Summer Camp Questions

[Kim Rose]

Hi, Vincent -
I couldn't agree with you more!  I only referred to girls in my post, 
since it was "girls" that Edwin has inquired about.  A "connection" 
has to be made between the person and the computer and one that is 
relevant to that person, their desires and needs.   We, too, stress 
to the children that without people "telling computers what to do" 
the machines are merely pieces of hardware, etc.
cheers,
Kim


>Hi, Kim,
>Speaking of computers and programming, I don't want to be overly "PC" here,
>but I have a wee bit of a problem with your post.
>
>ANY one of ANY gender can perceive "programming" as unattractive.   I've
>known boys and girls women and men who've thought of it as unattractive and
>other worldly.   And this is especially true  if the person with the
>responsibility to introduce this subject doesn't interview/survey the
>population to find out where these people are at present.
>
>I don't think it would be overly manipulative to ask the beginner student
>questions like, "What is the most fun thing you've heard about computers,
>done with computers?";  "Do you know how the computer was able to do those
>things?"; "Do you know that computers are completely dumb unless a person
>tells them EXACTLY what to do?";   "Can you believe that someone just like
>YOU had to tell the computer EXACTLY what to do, else it couldn't be
>done?";   "What is the best thing you could imagine you would want a computer
>to do for YOU?"  "Well, would you believe you can tell a computer what to
>do?"  "Well, you can. Now, telling a computer what to do is called
>"programming.  Don't be afraid of that word, just thinking of it as telling a
>computer what to do."
>
>As for the "either or" condition of "learning computer" or "using computer",
>one of my favorite approaches to teaching young people and old is to have
>them use the computer to learn something that interests THEM.  To me, it
>always goes back to asking the person about THEIR interests, interviewing
>them.  Then, where possible, customizing the instruction to meet their
>needs.  This makes a hybrid approach, blending the two options you mentioned.
>
>You also might want to check out this link: http://www.nonprofits.org/
>
>Best wishes to you,
>Vincent Wright
>IT Recruitment Consultant
>
>Kim Rose wrote:
>
>>  Hi -
>>  As far as recruiting more girls, I wouldn't call it
>>  "programming".....I think the word holds certain connotations for
>>  girls which are unattractive.
>>  The other thing to think about is this, perhaps -- are the kids
>>  learning "computer" or are they *using* the computer to learn about a
>>  variety of areas/subjects, or to construct/create ideas, artifacts,
>>  etc.??, i.e., how can we use computers as the means and not the end?
>>    -- Kim
>>
>>  >Awesome!  I will try these ideas.
>>  >
>>  >QUESTION :  How do you get more girls to sign up for a computer
>>  >programming class/camp?  Saturday Academy has a lot of restricted funds
>>  >targetted for 1) getting girls into nursing, 2) getting girls into
>>  >science, engineering and math.
>>  >
>>  >They sure would like to use those funds successfully.
>>  >
>>  >Cheers,
>>  >Edwin
>>  >
>>  >-----Original Message-----
>>  >From: owner-squeakland at squeakland.org
>>  >[mailto:owner-squeakland at squeakland.org] On Behalf Of thom
>  > >Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 11:29 PM
>  > >To: squeakland at squeakland.org
>  > >Subject: RE: Summer Camp
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >On Mon, 10 Jun 2002, Edwin Pilobello wrote:
>>  >
>>  >>  Of course it's going to be fun!  Sometimes it's hard fun.
>>  >>
>>  >>  The hat trick is inspiring them to create a design document. Double
>>  >>  the difficulty level for OOD.
>>  >
>>  >start out with anything by Scott McCloud. Maybe show them 'ghost World'
>>  >or 'from Hell' and explain storyboards from that perspective. they will
>>  >get it immediately and then you explain that the 'comic' also needs
>>  >notes for all sorts of sounds and interactivity. If they are real young
>>  >maybe start them with 'Miss Spider's Tea Party' which is a great picture
>  > >book and then show them the Cd which was created from the Book. there is
>>  >a great storyboard/design doc example for Ludtke's Bad At The Midway.
>>  >Lots of stuff on Gamasutra.com. Maus, the book, and Maus the Cd is
>>  >pretty good. Show the movie Final Fantasy, the book 'The Making of' and
>>  >then run the game on a PS2.
>>  >
>>  >I have done this with kids from 10 to 50; age almost doesn't matter. I
>>  >have tons of this stuff from my grad students and find that I can take a
>>  >grad design doc and show it to kids 15 and up and they get the idea and
>>  >will create a document as good as the grad level document.
>>  >
>>  >I get them to run ideas by giving them index cards and limiting them to
>>  >50 word ideas with 'no names', very important that no one can be
>>  >identified when running ideas. Shuffle the deck, break them up into
>>  >groups of 4-5 and tell them you want the 1 good idea in the pack. Some
>>  >will come back with 1, some with more than 1 and some with none. You do
>>  >this two days in a row in the morning and by the 3rd day 2-3 of the kids
>>  >will be coming in with bunches of ideas. Figure out if the idea is a
>>  >story or an interactive.
>>  >
>>  >Make them show at the end of the camp to mom & dad and any one you can
>>  >round up.
>>  >
>>  >--Thom
>>
>>  --


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