Creative Computing Course 2018

Creative Computing is a course developed by an international network of educators passionate about exposing kids to the computer sciences. Broken up into 7 units, this course uses the popular Scratch programming environment to aid young people (aged 8 to 13) in learning the basics of software development. Scratch is used over the world by students to easily create interactive artwork, interactive stories, and video games while acting as a stepping stone to the more advanced world of computer science.

Course Objectives

First and foremost, we aim to provide opportunities for young learners to become exposed to the computer sciences. Our goal is to provide a learning environment that goes beyond what students are taught in public schools about the computer sciences. We will explore software as an interdisciplinary creative act.

Who Are We?

Mike Caplan is a web application developer with over 20 years experience working in non-profit, university, retail, agricultural, and health industries. Mike also runs Refresh Annapolis Valley, a new media professional association to help grow the Valley’s digital technology industry.

Mrugakshee Palwe is a newly minted Computer Scientist, graduating from the Jodrey School of Computer Science at Acadia University Spring 2018. A leader in the computer scientist community at Acadia, she was Co-President of the Acadia Computer Science Society as well as an active member in Women In Science and Engineering Acadia. Mrugakshee has run several programs working with girls and boys on diverse topics within the computer sciences.

Teen mentors:

• Anna is one of our teen mentors. She is an experienced Scratcher, star student, and avid Girl Guider. Besides coding, Anna loves Harry Potter, Star Wars and musical theatre.

• Nia is a veteran of the Creative Computing course as well as a mentor of our Creative Computing camp in 2017. Technically proficient in the world of Scratch, she brings amazing design skills to Scratch project work.

• Solomon has been teaching Scratch to kids his age, younger, and older for several years. As an avid Scratcher, Solomon not only loves to share his enthusiasm for Scratch with everyone, he has won awards for his original Scratch works.

We believe that offering an extracurricular course on Scratch for kids 8 to 13 will help this generation develop a fundamental literacy around the computer sciences.

Format

Creative Computing will run weekly. Each class will run for 2 hours and 15 minutes for a total of 12 classes and 2 weekend workshops.

• Thursdays 6 PM to 8:15 PM starting April 5th, 2018. The final class will take place on June 21th.

The class will follow a six unit curriculum. Units are broken down into several exercises that range from 15 to 60 minutes a piece. The class mentors will share teaching and mentoring responsibilities. We will aim to have a 5 students to 1 mentor ratio.

A weekend #ScratchFest will cap off the course June 23 and 24. During #ScartchFest, participants will brainstorm an idea, develop a project, and showcase a final prototype using an iterative plan-make-reflect cycle. It will provide an excellent opportunity for participants to invent their own relevant projects to work on, which can be developed as independent projects or in collaborative teams, and demonstrate their knowledge in Scratch within a collaborative, creative, flexible, and playful environment.

Class Size

The course class size will be capped at 20 learners. The age range of the students sought will be between 8 and 13, but not limited to. Where historically such classes tend to be predominantly male, we will limit student spots for boys to 50% in order to promote diverse gender participation.

Class Location

The class will be hosted by the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre Rural Innovation Centre at Acadia University. The Rural Innovation Centre supports entrepreneurs and businesses in the Annapolis Valley and provides an incubator program for start up companies. This location gives us both an opportunity to introduce young learners to the Acadia campus, and alows us to draw from works of entrepreneurship taking place at this specific campus location.

Requirements

The suggested cost for the course is $140 ($10 per class & #Scratchfest) per student. We realize that this fee will not scale to meet everyone’s budget. This is a pay what you can course. All revenues go towards youth honorariums as well as any operating costs. If you can afford more, please consider a larger contribution to the classroom to offset costs for those with less financial ability.

Students will also need to bring a laptop to each class. The laptop needs to be able to run a modern web browser such as Google Chrome. A mouse is also highly recommended. Laptops are available for kids who do not have access to their own.

Parents will be asked to provide class snacks on a rotating as needed basis.

Registration

Or open the registration form directly.

Special Thanks

Big tip of the hat to the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre for hosting our class. Also to Campaign for Kids for helping us to break down financial barriers and make this class available to all kids.

Hosted by Creative Computing. A series of workshops for kids 8 to 13 interested in computer science.