New England Regional Developers - Youth

Makerspace

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:54:45 +0000

The makers from Amherst Media present a Makerspace at NERD Summit. If you are interested in computer code, Arduino or Raspberry Pi projects, knitting, or just curious, come by and check it out. Open to all ages and experience levels.

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 13 2015 - 10:00am-Sep 13 2015 - 11:50am

Room:

162

Allowed Types:

Session

Time:

Sep 13 2015 - 1:00pm-Sep 13 2015 - 3:50pm

Room:

162

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

MakerSpace

Youth

Rube Goldberg chain reaction – WeDo Robotics

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:43:48 +0000

Create a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction, using Scratch, LEGO WeDo, rubber balls, duct-tape, and a variety of other playful materials. With the help of a member of the MIT Scratch Team, you will learn to use Scratch to program motors and sensors in the LEGO WeDo robotics kit – then design links in a chain-reaction that connects the physical world and the digital world.

Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 13 2015 - 1:00pm-Sep 13 2015 - 3:50pm

Room:

163

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

EV3 Robotics

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:40:56 +0000

We will be building robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 kits. Building and controlling your own robot is fun. Follow the simple series of steps and before you know it, you’ll be in control of robots driving, slithering, walking, slamming, and crawling all over the place!

We provide the kits to use during the workshop and help you build and program robots. The programming interface is icon-based and easy to use.

This workshop is suitable for kids from 7-107. Families are encouraged to participate. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 13 2015 - 10:00am-Sep 13 2015 - 11:50am

Room:

163

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

Programming in Python

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:38:01 +0000

Python is a widely used programming language that is easy to learn and very powerful.

In this workshop led by Jessica Grant, a bioinformatics researcher at Smith College, you will learn to create your own python programs. We will create a text-based game during the workshop.

This workshop is suitable for ages 12 and up. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 4:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 4:50pm

Room:

177

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Fundamentals

Youth

Minecraft

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:35:53 +0000

Minecraft is an open-ended, creative game about breaking and placing blocks. Minecraft allows kids to connect and play together, encouraging peer learning and mentoring as kids teach each other about the intricacies of the game while collaborating to complete challenges.

We encourage beginning and advanced players to come to this workshop. Kids will have the opportunity to play with the group on a server with some challenges to complete.

More experienced players can share something about Minecraft with the group. This could be something they have built, a redstone machine, their favorite mod or texture pack, a useful command or technique for battling monsters, or anything that they think is interesting about Minecraft.

We can help people install mods and interested kids can learn to write their own mods to customize the game.

Space is limited for this session. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 4:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 4:50pm

Room:

174

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

Speaker Bio(s):

Dr. Beryl Hoffman is an Associate Professor of Computer Information Technology at Elms College in Chicopee, MA. She has over 18 years of teaching experience in computer science and programming. She enjoys designing curriculum and teaching all ages.

Green Screen Video Fun!

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:25:48 +0000

A basic overview of video editing, cameras, lenses, and microphones. Work with a small team to create a short scene and record it in front of a green screen. Choose a background, composite behind your footage, and you’ve created a fun short video.

This workshop will be led by Jim Flannery of Flantascience. Cameras and laptops will be provided. Just bring yourself and your ideas!

Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 4:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 4:50pm

Room:

168

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

Green Screen Video Fun

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:24:10 +0000

This workshop will be led by Jim Flannery of Flantascience. Cameras and laptops will be provided. Just bring yourself and your ideas!

Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 3:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 3:50pm

Room:

168

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

Scratch Programming

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:21:30 +0000

In this step-by-step workshop we’ll help you learn enough vector drawing and coding to design and program your own interactive character. With a few colorful blocks of code and a little creativity you’ll be able to design your own character, animate it, and program it to talk, move around, and even have a conversation! At the end we’ll have a chance to share our work, and even get our characters to “meet” in a shared project!

Using Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the incredible worldwide Scratch online community.

All levels of scratch experience are welcome to attend. We will have instruction with paper tutorials, offer additional challenges, and provide general support for those who want to explore Scratch on their own. There will also be opportunities to share ideas and techniques with other coders.

The event is ideal for people aged 7 to 127. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 2:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 2:50pm

Room:

174

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth

Speaker Bio(s):

Joe Bacal facilitates Scratch workshops for people of all ages. Professionally, he has been a fourth grade teacher, high school teacher, school counselor, and web developer.

Graphics Programming with Processing

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:14:25 +0000

Every computer program is written in one of many different programming languages. Just as spoken languages share grammar and parts of speech, programming languages have commonalities such as structure and control flow. Once one learns a single programming language, the others become easier to understand and learn!

Why are there so many languages if they can do the same things using similar concepts? Each language is designed to make some tasks easier than the others; think of it as using the right language for each job. Processing, for example, was created to make interactive graphical displays much easier to program. It is thus used not only by educators and students for teaching programming, but also by graphical artists as a tool for special video effects and by game designers for prototyping ideas.

In this workshop, we will introduce the fundamental structure and control flow that many programming languages have in common so that students may later learn other languages more easily. Each of these components will be used to create sample programs in Processing which can be combined to create a simple interactive videogame by the completion of the workshop. The workshop will also cover the basic features of computer graphics as needed to create the sample programs. So bring your favorite .jpg image if you want to see it in your programs, and even students with programming experience will be able to learn about basic computer graphics.

No previous programming knowledge is necessary. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 2:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 2:50pm

Room:

177

Allowed Types:

Session

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 3:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 3:50pm

Room:

177

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Fundamentals

Youth

Got an App for That?

Andrew Pasquale — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:09:07 +0000

Do you have an idea for the next big mobile app? Will you make the next Candy Crush or Angry Birds?

Create your own mobile app for Android using App Inventor, the visual app development tool from MIT! During this workshop, we will help you build a simple app using this tool.

Space is limited for this workshop. Please register here.

Experience level:

Beginner

Session Time Slot(s):

Time:

Sep 12 2015 - 2:00pm-Sep 12 2015 - 2:50pm

Room:

168

Allowed Types:

Session

Sessions Topics:

Youth