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First Steps in App Inventor

Published on May 9, 2012 by in Extra Curricular
Screenshot of Dan's First Android App

Dan's First Android app

The ICT department’s app inventor club has just started running and on our first night we had about 6 KS3 ( mostly year 8 ) pupils come along. Getting everything setup and running for the first time did take a while and the beta system did not always work the first time but our budding app writers persevered and everyone got something working by the end of the session.

We kept it simple for our first app and just made a single screen that displays different messages when you press a button or shake the device. Despite this being the first time that any of the pupils had made an app by the end of the session some were already experimenting and adding their own touches such as changing the background colour as well as the text.

If you would like to try one of the apps that the pupils made you can download either Ben’s app or Dan’s app here (guaranteed spyware free – honest!). Remember that you will need to change the setting on your Android device to allow it to install apps from unknown sources first!

All in all a great start and I can’t wait to see what they can come up with as they learn more about the system!

 
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Poster for Scratch Day Event

Published on May 3, 2012 by in Scratch Day 2012
Poster for Scratch Day

Scratch Day Poster by Cameron and Georgina

Well done to Cameron and Georgina for producing the best looking poster we have seen in quite some time and it is already on the walls around the school! For more details of the event please read our previous post.

What is already a popular event can only get more popular with posters like this…

 
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Google Code-In

Published on May 2, 2012 by in Extra Curricular
Google Code-In Winners with their t-shirts

Google Code-In Winners with their t-shirts

Earlier this year a small number of pupils participated in the 2012 Google Code-In – a competition that involved pupils completing tasks for large open source projects. As well as knowing that their work will be used in a worldwide project, pupils also had the opportunity to win prizes from Google if they completed more than three tasks.

For the pupils in my school, who had done very little computing before, completing these tasks was quite a challenge. It took a lot of effort for these pupils to complete the three tasks necessary to win a Google t-shirt and in the end only two pupils managed it. Having seen the amount of work these pupils put in, and the new skills they had to learn in the process, I have to say we are very proud of both of them. One student in particular had to overcome a number of challenges and after this experience I don’t think he’ll ever forget that not all operating systems use the same new line characters!

This is what the pupils themselves had to say about the competition:

The Google Code-In project was great to take part in as it gave me the opportunity to further my coding skills and knowledge. I completed a number of tasks for various open source projects which challenged me in different areas of coding, for example creating patches. I would definitely recommend the Google Code-In project to anyone with an interest in coding and who is up for a challenge. The Google-Code In was a very valuable experience as I learnt a vast amount of new knowledge and coding related skills.

Looking forward to having pupils enter again next year and getting more t-shirts!

 
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Details for Scratch Day at Rossett

Published on May 1, 2012 by in Scratch Day 2012

 

Last week we announced the arrival of Scratch Day at Rossett and now, with the assistance of numerous other members of staff, I’m happy to be able to provide more details of the structure of the event and how to register for it. The outline timetable for the day is as follows:

Time

 Activity

9:45

 Arrival and Registration

10:00

 Introduction to the Day

10:15

 Session 1 – Skills Building

11:10

 Refreshments – tea, squash and biscuits

11:30

 Session 2 – Game Building Challenge

12:30

 Prize Giving and Evaluation

12:45

 Depart

Notes:

  1. The starting time is slightly earlier than advertised previously which is to ensure that we can start on time and give attendees as much time working on their games as possible.
  2. To take the games you create home with you please bring a USB memory stick or similar storage device.
  3. Information on how to download and install Scratch on your home computer will be provided on the day.

As well as pupils from Rossett we are also inviting year 5/6 pupils from local primary schools and we have already sent information packs to a number of these schools. While these packs do include registrations slips that you can use, we would prefer if you could register online at rossettscratchday.eventbrite.co.uk. There are a limited number of places available for the event and they will be allocated on a first come first server basis. A number of tickets have already been allocated so please book early to avoid disappointment.

If you have any further questions regarding the event please contact us using the form on this site and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 
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(A)mazing Scratch Games

Published on April 26, 2012 by in Class Work

As a break from database work the year 7s made a maze game in Scratch today and I was very impressed with their work. While a number of impressive games were created one student in particular worked really well – so well done Sam! Not only did he manage to complete the game before I had even fully explained it to the class but he was also able to show me a better way of coding part of the solution!

As I was so impressed with his work I asked Sam to record a short video where he shows his game working and we also took a photo showing most of the code he created.

Code for Sam's Game

 
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Developments in the computing lab

Published on April 25, 2012 by in Extra Curricular

The year 9s and 10s coming to the computing club are starting to make major progress in the computing lab. Until tonight they had only managed to install a variety of versions of Linux on the computers, but had been unable to enable them to connect to the internet.

Tonight a breakthrough has been made and, by using a good mixture of research and experimentation, they are now able to access the Internet. Initially they only got one computer to connect to the Internet but have now managed to configure it to act as a proxy so that all the computers in the lab can connect through it!

Spurred on by this success they also started to experiment with different servers and within a very short amount of time they managed to set up both a web and IRC server. Especially impressive as all this was achieved completely independently! It is great to see that level of enthusiasm and dedication in pupils who are actively interested in what they are doing.

Their next task is to document what they have achieved and when they do we will post the details here. Watch this space!

 
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Scratch Day Arrives at Rossett

Published on April 23, 2012 by in Scratch Day 2012

Scratch is program that lets you design your own games by clicking blocks together like Lego. It is used worldwide to help introduce people to programming and to celebrate its success Saturday 19th of May is World Scratch Day. With over 90 events happening in 37 countries the event is truly worldwide and we in Rossett are pleased to be taking part!

For our event we are inviting both our pupils and year 5/6 pupils in nearby schools to come to the school with their families and join in the fun by making their own games! The first part of the day will be spent introducing Scratch to those for haven’t used it before and developing the skills of those who have. These skills will then be put to good use as each group will be set the challenge of developing a game in their own style! To see and example of the type of games you can produce with Scratch have a look at one of our year 7′s work by clicking here.

So if you want to introduce your child to the world of programming and develop their problem solving abilities then this is the event for you. Expert help, from Rossett ICT staff will be available throughout the day so don’t worry if you’re a beginner because we will soon have you working on your own creations. The event details are as follows.

Saturday 19th of May between 10:00 and 12:45 in the Resource Centre at Rossett School

If you want to attend or you would like further information then please contact Mr. Cullen through Rossett School or use our contact form. We look forward to seeing you there.

 
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Arrival of App Inventor at Rossett

Published on April 22, 2012 by in Extra Curricular

Do you own a phone that uses the Android operating system? Well than good news because as promised before the end of last term MIT App Inventor is coming to Rossett!

App inventor is a free service being offered by MIT that allows you to make applications for Android devices like phones or tablets. What make this particularly exciting is that all the programming is done through a graphical interface (like Scratch) so you don’t have to worry about syntax (for example missing a comma, bracket or semicolon). You don’t even need to have an Android device because the toolkit comes with a simulator to let you test your apps on the computer. So no excuses – everyone can give it a go!

Our first session will be on the Wednesday the 2nd of May in PC9 immediately after school.

If you plan to come along please try and let your ICT teacher know so that we can make sure we have enough resources. Also be aware that given the huge number of Android devices available it just isn’t possible for us to install all the device drivers necessary to download your apps in school. However we will spend part of the first session showing you how to install App Inventor at home so you can both download and continue working on your apps there.

If you have any furher questions then please email Mr. Cullen or ask your ICT teacher.

 

 
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What’s important to students?

Published on April 20, 2012 by in Class Work

For most of us teachers we can see how much technology has changed in the last number of years but for our students it is what they have grown up with! This made me curious – what do they think the most important technology they use is?

To find out I set my students the task of designing a A3 poster telling people what they thought and I was surprised at some of the results. Although I have to admit the fact most of them included an Xbox or play station wasn’t a surprise!

Some of their excellent design work is shown below and I will post some of the final versions later. Thanks to Helen, Leylani and others in my year 9 class.

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Flow charts and Robomind

Published on April 20, 2012 by in Class Work

Year 9 Students thinking like a robot!

Fun lesson spent controlling the Robomind robot, learning the commands before trying to figure out how to write a program which can follow a path around a maze. Students created flow charts by cutting out the symbols and arranging them on a piece of A3 paper.

Great way to introduce the concepts of computational thinking. Hopefully will help with the roll out of GCSE computing in September.

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