Aldebaran NAO robot as a teaching tool in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) class on Thursday 17th December 2015. The session was an end of term activity around summarising what we did in the AI class so far and questions. A question came up around AI and it's impact on society. Perfect opportunity to bring in a social robot - especially as a precursor for when we include a session on social robotics next term.

Currently I am playing with them a little more. Two have being partially set-up now name "Red" and "Smurf".

The video link below shows "Red" in action (Walking holding the hand of my son; sitting down and standing up on command - some of the time.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BhHJhGmXJc

I would love to hear from others what they have being doing with these robots or other robots for that matter. Please comment below.

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with.

Ohbot a social robot

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 15:26:00 GMT

Recently I built an OhBot (http://ohbot.weebly.com/); a robot face (see picture to the left - I'll fixed the cross-eyes later). This cool little kit actually comes with some very nice software, that includes face tracking and a Scratch-like blocks programming language.

One bit of advice is put as aside several hours to do this, my experience is takes quite a while to build (that might just be me though). It is worth it, when you see the head, eyes, etc moving it is very engaging.

The site has links to all the software needed and some very useful sample programs.

This is nice engaging robot that comes with a user-friendly programming language. The finished robot reminds me a bit of Cynthia Braziel's Kismet robot (http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group/kismet/kismet.html) from MIT in the 1990s. So this might also be a good introduction to the area of social robotics and, as at the time of writing this, only £99, a relative inexpensive way into this area.

.All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.

Minecraft and Hour of Code

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 15:22:00 GMT

Minecraft | Code.org:

This is really good fun. Taken from the code.org using Minecraft to develop programming skills.

go to https://code.org/mc to play with it.

'via Blog this'

All views are those of the author and should not be seen as the views of any organisation the author is associated with.