In the past 18 months I've resumed my intensive study of educational computing issues, sometimes with a focus on bringing computing to the indigenous and disadvantaged. This is a list of articles on this blog that I've written:
2019
November
The three game changers and disadvantaged youth
October
Integrating the digital technology curriculum with indigenous knowledge systems
September
Digital innovation in secondary education
Indigi digi 2020
August
Proposal for an Australian Indigenous Version of Culturally Situated Design Tools
July
My evolving mangle -> ethnocomputing
Skills and dispositions utilised in simulating a NAIDOC poster using Turtle Art
second iteration of a NAIDOC week poster using Turtle Art
First iteration of a NAIDOC week poster using Turtle Art
How to evaluate construction kits: ten design principles
would you like to see a toilet roll dance?
bee waggle project with the Hummingbird Bit
June
Turtle art: beautiful maths
Making sense of the micro:bit
May
Arrernte Language app
April
My educational computing CV update
New microbit affordances
March
Bushwalking near Alice Springs
January
The teaching of coding
Write your own apps
2018
December
Indigenous icons activity
Help Desk
#thismymob
an old quote from Hal Abelson
November
Inspirational example of making a difference
October
Tangible digital education theory
August
Mobile digital educational
Mobile digital educational course update
Bret Victor
April
Digital Immersion Mongrel Vygotsky
Technology as Trickster revisited
Technology and Indigenous Progress
RACHEL is the answer
Why software might be superior knowledge
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
turtle art: beautiful maths
There is a gallery here showing what can be done:
I've been studying the code behind some of the pictures and think I now have a good understanding of how many of the effects can be achieved.
Initially, my idea was that some aboriginal art could be imitated using Turtle Art, eg. dot paintings. Possibly this could be done. But I'm thinking more now that Turtle Art is just an art form in it's own right, with its own characteristics (some things are easy to do, some things harder to do in this form). It's also possible that some or many aboriginal people may not want their art imitated in digital form. I don't really know.
Reference:
Turtle, Art, Turtle Art by Paula Bonta, Artemis Papert and Brian Silverman (2010)
Turtle Art Software by Gary Stager
This article contains a link to Gary's Turtle Art cards which I found extremely useful. Thanks, Gary!
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Friday, June 21, 2019
making sense of the micro:bit
For me, the immediate attraction of the micro:bit was it’s low cost combined with it’s block coding and wicked on line simulator at https://makecode.microbit.org/#editor
This has led to a personal learning curve about it’s capabilities and it’s connections.
By its capabilites I mean what this technology offers for educators and what it leaves out and so requires further, thoughtful expenditure.
By its connections I mean what forces are pushing and promoting the micro:bit (very relevant to its current and future success) and how does it integrate into the broader movement of what we tend to think of, either with one eyed hyped enthusiasm, “STEM conquers the world”, or ironically, “unstoppable technological progress”.
How and where does the micro:bit fit into the bewildering array of new technologies and companies ushered in by the maker movement? To list just some of the technologies: Makey Makey, Arduino, Little Bits, Ozobot, Micro:bit, Chibi Chip, Circuit Playground Express, Lilypad, Bee-Bot, Dash and Dot, Sphero, Edison, Drones – add or choose your favourite.
With such a wide choice what is needed is some meaningful evaluation. CSER Digital Technologies has made a beginning to this task, although more needs to be done.
I’ll adopt the Martinez / Stager overview that two out of three “game changers” are wrapped up in the micro:bit, namely coding and physical computing.
By physical computing I mean tangible devices which take computing beyond the confines of the screen.
With blocks, coding has become easier and accessible to the 99%. This began with Scratch and now everyone has jumped on board. Makecode has been developed by MicroSoft.
Arduino has been around for a while but a huge issue which always put me off was that it required coding in C. This presents a big barrier to inclusion for all.
Micro:bit coding with MakeCode is far simpler with blocks (and JavaScript and MicroPython are also available). The micro:bit is also a new species of microcontroller in that it has buttons, sensors and display built right into the board.
The micro:bit does require a bigger computer to code it. But once coded and untethered we step outside of the computer lab into the world of mobile and wearable computers.
By way of illustration, some of the interesting things you can do with the micro:bit include:
Initially, the microbit requires tethering through the USB cable, you write your Makecode, test it on the simulator, flash it over to the micro:bit and then untether, connect your battery and take it outside, if you want.
With the further development, however, of Microblocks, you can have live coding before the untethering. MicroBlocks runs right inside the microcontroller board so as you write your code you see the effects immediately on the microbit.
The microbit is inexpensive hardware so inevitably it does have some limitations. Since kids love sounds one important limitation is no onboard speaker. But it does have 25 edge connector pins and four ring connectors which enables speakers, motors, light and more sensors to be connected.
Of course, this leads to more expense and decisions have to be made about the best way to go. I bought both the Kitronik Inventor’s Kit and the Monk Makes Electronics Starter Kit for microbit. They were both good but I’d put in a special mention for the Monk Makes speaker.
For more ambitious projects with a STEAM philosophy (A for Art) Martinez and Stager recommend the Hummingbird Bit developed by Tom Lauwers of Birdbrain technologies. This is more expensive, especially with our current exchange rate, and I’ve yet to trial it fully but it’s looking good to me so far.
I think there has to be a pragmatic yet deep educational programme underwriting the technology. For me, this is provided by the Creative Computing Curriculum Guide developed by the Creative Computing Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
So rich has this new era become that it threatens us with metaphorical overload. The original metaphor from Seymour Papert was low floor, high ceiling (easy start, no limits). Then Mitch Resnik included wide walls (diversity in projects). Then with the remix features on the Scratch site, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke added on open windows (for collaboration). Then with the micro:bit microcontroller we can move outside the house, wear it and play.
Reference:
Creative Computing Curriculum Guide
CSER Digital Technologies Lending Library and Lesson Plans
Maloney, John. Microblocks:Live Programming For Microcontrollers
Martinez, Sylvia and Stager, Gary. Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom (2nd Edition, 2019)
Gary Stager's Cards for Scratch and the microbit
Hummingbird Bit
Kafai, Yasmin and Burke, Quinn. Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming (2016)
Kitronik Inventor's Kit for BBC micro:bit
Makecode micro:bit editor
Microbit
Microblocks
Monk Makes Electronic Starter Kit for micro:bit
Scratch3.0
This has led to a personal learning curve about it’s capabilities and it’s connections.
By its capabilites I mean what this technology offers for educators and what it leaves out and so requires further, thoughtful expenditure.
By its connections I mean what forces are pushing and promoting the micro:bit (very relevant to its current and future success) and how does it integrate into the broader movement of what we tend to think of, either with one eyed hyped enthusiasm, “STEM conquers the world”, or ironically, “unstoppable technological progress”.
How and where does the micro:bit fit into the bewildering array of new technologies and companies ushered in by the maker movement? To list just some of the technologies: Makey Makey, Arduino, Little Bits, Ozobot, Micro:bit, Chibi Chip, Circuit Playground Express, Lilypad, Bee-Bot, Dash and Dot, Sphero, Edison, Drones – add or choose your favourite.
With such a wide choice what is needed is some meaningful evaluation. CSER Digital Technologies has made a beginning to this task, although more needs to be done.
I’ll adopt the Martinez / Stager overview that two out of three “game changers” are wrapped up in the micro:bit, namely coding and physical computing.
By physical computing I mean tangible devices which take computing beyond the confines of the screen.
With blocks, coding has become easier and accessible to the 99%. This began with Scratch and now everyone has jumped on board. Makecode has been developed by MicroSoft.
Arduino has been around for a while but a huge issue which always put me off was that it required coding in C. This presents a big barrier to inclusion for all.
Micro:bit coding with MakeCode is far simpler with blocks (and JavaScript and MicroPython are also available). The micro:bit is also a new species of microcontroller in that it has buttons, sensors and display built right into the board.
The micro:bit does require a bigger computer to code it. But once coded and untethered we step outside of the computer lab into the world of mobile and wearable computers.
By way of illustration, some of the interesting things you can do with the micro:bit include:
- make a game of rock, paper, scissors and strap it to your wrist to play
- use the on board accelerometer to make a simplified version of Pacman (Hero), the character moves by tilting the microbit
- use the radio to send messages between microbits
Initially, the microbit requires tethering through the USB cable, you write your Makecode, test it on the simulator, flash it over to the micro:bit and then untether, connect your battery and take it outside, if you want.
With the further development, however, of Microblocks, you can have live coding before the untethering. MicroBlocks runs right inside the microcontroller board so as you write your code you see the effects immediately on the microbit.
The microbit is inexpensive hardware so inevitably it does have some limitations. Since kids love sounds one important limitation is no onboard speaker. But it does have 25 edge connector pins and four ring connectors which enables speakers, motors, light and more sensors to be connected.
Of course, this leads to more expense and decisions have to be made about the best way to go. I bought both the Kitronik Inventor’s Kit and the Monk Makes Electronics Starter Kit for microbit. They were both good but I’d put in a special mention for the Monk Makes speaker.
For more ambitious projects with a STEAM philosophy (A for Art) Martinez and Stager recommend the Hummingbird Bit developed by Tom Lauwers of Birdbrain technologies. This is more expensive, especially with our current exchange rate, and I’ve yet to trial it fully but it’s looking good to me so far.
I think there has to be a pragmatic yet deep educational programme underwriting the technology. For me, this is provided by the Creative Computing Curriculum Guide developed by the Creative Computing Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
So rich has this new era become that it threatens us with metaphorical overload. The original metaphor from Seymour Papert was low floor, high ceiling (easy start, no limits). Then Mitch Resnik included wide walls (diversity in projects). Then with the remix features on the Scratch site, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke added on open windows (for collaboration). Then with the micro:bit microcontroller we can move outside the house, wear it and play.
Reference:
Creative Computing Curriculum Guide
CSER Digital Technologies Lending Library and Lesson Plans
Maloney, John. Microblocks:Live Programming For Microcontrollers
Martinez, Sylvia and Stager, Gary. Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the Classroom (2nd Edition, 2019)
Gary Stager's Cards for Scratch and the microbit
Hummingbird Bit
Kafai, Yasmin and Burke, Quinn. Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming (2016)
Kitronik Inventor's Kit for BBC micro:bit
Makecode micro:bit editor
Microbit
Microblocks
Monk Makes Electronic Starter Kit for micro:bit
Scratch3.0
Saturday, June 15, 2019
extreme weather and inconvenient truths
Inconvenient truth 1: There is no convincing evidence of a link between extreme weather and climate change.
Inconvenient truth 2: Well researched scientists (eg. Roger Pielke jnr, Judith Curry) who argue for Inconvenient truth 1 will be falsely, maliciously and relentlessly accused of being climate change deniers, in the pay of energy companies etc.
My Evidence:
Twitter thread roll out by Roger Pielke jnr
(an incredible must read!)
Ross McKitrick: This scientist proved climate change isn’t causing extreme weather — so politicians attacked
Extremes by Judith Curry
Related (in this blog):
The Climate Fix by Roger Pielke jnr
a new inconvenient truth
environmental talking points and references
Inconvenient truth 2: Well researched scientists (eg. Roger Pielke jnr, Judith Curry) who argue for Inconvenient truth 1 will be falsely, maliciously and relentlessly accused of being climate change deniers, in the pay of energy companies etc.
My Evidence:
Twitter thread roll out by Roger Pielke jnr
(an incredible must read!)
Ross McKitrick: This scientist proved climate change isn’t causing extreme weather — so politicians attacked
Extremes by Judith Curry
Related (in this blog):
The Climate Fix by Roger Pielke jnr
a new inconvenient truth
environmental talking points and references
Saturday, June 08, 2019
Hey Pedrea!
Best to watch on the YouTube link
When you are rich and famous don't forget your old friends ;-)
More: Cheeky comedy 'Robbie Hood' premieres Friday 5 July on SBS On Demand
Director Dylan River said:
“Robbie Hood is my gift to the youth of Alice Springs and the rest of the world. It's inspired by my own life and the first-hand experiences of my friends and family. The show is a combination of the highs and lows of our upbringing in a small desert town that we have a love hate relationship with. I am thrilled to see these stories come to life and find their home on SBS.”
Sunday, June 02, 2019
the cross
I never knew what it meant until I read Kieran Finnane's book Trouble: On Trial in Central Australia
I won't attempt to explain it here. It's not possible to do the issues justice in a few words.
But for anyone who wants to understand our frontier, where whites and blacks still mingle but more often than not without communicating, I'd strongly recommend this book.