Learning and Teaching

making free educational AR

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 19:46:00 +0000

This post is part of the materials for a session on Augmented Reality presenting at the 2019 SolSTICE eLearning and CLT Conference 5-6th June 2019 Edge Hill University https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/solstice/files/2019/05/2019-Book-of-Abstracts.pdf and the #MergedFutures Event on 14th June 2019.

1. Introduction

So if we go to

https://thimbleprojects.org/scottturneruon/692403

Using the markers above with this url running on your device (with a camera enabled) it should add two new objects over the markers. you will need a copy of these images printed out. If you have it I would suggest running it in Firefox.

2. Getting Started

The guide for all this is https://aframe.io/blog/arjs/, with this you have pretty much everything you need.

To start your own go to https://glitch.com/ -> new project ->Hello World project

In the index.html deleted everything in there and replace it with

Should have a white box over the Hiro marker when the web camera/phone/tablet is shown the markers.

The code not in bold below just sets it up - to play with it we don’t need to worry about what it does - we can just use it. The bit in bold is the bit initially we change or add to – in this case it puts a default white box over the marker.

It can be seen at https://decisive-cookie.glitch.me

3. Playing with other objects

Now if we replace

With

We get a blue ball in place of the box

Now for some fun

http://www.pngall.com/bee-png/download/84 is a bee image – download it

Go back to Glitch, and if we go to assets we can add the image. Open up the folder that has the downloaded image and drag it into the asset window.

When it stops downloading and shows the image, click on the image to get the new web address we are going to need that next. so take a copy of it.

If we replace

With the following by just adding in src="https://cdn.glitch.com/04b86bba-0978-4bf4-b3a7-2ece72336f90%2FBee-PNG.png" as below

We get a blue ball with a bee stretched over it. But it doesn’t look that great if we remove the color=”blue” we see the bee stuck at the bottom of the ball still but the colours are back.

Now if we replace

With commands to rotate the sphere

We get a rotating sphere with the image on it.

This can be found at https://simplistic-wakeboard.glitch.me and works with the Hiro marker

If you want to find out how I felt about presenting go to https://dandy-custard.glitch.me/

Now let's try a GIF

https://giphy.com/gifs/ar-vr-uon-dWsKM0qQeY9DhSUslT/media

Download the GIF and then copy (drag and drop) into the asset folder of your project get the web address and put into src=”” in place of the one that is there already

An example can be found at https://root-reply.glitch.me/ and works with the Hiro marker.

4. Issues and Thoughts

Make sure all the markers have white space surrounding them.

Video is fun

It is browser dependent on Firefox https://thimbleprojects.org/scottturneruon/692403 would place a video on Chrome and so others it is a static image.
There are ways around it https://cloudy-nation.glitch.me a play button is added but it does involve more code https://glitch.com/~cloudy-nationWallace https://www.northampton.ac.uk/directories/people/roy-wallace/

The QR code approach doesn’t always work with all phones and tablets.

If I am honest, the technology is cool and useful for educational use, but I not sure where it all can go. The question is what can others come up with to use it, I would love to hear about it.

Free Educational Augmented Reality from Scott Turner

10 most read post in 2019 on this Learning and Teaching blog

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 11:07:00 +0000

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Social Media in Higher Education 19 #socmedhe19 - personal view in selected tweets

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 01:50:00 +0000

The Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conferences is one of my favourite conferences to attend and be part of, also the friendliest. This year it was held at Edge Hill University on 19th December 2019 https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/clt/conference-2014/social-media-for-learning-in-higher-education-conference-2019/

As well as being friendly it is also useful, I always walk away with ideas I can use and want to use. As a few examples:
- using flipgrid
- Using padlet to get people to put down their interests, then group them based on those to curate on a topic using a tool mix.com.
- Role of social media as an unofficial and official space for learning.

Session 1
On some of the work done at the Open University on using social media to support students.

Interesting session by Sharon Mallon on using Facebook #socmedhe19 #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/wa6IZWxTtB
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Assessment motivation #socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/riVtPmXo9T
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

There is space for official and unofficial #socmedhe19 ⁦@SocMedHE⁩ pic.twitter.com/cwChmAU9EB
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Very insightful into WhatsApp by ⁦@SharonMallonPhD⁩ #socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/6S1p17krvv
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Session 2: My own "You too can analyse social media - well Twitter"
Looking at visualising twitter data. Didn't go as smoothly as I wanted but it happened - luckily I had prepared a video and release the presentation beforehand.

Wow. Seeing the details of my session "You too can analyse social media - well twitter" for #socmedhe19 presented in this way is great. Thank you @belld17 @Sarah__wright1 @SocMedHE #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/JcGgpBZNVa
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 2, 2019

The next session I'm attending is being delivered by @scottturneruon titled 'You too can analyse social media - well twitter" #socmedhe19
— Jessica Sainsbury #FundOurFuture 🕷🌹 (@JessLSainsbury) December 19, 2019

@scottturneruon wrestling with technology to bring us insight in how to use analyse social media using the excellent tags explorer #SocMedHE19
— Alex Spiers #HE (@alexgspiers) December 19, 2019

Tags explorer would be a great tool to capture interactions with a hashtag over time. For example, is your engagement building on a particular topic. Useful. @scottturneruon #SocMedHE19
— Alex Spiers #HE (@alexgspiers) December 19, 2019

Thanks to @scottturneruon I just ran a @SocioVizNet on emojis used in relation to #phonetics. Make of this what you will... #socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/180UpBVEe9
— Dr Claire Timmins (@clairemtimmins) December 19, 2019

Thank you to all who came to my #SocMedHE19 talk on social network analysis
Slides https://t.co/GkHYY4TyeN

Video https://t.co/CHzA9k47xb
Also thank you to @alexgspiers for chairing and helping out in the session.#TAGS #Gephi #NodeXL #socioviz pic.twitter.com/Hst3X0SRhJ
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

You too can analyse social media - well twitter from Scott Turner

Session 3
Using padlet to get people to put down their interests, then group them based on those, to curate on a topic using the tool mix.com.

Social platforms by use #socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/mCkezExA8H
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Using https://t.co/tP3UwuVU2D in teaching #SocMedHE19 #socmedhe ⁦@SocMedHE⁩ pic.twitter.com/I4QZewrMEX
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Session 4

Talk on experience on using social media in teaching ⁦@KerryEdwardsOT⁩ #socmedhe19 #socmedhe and lessons learnt pic.twitter.com/MMdRGxifjd
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Social media is part of everyday life ⁦@KerryEdwardsOT⁩ #socmedhe19 #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/P7WRcHuoKA
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Great insights on the positive impact it has made on students in their own words from ⁦@KerryEdwardsOT⁩ #SocMedHE19 #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/rIJ8y6jp34
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Lightening talk on various aspects of social media by ⁦@PaulFenn16⁩ at #SocMedHE19 #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/6KCJ4bBFqb
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

Great people to spend time with

Using https://t.co/tP3UwuVU2D in teaching #SocMedHE19 #socmedhe ⁦@SocMedHE⁩ pic.twitter.com/I4QZewrMEX
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 19, 2019

⭐ Influencers ⭐ @scottturneruon ⭐ @SocMedHE , this is fabulous! 💛 See you next year in Glasgow 😁 #SocMedHE20 pic.twitter.com/N6wETzjaNQ
— Sara Muršić (@saramursic) December 19, 2019

what a fantastic organising team! @belld17 @alexgspiers @neilwithnell @suebecks @SFaulknerPandO @scottturneruon @DesTech2013 @debbaff co-opted @The_DT_Geek DT_geek and not in the photo but the fabulous @Sarah__wright1 #SocMedHE19 looking forward to @SocMedHE #SocMedHE20 https://t.co/NyDvlPggkV
— CLT at EHU (@CLTatEHU) December 19, 2019

Wow. Seeing the details of my session "You too can analyse social media - well twitter" for #socmedhe19 presented in this way is great. Thank you @belld17 @Sarah__wright1 @SocMedHE #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/JcGgpBZNVa
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) December 2, 2019

The SocMedHE days really are the most friendliest, supportive, exciting, innovative, inclusive and just plain good fun conferences of the year! Proposals are open for one more week only - don't miss out! #SoCMedHE19 https://t.co/pKW6fHRB7d
— Rachel Challen PFHEA (@RKChallen) November 14, 2019

So happy to have several people talk to me about this work today 😊 #SocMedHE19 https://t.co/wFGCrEGrK2
— Lee Fallin (@LeeFallin) December 19, 2019

WE ARE GOING TO GLASGOW!!! #SocMedHE19 pic.twitter.com/8UJc4e9mTR
— Alex Spiers #HE (@alexgspiers) December 19, 2019

Great to be at @SocMedHE conference at @edgehill today. Lots of fascinating presentations today. This afternoon, me + @SFaulknerPandO will talk about our own experiences of using social media in the classroom #socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/jmdQtFCw6p
— Dr Gary Kerr (@DrGaryKerr) December 19, 2019

@CLTatEHU ... a great team! #SocMedHE19 https://t.co/54N8XNSvJb
— CLT at EHU (@CLTatEHU) December 20, 2019

Y1W12D5

Brilliant week and trip to end 2019!https://t.co/acSxnMQNf8 #LegoNutSciGradGoesPhD #SocMedHE19 @SocMedHE
— Kiu Sum (@KiuSum) December 20, 2019

A Scott sandwich @scottfarrow88 @scottturneruon and special guest @baaanedict - it was a pleasure to finally meet your sheepy self 🐑#socmedhe19 pic.twitter.com/F5rBYDrUKg
— Rachelle O'Brien (@rachelleeobrien) December 19, 2019

Doing Digital Transformation #OpenBlog19

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 09:08:00 +0000

So I find myself challenged by Neil Withnell to contribute to #OpenBlog19, an idea that generated from David Hopkins — so I will try to do the challenge justice.

The topic provided "Doing digital transformation"

As someone whose career and interests revolve around Science, Engineering, Computing and how we teach these subjects, it is not going to be a surprise to anyone that I see the digital transformation as a largely exciting. But, I am not entirely sure though I know what exactly it means. There seems to various takes. seeming to come down the direction you come at it, as an example Digital transformation in education: The FutureLearn view focuses on MOOCs. So my take, is that we can start playing around with different ways of working with digital approaches, in partnership with our students and the advice of others, accepting they wouldn't always work - but it was probably fun getting there. I am going to try and illustrate this with an example.

A long-term personal interest has been introducing robots into the teaching programming; it is physical, visual and has had a history of being used in primary schools. Feedback from students on using robots was positive and their feedback and suggestions lead to changes in the nature of the tasks and how it is used.

Now for the but; there have been some issues:

It is difficult to scale - going from a module with 20-30 students to one with 160 (or over 200 with partner colleges) leads to resources issues. This has a knock-on effect on assignments, limited robots lead to less flexibility in where and when the assignment can be done.
Equipment failures or parts going missing also affects the experience.

So a change was implemented, moving across to simulated robot activities rather than physical robots; which came out of the collaboration with a number of colleagues and discussion with students.

This transformation of introducing robots was partially successful, it was liked and commented on by the students, but it has had issues. It was the collaboration with colleagues, students and the interaction with the wider community (both HE and Primary School educators) that improved it.

I believe doing digital transformation is not (or perhaps shouldn't be) a solo activity, but one that benefits from openness and sharing of practices. We might have to accept is not always going to be the outstanding success we initially hope for, but it can still be successful. The chances are as well, it was positive for both the students and us, getting there.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Reflection on #SocMedHE18 via selected tweets (mine and others)

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 19:31:00 +0000

Friendly

Great to see everyone at the pre conference meet up #socmedhe18 pic.twitter.com/xkGqcgM2qr
— Fiery Red (@FieryRed1) January 8, 2019

Great atmosphere at #socmedhe18 already pic.twitter.com/O5BMjtwHEW
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

#openness at #socmedhe18 keynote by ⁦@MarenDeepwell⁩ pic.twitter.com/KHz3SkrgWc
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Impact factor and #socialmedia alternatives in ⁦@MarenDeepwell⁩ keynote at #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/LFno2XQBqC
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Using #socialmedia to promote greater equality #femedtech at #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/qrXzcXipMH
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Joining #mugafesto session, here are our challenges with @scottturneruon #SocMedHE18 #socmedhe pic.twitter.com/DOihgrN44S
— Teresa MacKinnon (@WarwickLanguage) January 9, 2019

Great talk at #socmedhe18 by ⁦@Sarah__wright1⁩ ⁦@belld17⁩ about being you on social media pic.twitter.com/av5U4w4t20
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

How do students see VLEs v social media ? #socmedhe18 via ⁦@Sarah__wright1⁩ ⁦@belld17⁩ pic.twitter.com/BYVwfo7oV7
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Look what turned up in my email box - thank you @Sarah__wright1 and @belld17 it was a great session at #socmedhe18 looking forward to #socmedhe19 at EHU pic.twitter.com/ZITpRR7dx4
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 10, 2019

#digital_identity of professionals #socmedhe18 pic.twitter.com/jmoj6Fu2lt
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Loved the idea of the parallels with the Green Cross Code and the use of social media - great idea @ColinJMitchell Actually one of many in a 15 min talk, impressive #SocMedHE18 https://t.co/SwPSSnPu47
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 10, 2019

Connected and unconnected spaces for learners ⁦@johncoup⁩ #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/1rzEHotCJt
— Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) January 9, 2019

Really looking forward to this session on hashtag communities with @mhawksey (pictured), @NomadWarMachine & @scottturneruon #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/vy5EjZzalD
— Simon Horrocks (@horrocks_simon) January 9, 2019

Absolutely amazing session from @mhawksey @NomadWarMachine @scottturneruon about using #TAGS for Twitter research and the developing ethical issues. Have learnt so much already today #SocMedHE18
— Olivia Kelly (@OliviaKellyOU) January 9, 2019

Final session of @SocMedHE #SocMedHE18 and I am at a "game show" playing who is the "lurker"? with @NomadWarMachine @andrewmid @rachelleobrien @suebecks @neilwithnell @scottturneruon

Is there a theme song for the game, I wonder? pic.twitter.com/yMtqtysXuC
— Kiu Sum (@KiuSum) January 9, 2019

For those who participated in our #lurker gameshow - thank you very much! Your lurker badge is attached #socmedhe18 if you would like another term on your badge, tweet me and I'll make you a personalised one! pic.twitter.com/yBx93ijPx7
— Rachelle O'Brien (@rachelleeobrien) January 9, 2019

It was great to meet up with so many #lthechat folk today at #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/RtkB7dVAKt
— John Couperthwaite (@johncoup) January 9, 2019

Being there – thinking about presence #socmedhe18 #mugafesto https://t.co/Rvv7recDQy pic.twitter.com/Ca0hRWPVsu
— Andrew Middleton (@andrewmid) January 11, 2019

And now details for #SocMedHE19 #SocMedHE18 pic.twitter.com/ihSUKq7IAh
— Neil Withnell (@neilwithnell) January 9, 2019

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Volunteering, good for students, communities and the University

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 12:48:00 +0000

Volunteering, It is good for the students, communities and the University: Reflections on STEM volunteering

This Invited Talk presented at the "Higher Education for the Development of Iraq Conference" 14-15th September 2018 London; revolves around reflections on student volunteering. Considers the experience from one university in the UK on using volunteering to enhance the employability of computing students, but also includes some insights into the benefits for the wider community of students volunteering. Are the lessons that can be transferred to Iraq?

The conference was aimed at looking at the integration between the work of the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the development needs in Iraq; by identifying problems in all sectors and contributing to the creation of a knowledge economy.
This talk fitted under "This section is about the problems and challenges face the Iraqi economy which can be resolved by higher education outcomes." https://www.farismedia.co.uk/read-more

e economy.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29166-6_10

Volunteering, It is good for the students, communities and the University : Reflections on STEM volunteering from Scott Turner

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Golden Tweeting Award

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 16:02:00 +0000

I was very pleased and honoured to be awarded a Golden Tweeter Award for my engagement with the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Twitter Chat (#LTHEchat). To learn more about the award click on the image below.

There have been nine of these given out at the time of writing and two of these have gone to people at the University of Northampton. The other being Dr Hala Mansour in 2016.

What is #LTHEChat
The #LTHEChat is a weekly chat, 20:00-21:00 (UK time) Wednesdays, conceived by Dr Chrissi Nerantzi and shared with Sue Beckingham as an opportunity for educators in higher education to discuss learning and teaching. It is an open weekly chat for anyone interested in higher education and providing an opportunity to share practices as well as ideas and connect with other practitioners on a regular basis. Each week the chat has a different focus, aimed at looking at a specific aspect of learning and teaching in HE. You don't have to say anything to be part of it, though after a while you probably will want to, following the discussion is ok. In fact you don't need a Twitter account to following passively just go to https://twitter.com/hashtag/lthechat

Why I get involved is the people on it; every week you get an opportunity to discuss ideas, pick up new tools to help in my own teaching; but largely a great networking chance with some really interesting and supportive people.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Social Media in Education

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 19:44:00 +0000

The 2018 Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference (#SocMedHE18) comes to Nottingham Trent University, UK on the 9th January 2019 (yes I did get the date right).

Maren Deepwell, Chief Executive of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is providing the keynote, aligning with the conference themes of Openness, Creativity and Digital Identity in Higher Education.

Sessions will include (but definitely not exclusive to)

running course twitter accounts,
engaging students on social media,
personas,
Serious Lego Play,
collaborative learning,
Active Learning Sets for off-site students
twitter conversations
institutional policy
lurking

Full session list is available at https://socmedhe18.wordpress.com/session-information/

Book your place at https://onlinestore.ntu.ac.uk/product-catalogue/arts-humanities/conferences/social-media-for-learning-in-higher-education-conference-9-january-2019

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Physical Computing on an MSc Computing course

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:54:00 +0000

What do you do with students on an Internet Programming module on an MSc when they can program on the internet already- offer something more.

I have recently been teaching a module on Internet Programming on an MSc Computing programme (see related links) and was looking for a way to introduce a little bit more of physical computing to finish off the module - micro:bits offered a route.

So a bit of context; most of the students on the module had first degrees in either networking or software engineering; so before they start the module they are competent in programming with Javascript, HTML, CSS and PHP. Therefore the module looked to develop new areas such as introductory blockchain, virtual reality via the web (e.g. WebVR), using social media sources (bit controversial at the moment); but lastly looking at physical computing leading to an insight into the Internet of Things (IoT). As part of this last topic gaining some experience of programming and very simple networking was looked at using the micro:bit.

An activity was produced where:

they, in pairs, initially replicate some code and work out how it worked;
they then took the code and experimented with their own ideas.

In some respects it follows elements of the PRIMM method of Dr Sue Sentance of predicting what the code is going to do, before running, investigate, modified and make their own solutions. More on PRIMM can be found at https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/cser/research-projects/primm-project/

In all cases they had to produce something that allowed doing something on one micro:bit, caused another micro:bit to do something in response.

Initially, javascript blocks (as above) were used and some students stuck with the graphical blocks, others moved into the text-based version. As far as the activity went it didn't matter; the main goals were to see the programming of a physical device via a web interface; to break a little mystique that it is as ways much harder to program physical devices and to get a bit of very simple networking going on.

Many of the students, started to investigate getting sounds to play on headphones and getting one micro:bit to trigger the other to play. One group went and started playing with python.

Reflection bit - If I had similar, competent group again I would start this earlier; the level of engagement seemed high and the activities could then start developing towards IoT. Though, I admit to a positive bias for physical computing, it is appropriate in HE teaching; even using tools primarily designed for schools like the micro:bit.

Related Links
MSc Computing
MSc Computing (Computer Network Engineering)
MSc Computing (Software Engineering)

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. Twitter @scottturneruon

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Teaching Blockchain and Distributed Ledger 2: Some Programming

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 10:30:00 +0000

In a previous post, I discussed examples of the work I have done on teaching introductory blockchain. In that post, a kind of 'unplugged' approach was being used; a paper-based game and exercises in starting to think through some issues.

Within this post some of the teaching programming examples used in the class and the logic behind them will be discussed. Health warning: These are simple examples; only meant to get some basic ideas across that the students can then build on.

1. Javascript version
This section looks at a producing a blockchain on a local machine - to build up the ideas gradually. Confession time, my starting point was the fantastic videos shown below from Simply Explained -Savjee - really nice introduction.

So as in the video Visual Studio Code was used to develop the solution; using JavaScript and running Node.js - a little bit of setting up is needed but certainly on a Mac or Linux machine it wasn't too difficult. So the code was built up and the following produced.

//adapted from the videos of Simple Explained -Savjee

//https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnxrdFPXJMeHru_b4Q_vTPQ 

const SHA256 =require('crypto-js/sha256');

class Block{

 constructor (index,timestamp, data, previousHash = ''){

 this.index = index;

 this.timestamp = timestamp;

 this.data = data;

 this.previousHash = previousHash;

 this.hash = this.calcHash();

 this.nonce =0;

}

 calcHash(){

 return SHA256(this.index+this.previousHash+this.timestamp+JSON.stringify(this.data)+this.nonce).toString();

}

 mineBlock(difficulty){

 while(this.hash.substring(0,difficulty) != Array(difficulty+1).join("0")){

 this.nonce++;

 this.hash = this.calcHash();

}

 console.log("Block mined hash: "+ this.hash);

}

}

class Blockchain{

 constructor(){

 this.chain = [this.createGenesisBlock()];

 this.difficulty = 4;

}

 createGenesisBlock(){

 return new Block("0","13/3/2017","Start","0");

}

 getLatestBlock(){

 return this.chain[this.chain.length-1];

}

 addBlock(newBlock){

 newBlock.previousHash=this.getLatestBlock().hash;

 newBlock.mineBlock(this.difficulty);

 this.chain.push(newBlock);

}

 isChainValidOne(){

 for (let loop=1; loop<this.chain.length; loop++){

 const current = this.chain[loop];

 const prevOne = this.chain[loop-1];

 if((current.hash != current.calcHash())||(current.previousHash != prevOne.hash)){

 return false;

}

}

 return true;

}

}

let educoin = new Blockchain();

educoin.addBlock(new Block(1,"10/7/2018", {name : "Ali", qual : "PhD", qual1 : "BSc"}));

educoin.addBlock(new Block(2,"10/7/2018", {name : "Scott", qual : "PhD"}));

educoin.addBlock(new Block(3,"10/4/2018", {name : "Scott", qual1 : "Swimming Certificate"}));

console.log(JSON.stringify(educoin,null,4));

console.log("Is the chain valid ? "+educoin.isChainValidOne().toString());

The idea of going down this route was the students are familiar with JavaScript so it follows on from what they know; promotes the idea that blockchains are not language specific and lastly the elements of the block and blockchain can be seen - without the language getting 'clever' and hiding how it is done.

2. Solidity
The second stage was build up an example to go onto the Ethereum blockchain. So I decide to show Solidity, which is a programming language for doing this. After experimenting with various options I decided to use the free (always good) online integrated environment from Ethereum called Remix (http://remix.ethereum.org/) and stick with the online version. Remix meant that there wasn't any extra installation, it is pretty self-contained and it comes from Ethereum itself.

So the code produced is inspired by the #BlockchainEducationalPassport (https://blockchainedupass.uniteideas.spigit.com/Page/Home) project - but much simpler. The code sets up a record for a student (name and qualification) and adds it to a list/array of students.

pragma solidity ^0.4.0;

contract educoin1 {
struct edRec {
string name;
string qual;
}
address public student;
mapping (address => edRec) public Students;
address[] studentsByAddress;

function add(string _student, string _qual) public {
address thisAddress=msg.sender;
Students[thisAddress].name = _student;
Students[thisAddress].qual=_qual;
studentsByAddress.push(thisAddress);
}
}

The figures below show a 'record' being added (figure 1) and then looking at waht is stored (figure 2)

Figure 1: Entering the record

Figure 2: Seeing the transactions

Following links to material on Solidity, the students were asked to alter the solution in ways that interest them.

3. Where next
The final section was to look at Distributed Ledger alternatives to Blockchain - but not the programming them so the Tangle used in IOTA https://www.iota.org/get-started/what-is-iota was discussed.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Teaching Blockchain and Distributed Ledger approaches 1

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 11:19:00 +0000

Recently started developing materials to teach blockchain to a group of MSc Computing students within a module on internet programming. So what is the problem?

Not really a problem, but:

deciding where to start;
wanting the students to consider what are blockchain and distributed ledger techniques;
thinking like programmers about the techniques rather than the hype - they may in the future be the one who has to persuade someone to either go with a distributed ledger solution or equally not.

1. First teaching approach

My decision was to initially go with a flipped approach of providing a set of materials on blockchain before the session, expecting the students to use them with some guidance and following it with the 'blockchain game' and user case example activity.

2.The Blockchain Game

2.1 Rules You will be placed into groups by the tutor, please do not use the computer for anything else during the task part of the activity, but as a source of the rules of the activity. Each group will need

one sticky note/sheet of paper per group to store the 'blockchain'
paper and pen for each member of the group.

Please note groups are of different sizes on purpose - this is part of the exercise.

Now your group's sticky note divide the note up in the same way as below.

We are now ready to start the game.

Rounds in the game

1. The tutor will provide a new 'block' it will be in this case a single number each round, this is the data. (Note: in an actual blockchain this will be a much more complex bit of data).

2. To slow the system down, increase security - the winner needs to do some work. This is the Proof of Work concept. Each member of the group needs to individually calculate the new Hash value using the following rule:

HASH = Prev + (Data*25)-1255

3. Each group decides on their answer and is trying to be the first to give the correct answer. Only one answer per group at a time. Before starting the game the group will decide on a mechanism for giving the answer - e.g. agree and answer or first to get the correct answer says it.

4. The tutor will decide who wins - the decision is final.

5. The winning team gets the win and every group now writes down the data and the new hash BUT only after the winner has been found. also start a new block with the hash just being calculate written in as the previous hash in the new block.

6. So a blockchain has a new item in the blockchain and every group's blockchain is the same. Now go back to step 1 the games carries on until the tutor ends it.

2.2 Reflection activities

Groups that have only one member during the task join together now to be a new group called the 'one and only'. Groups with two members only will join together to be a single larger group called 'two's companies' and the group(s) with four or more members will join together to form a single group called 'hydra'

Step 1 Individually - no discussion at this time do the following (15 minutes)

1. What I have learnt during this activity?

2. Do you think there is some benefit to larger group sizes for this problem?

3. What do you think the role of the hash and proof-of-work is?

4. What do you think would happen if someone tried to alter the data in the middle of the blockchain after other blocks have been added?

Step 2 Group. (15 minutes)

Using the same questions 1 to 4 come up with, after discussion, a single set of answers for the whole group.

Step 3 Sharing. Each group will present their findings. (10 minutes)

When not presenting the other two groups are expected to listen, take notes where appropriate and after the presenting group has finished be prepared to ask questions.

Step 4 (outside of the class): To consider individually or as a group.

(a) Think about your individual answers, group's answer, new insights you gained from the other groups and from sources external to the class; then possibly revise your answers.

(b) Can you improve the game, for example change it so it might take several iterations to get the right hash (look up how bitcoin does this - no need in the game though for SHA256)

3. User Case Activity
In this activity, the three groups are given three different scenarios; sample examples include a social solution, cryptocurrency or supply chain activity. They were asked to consider a range of issues that a programmer or developer might have to consider for example
- What data would need to be stored within the blockchain for this scenario?
- Who would hold and mine a copy of the blockchain?
- Why would someone hold and mine the blockchain? What is their incentive?
- Why not use a centralised database for the scenario?

4. Summary
These initial activities were purposely designed to not involve coding. Though the choice of programming language is not always independent of the approach, I believe cutting through to the requirements is a central part of the programming the solution, and this is largely independent of the approach.

In the next post in the series, I will look at the coding.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Teaching VR through the Web

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 21:01:00 +0000

This post documents my personal experience with teaching WebVR - Web based Virtual Reality within a module on Internet Programming. In this case, based on the wonderful A-Frame (https://aframe.io) and exploring it with MSc Computing students.

The three insights:

It is great fun (which I did expect) to teach;
It is nowhere near as hard as I thought it was going to be when I first started;
Students seem to enjoy it

1. The approach
I needed a way of doing it that doesn't require a lot of setting up and can be done on a variety of machines. The approach used was using A-Frame (https://aframe.io) inside Thimble (https://thimble.mozilla.org ). Thimble was selected because it is an online editor, simple to use, it is free and you see the preview immediately. One restriction to bear in mind is that the filesizes of images and videos have to be small though.

2. How easy is it?
You can treat it as if was HTML, after you have added the script file shown in bold.

The video below shows setting up and adding a box to the scene.

This next video takes this a little further by adding rotation to an object.

In this video below, mapping an image to an object and changing camera position is looked at.

3. Adding video
Actual in some ways it as easy to add video as adding an image, at it's simplest adding src="" with either the URL or relative filename in the speech marks can be used for both images and video. Alternatively using

combination with again the filename or URL between speech marks adds a block and pastes the video on top. The video below shows a worked example of these two approaches

4. 360 degree video.
A-Frame allows 360 degree to be incorporated into the scene using the

tag. The video below shows a worked example of this. The video below shows another worked example.

5. 3D objects and Assets
We can also add 3D models that others have developed into our scene. In the video below a Penguin, defined externally using .obj for the model and .mtl for the material, is loaded into the scene.

6. Overview
Teaching this was fun, and lends itself to a problem-focused approach. Small projects are set up and worked through but the visual nature I believe encourages experimentation. The students were very quickly able to develop their own small projects and were experimenting with a range of objects.

One interesting feature I found when looking around for supporting materials is there is a very limited range of books on A-Frame and WebVR but some fantastic resources online including the best place to start: https://aframe.io/docs/0.7.0/introduction/

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. Twitter @scottturneruon

What do students think of exam?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 14:13:00 +0000

Ajit, S. (2017) Exam as an assessment instrument in computer programming courses: student perceptions. Poster presented to: 6th International Assessment in Higher Education Conference (AHE 2017), Manchester, United Kingdom, 28-29 June 2017.

Abstract

Assessment can take many forms, and it can be argued that the greater the diversity in the methods of assessment, the fairer, assessment is to students (Race 2007). The most effective form of assessment is one that appropriately examines the learning outcomes of the module. Assessment methods are also known to play an important role in how students learn (Brown 2004). The traditional assessment approach, in which one single written examination counts towards a student's total score, no longer meets new demands of programming language education (Wang, Li et al. 2012). Students tend to gain higher marks from coursework assignments than they do from examinations (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004). Students consider coursework to be fairer than exams, to measure a greater range of abilities than exams and to allow students to organize their own work patterns to a greater extent (Kniveton, 1996, cited in Gibbs and Simpson, 2004). Do students really hate exams? Are exams ineffective as an assessment approach in computer programming courses? A university wide research survey regarding assessment approaches in computer programming was conducted among students of undergraduate computing courses (including all three levels). 167 students participated in the survey. The author discusses some interesting results obtained from the survey. More than 50% of the students surveyed indicated that they would like examination to be a part of the assessment approach. The author explores possible reasons for this choice by students and compares these results with that of research conducted in other subject areas.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Science and Technology Free Open Educational Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:59:00 +0000

In previous posts the availability on the JISC Jorum repository of six Open Education Resources (OERs) from the former School of Science and Technology (now part of the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology) at the University of Northampton was discussed. After 13 years the Jorum repository was discontinued.

Three of the OERs though were migrated across to the JISC Apps and resource store and available for reuse.

1. C Programming

Now available at https://store.jisc.ac.uk/#/resource/8395.

2. Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms

Now available at https://store.jisc.ac.uk/#/resource/8405

3. Properties of Ultrasonic Waves

Now available at https://store.jisc.ac.uk/#/resource/8232

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 the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Teaching Neural Networks using Excel and Scratch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 12:45:00 +0000

Originally from https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/experiments-in-teaching-neural-networks.html

Excel Based

Scratch-based
More details available at https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/miniproject-using-scratch-to-build-and.html including links to the code.

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 the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Teaching Genetic Algorithms with Excel

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 12:35:00 +0000

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: @scottturneruonAll views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Green Apple Award for helping teach children to code

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 12:34:00 +0000

Taken from: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/university-of-northampton-receives-a-green-apple-award-for-helping-teach-children-to-code/

The University of Northampton has been praised for a competition it helped set up with the aim of improving the teaching of computer coding and school pupils’ technology skills.

The Race to the Top contest, which challenged children across the county to design a digital game or mobile app based around saving energy, was awarded a Gold Green Apple Award by the Green Organisation. These are awarded for projects which are considered to be demonstrative of environmental best practice within the public sector.

The winning teams were from Park Junior School in Wellingborough and Kettering Buccleuch Academy who came up with a game which challenges players to fix degrading solar panels on the school roof and an app which tracks household energy consumption.

The competition was organised by the University of Northampton, in partnership with Northamptonshire County Council, Code Club and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT).

The initiative was part of Northamptonshire’s school improvement strategy and the award was presented at a recent ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Dr Scott Turner, Associate Professor in Computing said: “The feedback we received from the children has shown that the Race to the Top contest has enthused them and having the opportunity to come to the University campus for the celebration event was a real confidence boost and they really enjoyed it.”

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 the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Unplugged Artist's Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 21:41:00 +0000

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. An example activity is shown below (named after my son who was the first to play it).

Thomas’ Tangles

Exploring abstract patterns using randomness within an algorithm.

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.

Person B: Is the ‘robot' carrying out the instructions.

When the starting or central square is blocked and 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

Check for blocks

If not blocked then

move die roll number of steps up the page

If die roll = 2

Roll die for number of moves

Check for blocks

If not blocked then

move die roll number of steps down the page

If die roll = 3

Roll die for number of moves

Check for blocks

If not blocked then

move die roll number of steps to the left

If die roll = 4

Roll die for number of moves

Check for blocks

If not blocked then

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 Red

If die = 5 change colour to Orange

If die = 6 change colour to Yellow

If die roll = 6

Return to current centre square

Check for blocks:

If pathway blocked do not move then

reroll die

If number of spaces in the direction > die roll then

move until blocked

If all pathways blocked then

choose a new centre square

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 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. Twitter @scottturneruonAll views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Enhancing Computing Student Employability Skills Through Partnership Working in STEM Outreach

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 10:37:00 +0000

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

Scott Turner
DOI: 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., and Quinn, J. (2010). Student volunteering in English higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113–127.CrossRef

Brewis, G., Russell, J., and 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.

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Nuffield Research Placement at University of Northampton

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 17:41:00 +0000

Matthew takes control of robot research project https://t.co/KwObVMkpRk @NuffieldFound #microbit #junkbot pic.twitter.com/2e32xyucTF
— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) September 1, 2016

Alex aims to make life better for Northampton’s cyclists The University of Northampton https://t.co/oiIS7z0hxk @UniNorthants @UniNhantsNews
— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) August 31, 2016

6th form student works with University on app for pet owners https://t.co/sQSFwMWRHc @NuffieldFound @MoultonResearch pic.twitter.com/BY0FsaKoRS
— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) September 9, 2016

Amazing - well done Calum! https://t.co/gZxj8ouLI8
— Nuffield Foundation (@NuffieldFound) September 12, 2016

Sixth form student from Northants works with University on app for pet owners https://t.co/WoIVC1T1ND pic.twitter.com/jDe5MFybjV
— Lawrence John (@LawrenceJohnHP) September 10, 2016

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

9000+ Downloads of OERs

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 20:41:00 +0000

A selection of the open educational resources that have been released from the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton. Based on 1/9/2016 figures.

views downloads

C Programming
1247

5887

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms
884

337

Problem-Solving
691

930

Pollution And Pollutants
752

1523

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves
885

844

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives
443

1

Total
4902

9552

Pollution And Pollutants

Authors: Paul Cox and Nigel Freestone

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18529

Details

Pollution is the undesirable introduction of pollutants (contaminants) into the natural environment (land, air and water) and can have an adverse affect on human health. This resource provides an introduction to pollution and pollutants. The classification and distribution of pollutants is also considered. A number of self-assessment questions are provided to allow you to check your new knowledge. The material comes in Word format and its HTML equivalent. The pollutants.htm file includes two images (poll.gif and ld50.gif) and an answers page (SAQ_Answers.htm) related to it that need to be put in the same folder as the pollutants.htm file.

Keywords: UKOER, Environmental Science, Waste Management, Pollution, Pollutants, Environment, Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Pollution Pathways, Toxicity

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

The resource found on Jorum at: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18529

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves

Author: Phil Picton

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18755

Details

This material gives the description of the physical processes involved in the propagation of ultrasonic pressure waves as they pass through a material. It includes a mathematical derivation of the amplitude of the transmitted and reflected pressure waves, and an explanation is given for the differences between the near and far zones. This material has been used in the Advanced Inspection Methods and Techniques module as part of the BSc programme in Non-Destructive Testing at the University of Northampton.

Published: School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton

Keywords: UKOER, Ultrasonic waves, Inspection and testing, Non-destructive testing

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19204

Author: Dr Scott Turner

These slides are intended for undergraduate computing students, providing an overview of Genetic Algorithms, a concept of in artificial intelligence. As well providing an overview the material also include links to applications via web resources. The slides are taken from an undergraduate artificial intelligence module on the BSc Computing Programme at the University of Northampton. Possible uses of these including support material for second year, third year or masters level course on artificial intelligence.

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19204

C Programming

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19192

Author: Dr Scott Turner
In this material you will be introduced to some of the principles of programming, and specifically learn to write fairly simple programs using a programming language called C. An idea central to this material is that programming is about problem solving; you write a program to solve a particular problem. It is hoped that at the end of the material you should see that there is nothing magical or mysterious about programming. One of the features some people like about programming is you are making the computer do what you want. During the programming exercises, do not worry about making mistakes. In this material you will be expected to try out programs and eventually write your own. The target audience is anyone who wants to learn a programming language or is looking for some assessment questions around programming. The material was originally aimed at second year engineering students at the University of Northampton.

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19192

Problem-Solving

Author: Dr Scott Turner

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19001

These mini lectures are intended for undergraduate computing students, for providing simple steps in problem solving before the students learn a programming language. Problem-Solving and Programming is a common first year undergraduate module on the BSc Computing Programme at the University of Northampton. This material was taken from the problem solving part of the module and provides an introduction to five topics in problem-solving.

The resource can be found at: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19001

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19120

Author: Professor Margaret Bates
Created: 7 July 2014, by School of Science & Technology and Northampton Business School, The University of Northampton

This video outlines the drivers for resource efficiency for business including raw materials scarcity and economic imperatives. The savings that can be made by more efficient use of raw materials, energy and waste are highlighted. Case study examples are given to show how different sectors have achieved resource efficiency and moved towards a circular model of resource use.

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

Robot Arms in Schools Project

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 09:08:00 +0000

Santander UK recently provided the funding for an outreach project within the Department of Computing, University of Northampton - loaning robot arm kits, which are pretty much self-contained, out to schools to see what they can come up with and share with the wider community.

The project is provide a robot arm kit to support computing and STEAM activities for a year and the schools taking part write a blog post (or more than one) http://robotschools.blogspot.co.uk/, sharing what they have done. Ten kits have been made available.

The chosen kit is the CBiS Education robot arm hub - select as it comes with the robot arm, cables, raspberry pi computer, etc as well as screen, keyboard and mouse (see the picture above). So it has everything needed to get going within a few minutes.

In the first five days of the robot arms kits going into the schools, over half the ten robot arm kits are now in schools - four Primary schools and two Secondary Schools.

Here are some of the tweets about what has happened already.

Also get free #Cardboard2Code Part1 https://t.co/f0LF1LMzls Part2 https://t.co/ywGtp3VVU3 @Tiffybum @scottturneruon pic.twitter.com/LZ5HV1UC9E
— CBiS Education (@cbiseducation) June 9, 2016

@scottturneruon @cbiseducation Arm up & running, and we are already tinkering! This will be a fun year! pic.twitter.com/slWDPZ92B2
— Stacey (@Tiffybum) June 9, 2016

Getting ready to talk about the Robot Arm project at #tmplaydate @santanderuk @UniNorthants pic.twitter.com/tpYbRM4WTP
— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 8, 2016

Scott Turner is looking for volunteers to test his robot arms in schools #TMplaydate pic.twitter.com/2denb4oWSC
— Helen Caldwell (@HelenCaldwel) June 8, 2016

. @santanderuk sponsored @UniNorthants supported Robot Arm kits were used at @codeclub @DustonStLukes pic.twitter.com/jGNpLcK78P
— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 7, 2016

@scottturneruon @santanderuk Very excited to play with the robot arm. Thank you.
— KayS (@kay_simons) June 7, 2016

First of the robot arm kits is @roadeprimarysch - fun setting it during @codeclub today @UniNorthants @santanderuk pic.twitter.com/QK45Xlcs9x

— Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 6, 2016

The project team are grateful to Santander UK for the funding; CBiS Education for their support and advice so far; last but not least the schools who have enthusiastically expressed an interest in taking part or who are taking part now. A blog for the project is now available at http://robotschools.blogspot.co.uk/.

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 the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

OERs: over 4000 views

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Turner) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 20:47:00 +0000

A selection of the open educational resources that have been released from the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton. Based on 14/6/2016 figures.

views downloads

C Programming
1106

5477

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms
737

320

Problem-Solving
583

859

Pollution And Pollutants
609

1301

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves
680

709

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives
301

1

4016

8667

Total

Pollution And Pollutants

Authors: Paul Cox and Nigel Freestone

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18529

Details

Keywords: UKOER, Environmental Science, Waste Management, Pollution, Pollutants, Environment, Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Pollution Pathways, Toxicity

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

The resource found on Jorum at: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18529

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves

Author: Phil Picton

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18755

Details

Published: School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton

Keywords: UKOER, Ultrasonic waves, Inspection and testing, Non-destructive testing

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19204

Author: Dr Scott Turner

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19204

C Programming

Click here for the resource: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19192

Problem-Solving

Author: Dr Scott Turner

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19001

The resource can be found at: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19001

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives

http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/19120

Author: Professor Margaret Bates
Created: 7 July 2014, by School of Science & Technology and Northampton Business School, The University of Northampton

This video outlines the drivers for resource efficiency for business including raw materials scarcity and economic imperatives. The savings that can be made by more efficient use of raw materials, energy and waste are highlighted. Case study examples are given to show how different sectors have achieved resource efficiency and moved towards a circular model of resource use.

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.
All views are the authors, and may not reflect the views of any organisation the author is connected with in any way.

	views	downloads
C Programming	1247	5887
Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms	884	337
Problem-Solving	691	930
Pollution And Pollutants	752	1523
Properties of Ultrasonic Waves	885	844
Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives	443	1

Total	4902	9552

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Abstract

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9000+ Downloads of OERs

A selection of the open educational resources that have been released from the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton. Based on 1/9/2016 figures.

viewsdownloads C Programming 1247 5887 Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms 884 337 Problem-Solving 691 930 Pollution And Pollutants 752 1523 Properties of Ultrasonic Waves 885 844 Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives 443 1 Total 4902 9552

Pollution And Pollutants

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves

C Programming

Problem-Solving

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives

Robot Arms in Schools Project

OERs: over 4000 views

A selection of the open educational resources that have been released from the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton. Based on 14/6/2016 figures.

viewsdownloads C Programming 1106 5477 Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms 737 320 Problem-Solving 583 859 Pollution And Pollutants 609 1301 Properties of Ultrasonic Waves 680 709 Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives 301 1 4016 8667 Total

Pollution And Pollutants

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves

C Programming

Problem-Solving

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives

views downloads

C Programming
1247

5887

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms
884

337

Problem-Solving
691

930

Pollution And Pollutants
752

1523

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves
885

844

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives
443

1

Total
4902

9552

views downloads

C Programming
1106

5477

Summary of Evolutionary Algorithms
737

320

Problem-Solving
583

859

Pollution And Pollutants
609

1301

Properties of Ultrasonic Waves
680

709

Sustainability: Environmental Business Imperatives
301

1

4016

8667

Total