pulling my south bay dojo thoughts from email into this thread. Let me know if this belongs in a different thread.
So here is what I've been thinking about for the SouthBay sessions for this year.
Ideally there would be two groups of coders.
1st group is for younger coders no coding experience at all. This group would be introduced to scratch, basically like what we did in 2013. For more experienced scratchers, not ready to jump into text based programming like Java, would be introduced to "Snap" (previously known as BYOB -http://snap.berkeley.edu/)
(snap provides lots of more advanced programming concepts without the need for any typing (e.g., first class lists, first class procedures and continuations) But, in the familiar scratch like environment. ) (I also like that it's implemented in Javascript and not Flash!)
2nd group (More advanced) would be for regularly attending coders that want to learn to program in Java by adding to the popular game of Minecraft. This would basically be based on the book "Learn to Program with Minecraft Plugins" by Andy Hunt. The 2nd group must be comfortable with basic typing and understand basic programming in languages like Java. If they are having difficulty keeping up with these concepts then they would move back into group one.
This second group would consist of multiple sessions. Beginner programmers welcome as long as they meet requirements mentioned above.
(1) Connecting to local server and learning about finite state machines
(2) Review an existing plugin using sublime text editor and install into Minecraft server
(3) Learn about variables and objects
(4) Construct a plugin
(5) Modify blocks and spawn new entities
(6) Have fun building Minecraft customizations (flaming cows! and flying creepers!!)
(Basically outline of the book :-) Book could also be used as the text book for all of these sessions allowing kids that miss a session to catch up at home and/or allow kids to learn on there own and come to the sessions with questions, etc. These topics would, at a minimum, run through half the year if only done monthly. I'm thinking some of the topics will need to get split up into multiple sessions like sessions 3,4, and 5 )
What is needed.
Need full version of Minecraft ($26)
Initially, no programming experience required but must keep up and attend all sessions or catch up when missing a session. Basic typing required.
Need to understand the controls of Minecraft (e.g., navigation). (Most kids that own full version should understand the basic controls)
Must have Minecraft 1.5 or higher (1.7 is recommended)
For the first session I was thinking of setting up a local server and then have the kids connect into the server and play around with some existing state machines. Then give each kid a grid area for them to create there own state machine. Then do a show and tell inside the world. At a minimum teaching them what a finite state machine is and how it works.
or maybe they can go home and create there own state machine and bring it in to show and tell for the next session. This way they are working on it during the other days in the month (e.g., homework). Although, I would either need to setup a server that they can connect in from home or they would need to share from there machine which becomes more time consuming....
These are my basic ideas. I am trying to sort out exactly how to run the two groups. The only thing that seems to make sense to me now is two separate sessions. Group 1 beginning of the month and Group 2 toward end of month. Unless I can get more space and have volunteer to run the first group then I would do both at the same time.
Plans for South Bay Dojos
pulling my south bay dojo thoughts from email into this thread. Let me know if this belongs in a different thread.
So here is what I've been thinking about for the SouthBay sessions for this year.
Ideally there would be two groups of coders.
1st group is for younger coders no coding experience at all. This group would be introduced to scratch, basically like what we did in 2013. For more experienced scratchers, not ready to jump into text based programming like Java, would be introduced to "Snap" (previously known as BYOB -http://snap.berkeley.edu/) (snap provides lots of more advanced programming concepts without the need for any typing (e.g., first class lists, first class procedures and continuations) But, in the familiar scratch like environment. ) (I also like that it's implemented in Javascript and not Flash!)
2nd group (More advanced) would be for regularly attending coders that want to learn to program in Java by adding to the popular game of Minecraft. This would basically be based on the book "Learn to Program with Minecraft Plugins" by Andy Hunt. The 2nd group must be comfortable with basic typing and understand basic programming in languages like Java. If they are having difficulty keeping up with these concepts then they would move back into group one.
This second group would consist of multiple sessions. Beginner programmers welcome as long as they meet requirements mentioned above. (1) Connecting to local server and learning about finite state machines (2) Review an existing plugin using sublime text editor and install into Minecraft server (3) Learn about variables and objects (4) Construct a plugin (5) Modify blocks and spawn new entities (6) Have fun building Minecraft customizations (flaming cows! and flying creepers!!)
(Basically outline of the book :-) Book could also be used as the text book for all of these sessions allowing kids that miss a session to catch up at home and/or allow kids to learn on there own and come to the sessions with questions, etc. These topics would, at a minimum, run through half the year if only done monthly. I'm thinking some of the topics will need to get split up into multiple sessions like sessions 3,4, and 5 )
What is needed.
For the first session I was thinking of setting up a local server and then have the kids connect into the server and play around with some existing state machines. Then give each kid a grid area for them to create there own state machine. Then do a show and tell inside the world. At a minimum teaching them what a finite state machine is and how it works.
or maybe they can go home and create there own state machine and bring it in to show and tell for the next session. This way they are working on it during the other days in the month (e.g., homework). Although, I would either need to setup a server that they can connect in from home or they would need to share from there machine which becomes more time consuming....
These are my basic ideas. I am trying to sort out exactly how to run the two groups. The only thing that seems to make sense to me now is two separate sessions. Group 1 beginning of the month and Group 2 toward end of month. Unless I can get more space and have volunteer to run the first group then I would do both at the same time.