Monthly Archives: July 2011

AP Summer Institute – Houston #2

AP Summer Institute #3 is history.
I had a huge group in Houston from all over the US.
The workshop started on July 18th and ran for four days.
The Region Center in Houston always has great food.

We covered tons of material, including Scratch, Jeroo, GridWorld, and lots of Java.
We discussed teaching with Codes and Ciphers, teaching List Processing using multiple environments, and using GridWorld games like Sliding Puzzle to teach Object-Oriented Programming.

Attendees came all of the way from Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, and Massachusetts. All sorts of folks attended, including an Astronomer, Fortran Programmer, and multiple former Disney employees. It was a great group of people and it was nice to get to know them all.

I am currently conducting an AP SI in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the University of Arkansas.
See all of my workshop dates and available materials.
Follow my travels across the US to my workshops via my son’s travel blog.

Creating Interest in CS

Creating Interest in CS

I have been telling people for years that the CS marketing campaign is broken.  We need to stop with the “we need more geeks in CS” campaigns.  The are clearly not working as that is not what students today are looking for.  We need to show students what you can do with CS and how you can make a difference as a Computer Scientist.  Boys and girls find this approach much more appealing and rewarding.  The article above is basically saying the same thing.

CS Grads get Highest Rate of Job Offers

CS Grads Top List with Highest Rate of Job Offers

Computer Science graduates are at the top of the list in terms of applicants getting job offers.  This just further backs up the notion that getting a degree in Computer Science is a really good idea.  Per the article, “One computer science graduate may have 10 offers as opposed to one accounting graduate that’s getting five offers.”

Here in Houston, there appears to be lots of great jobs for CS grads.  I have been in contact with a few different people lately looking to hire Computer Science folks.  The jobs are good and pay is really nice.  You just have to prove you know your stuff, have a decent interview, and you should be good to go.

CS Rocks!

US Dominates World RoboCup 2011

US Dominates at the 2011 World RoboCup

This is way more interesting than robots can sense emotion.
Kicking a ball and running around on a soccer field is way cool.
Well, they do not actually run, but kinda stagger and limp around.
Either way, it is pretty neat to see robots attempt to play soccer.
In a few short years, they will actually be able to run and play for real – just watch and see!
Check out the video of Adult size final!

Emotion Detecting Robots

Project Creating Robots that can Detect Emotion

Just what I need!
All I want is a robot that will pick up after my kids – that is it.
I am no way in need of one that knows when I am happy or mad – I would like to keep that info to myself.
Let’s stick the basics here and get a Roomba that actually works in stores and leave the emotional stuff out of the equation.
Just my 2 cents – for the emotional robots, I am not mad in any way, but I am a bit agitated.  🙂

AP Summer Institute – Kentucky

AP Summer Institute #2 is history and it was a blast as well!
The workshop started on June 27 and ran for five days.
Western Kentucky University was an awesome host and I hope to be back in 2012!

We covered tons of material, including Scratch, Jeroo, GridWorld, and lots of Java. We discussed teaching with Codes and Ciphers, teaching List Processing using multiple environments, and using games to teach Object-Oriented Programming.

Attendees came all of the way from Tennessee, Alabama, Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois, and Ohio. We had a submarine-pilot and an X-Factor finalist in our midst as well as a former standup comedian. It was an awesome crew of people and it was nice to get to know them all.  One guy was a little on the shifty side, but I will not mention any names as I do not want Jose to get his feelings hurt.

My next AP SI in back in Houston starting on July 18th and it is for experienced teachers.
My last AP SI will be in Arkansas starting on July 25th.
See all of my workshop dates and available materials.
Follow my travels across the US to my workshops via my son’s travel blog.