Computer+Programming

From the beginning...
>
 * Common Craft - Computer Software in Plain English
 * For SF & East Bay folks -
 * "CSTA works at many levels to support computing education.  __**Middle school**__ (problem solving & algorithmic thinking) & __**High schoo**__l (computing & computer science) & more..."
 * Middle School Relevance - Computer programming is a great way to engage students in mathematical thinking in a real way because it is concrete. Mathematics is an abstract form of thinking, computer science makes that math ‘runnable.”
 * Article: How are kids learning programming in a post-BASIC world? (includes free starter languages)
 * What are the core principles? Here is my brainstormed, non-expert list.
 * abstraction *
 * algorithm design *
 * sequencing
 * alternation / conditional
 * recursion
 * concurrency
 * parallelism
 * simulations
 * limits of computation

LESSON EXAMPLES using html (not programming)

 * mid-year html lesson
 * making a Google Placemark
 * Use w3schools or Learn html for Kids

RESOURCES - Programming
Articles:
 * (1-29-13 TED) 10 Places Anyone Can Learn to Code
 * Edsurge Guide: Teaching Kids to Code
 * (9-26-13 Wired opinion) Forget foreign Language. Teach our Kids to Code.

Off-line activities
 * CS Unplugged (Download the free book - over 100 pages of activities!)
 * Cisco Binary Game
 * Kidputer exercise
 * Robot Turtles: The Board Game for Little Programmers (Kickstarter)

Online activities
 * BACKGROUND: Google's Exploring Computational Thinking (adapted into Computational Thinking Illustrated)
 * Light-Bot
 * BACKGROUND: UC Berkeley's The Beauty and Joy of Computing << really great.

LEARNING TO PROGRAM
 * MIT's Scratch
 * Colleen Lewis Scratch curriculum (free hosting available at iteach.org) ** she is happy to help, send her an email
 * ScratchED (awesome)
 * learnscratch.org (also in Spanish)
 * Another collection of Scratch resources
 * BYOB - Build Your Own Blocks - now named SNAP (and browser-based)
 * CodeAcademy
 * Code.org
 * Hackety Hack
 * Turtle Academy
 * Alice - 3D
 * Processing.org
 * Available in a browser. Students make an account. Files stored in the cloud. Open Processing.
 * resources available here
 * . (Click on the "COMP PROG 1" link on the left. Scroll down and you'll see a whole list of assignments starting with "Olympic Rings." Most assignments have links to samples of student work at the bottom of the page. On the right side of the page under links you'll find the powerpoint presentations he uses in class.) Art says to send him an email if you have any Processing questions....A tool to share sketches.
 * . (Click on the "COMP PROG 1" link on the left. Scroll down and you'll see a whole list of assignments starting with "Olympic Rings." Most assignments have links to samples of student work at the bottom of the page. On the right side of the page under links you'll find the powerpoint presentations he uses in class.) Art says to send him an email if you have any Processing questions....A tool to share sketches.

=Cool Kits & Tools=
 * Makey Makey
 * LittleBits
 * Sifteo
 * Lego WeDo (integrates with Scratch)
 * Hummingbird Robotics (integrates with Scratch) video

Add'l challenges? (in progress)
 * @http://codingbat.com/
 * Python (Google Python class or visit John Zelle's webpage Teaching with Python
 * Books I've had recommended to me
 * Invent Your Own Computer Games
 * [|Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 3rd Edition] by Michael Dawson
 * John Zelle's books
 * Ruby (Ruby 4 Kids) ??

Things to investigate:
 * GameSalad?
 * Code Hero
 * Kodu Game Lab (Windows only)

Attendees recommend:
 * Gamemaker
 * Net Logo
 * Phrogram

=Cool Projects=
 * GamesCrafters research and development group was formed at UCBerkeley engage top undergraduates as they explore the fertile area of computational game theory. At the core of the project is GAMESMAN, an open-source AI architecture developed for solving, playing, and analyzing two-person abstract strategy games (e.g., Tic-Tac-Toe or Chess).