EPIKhub
commented
8 years ago Session accepted in the Youth Zone
Open mozfest-bot opened 8 years ago
EPIKhub
commented
8 years ago Session accepted in the Youth Zone
[ ID ] 12c624ed-44a3-4232-8ef5-8129013fac09
[ Submitter's Name ] Joseph Thomas
[ Submitter's Twitter ] @jthomascoop
[ Space ] youth
[ Format ] hands-on
Description
The aim of the workshop is to have attendees write a program that will, in conjunction with a capacative button, build castles in the Raspberry Pi version of Minecraft, via its Python API. This brings the together the virtual and real worlds, serving as a taster for the API's (and python as a whole) capability and scope.
Agenda
Having ran the first iteration of this workshop at last year's MozFest, and also at the raspberry pi birthday party (improved upon since) this is a workshop that has proven it can be ran with ease, and many of the first teething problems have been worked out. Each attendee (or small group depending on popularity) will have access to a Pi, Explore hat and copy of a tutorial for the workshop which they can follow along with while a presentation is given in front of them
Participants
There are 30 Pis available, and so for an attendance up to that number each attendee will have access to a Pi of their own. any greater than would require sharing of a Pi, which is quite feasible and has worked well in the past
Outcome
First and foremost an interest in python and coding in general will be ignited, especially for younger attendees amongst which Minecraft is already very popular. The use of capacitive buttons will also spark an interest in physical computing and electronic circuits. Taking learning forward is quite easy- the session is based around the Raspberry Pi, for which there already exists a wealth of information. Of particular note, is the book Adventures in Minecraft, published by Wiley.