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<article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-08-08-ship-partners.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - Our partner - St. Joseph's College</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-08-08-ship-partners.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-08-08T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-08-08 00:00">2014-08-08 00:00</time></a></p>
<p class="commentline"> <a href="posts/2014-08-08-ship-partners.html/#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="cache/posts/2014-08-08-ship-partners.html">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
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<div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
From the day we filed the paperwork to create CSTUY, we knew we wanted
to run a summer program. In fact, we started looking for a space
during the 2012/2013 school year. We were hoping to run SHIP for the
first time in the summer of 2013 but we all knew it wasn't really a
realistic goal.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
Our original plans required at least one classroom sized space, and up
to three for full days for a month. We figured this would be a hard
sell for a tech company, after all, what company is going to take a
room, let alone three, off line for half the summer.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-3" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-3"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3">
<p>
So, we turned to institutions of higher learning. I started talking to friends at a CS
program in one of our city's colleges. They loved the idea of hosting
a CSTUY program. Problem was that once the plans went up through the
college channels, the administrative side wasn't as hot to host
us. While the CS people really wanted us, the administrative side was
perfectly willing to give us space as long as we paid an amount that
really was much more than we could afford. To be honest, this really
irritated me. Here we have a supposedly non-profit college that's
supposed to support the community and the public good nickle and
diming another non profit that really is trying to do some good.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-4"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-4">
<p>
We ended up speaking to a number of educational institutions across
the city and the situation was the same. Sure you can have space. Here
are our rates…..
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-5" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-5"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-5">
<p>
Now, you might wonder, why not just use high school space? Because it
was important to be hosted at what should be the "next level" for the
participants.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-6" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-6"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-6">
<p>
In the mean time, I met <a href="http://www.sjcny.edu/FacultyExperts/124">Bill McAllister</a>, CS Professor at St. Joseph's
College on Long Island. He hosts a terrific annual high school
<a href="http://faculty.sjcny.edu/~ProgrammingCompetition/">programming competition</a>. Bill referred me to David Seppala-Holtzman
the Math and CS Chair at the Brooklyn Campus.
</p>
<p>
David and I clicked and one thing led to another and in the end,
having overlapping visions and goals, St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn
decided to host us.
</p>
<p>
I couldn't ask for a better partner. They provided us with all the
facilities we needed from rooms for the classes, to lounge space, to
access to the cafeteria (and got us a great rate on food to boot).
</p>
<p>
The whole St. Joseph's family made everything so easy for us. At one
point one of our instructors commented "wow, this is such a friendly
campus."
</p>
<p>
Without the help and support of St. Joseph's college, SHIP doesn't
happen. It was a great partnership and we're looking forward to
working together on SHIP 2.0 next year.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-08-05-ship-outcomes.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - Outcomes</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-08-05-ship-outcomes.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-08-05T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-08-05 00:00">2014-08-05 00:00</time></a></p>
<p class="commentline"> <a href="posts/2014-08-05-ship-outcomes.html/#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="cache/posts/2014-08-05-ship-outcomes.html">Comments</a>
</p>
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<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
SHIP ended last week. So, how did we do? Time to look at outcomes.
</p>
<p>
Outcomes can be tricky. There are lots of programs out there and they
all claim amazing results. Unfortunately, it seems to me, that
everyone's so concerned with good PR that, well, you know, lies,
damned lies, statistics.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
First you've got claims like "learn how to make a mobile app in under
n weeks." I always chuckle at this. If it was that easy, why do we
have a tech talent shortage? I'm immediately skeptical of any program
that claims that kids go from nothing to making full featured web
apps or some amazing professional quality game in just a few
weeks. Learning takes time. The only way you get these miracle results
is by using frameworks, simplified tools, or scaffolding of some
kind. True learning, retention, and the ability to transfer knowledge
is minimal.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-3" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-3"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3">
<p>
Then we have assorted stats. Here's one of my favorites.
</p>
<p>
Our students outperform other students who take APCS. We see this from
screened programs. Now, I have no problem with screening – we do this
at CSTUY, just don't imply that you're just taking everyone who
applies. If you have an application or an interview, you're screening
and starting ahead of the game. Since kids have to elect to come to
our programs they certainly have a good deal of interest. So, what
this claim is really saying is that a kid who likes CS enough to spend
their summers and or after school time doing it is likely to do better
than a kid who isn't going to spend this time doing CS. Big surprise.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-4"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-4">
<p>
So, how do we measure our outcomes.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-5" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-5"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-5">
<p>
We can start with the work the
shipmates did. We use processing and the shipmates learned from the
ground up. That is, they wrote everything from scratch. Some of the
groups taught themselves how to use processing libraries if they
needed facilities like a web API or accessing a camera, but since they
built everything up from simple statements, if they successfully
completed good projects, we could be pretty sure they've moved from
neophytes to programmers.
</p>
<p>
The projects were terrific
</p>
<p style="float:left">
<figure style="float:left;padding:20px"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-outcomes/pacinvaders.png"><figcaption>PacInvaders by Sam, Margaret, and Ryan</figcaption></figure><figure style="padding:20px"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-outcomes/iphone.png"><figcaption>IPhone simulator by Aminata, Sabrina, and Soraya</figcaption></figure></p>
<p style="clear:both"></p>
<p>
The screen shots are just two samples but all the shipmates put
together great projects and since we used real tools, the shipmates
are well prepared for their next courses be they with us, in school,
or elsewhere.
</p>
<p>
The Stewards also completed projects. I talked a bit about them in my
<a href="http://cestlaz.github.io/2014/07/30/ship-demo-day-tomorrow.html#.U-Frpx_GyzU">previous post</a>.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-6" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-6"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-6">
<p>
We also looked at surveys. We did ask some of the soft questions that
I alluded to above. Are you more likely to explore CS after SHIP?
How has SHIP influenced your opinion of CS and Tech? The answer to
the first was an overwhelming yes and the second was also
overwhelmingly positive.
</p>
<p>
The money questions though, were did they want to come back for a
Saturday program and one next summer. Other than the shipmates that
lived too far away, again, the vast majority want to return.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-7" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-7"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-7">
<p>
Combine the programs they made and the fact that they want to come
back with great unsolicited feedback from parents and the shipmates
themselves and I think we can say that SHIP was a tremendous success.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-8" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-8"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-8">
<p>
Now we have to figure out how to raise the funds for the Saturday
program and next summer.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-07-30-ship-demo-day-tomorrow.html/" class="u-url">Can't wait for CSTUY SHIP Demo day tomorrow</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-07-30-ship-demo-day-tomorrow.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-07-30T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-07-30 00:00">2014-07-30 00:00</time></a></p>
<p class="commentline"> <a href="posts/2014-07-30-ship-demo-day-tomorrow.html/#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="cache/posts/2014-07-30-ship-demo-day-tomorrow.html">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
</style>
<figure><img height="300px" src="img/ship-demo-day-tomorrow/mirandia.jpg"><figcaption>Miranda and Nadia showing off their project</figcaption></figure><div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
Tomorrow is the last day of SHIP and we'll be capping the whole thing
off with a day of demos, science fair style.
</p>
<p>
Both the shipmates and the stewards will be showing off their work and
I can't wait. I've intentionally stayed away from the shipmates
because I want to be surprised but I've seen what the stewards have
been doing and I can't tell you how proud I am of their work. I was
going to say amazed, but actually, I'm not amazed at all – I know
they're all awesome.
</p>
<p>
I'll put up pictures, descriptions and hopefully video after the event
but here's a quick summary of what they've done:
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
<b><b>3d network augmented reality pong</b></b> -
A 3d depth perception networked pong that you play using your hand as
*the paddle. The program uses the camera and blob recognition to
control the game.
</p>
<p>
<b><b>Augmented Reality Board Game</b></b> -
It started with the stewards taking a picture of a maze and then
having their program solve it but it evolved into a game. The computer
continually takes a picture of the board and plays against a human
opponent who makes moves on the physical board.
</p>
<p>
<b><b>Painting identifier</b></b> (pictured above) -
Take a picture of a painting and the program will try to identify it.
</p>
<p>
<b><b>Seam Carving Image editor</b></b> -
Look it up on youtube - it's really neat.
</p>
<p>
<b><b>Photo Booth</b></b> -
A little more cut and dry than the above but one of the instructors
has a wedding coming up and so we needed to build the photo booth.
</p>
<p>
All these projects are awesome and what's more they're all done from
scratch. Early on Gerry was visiting and commented on an early version
of the pong game. He said "they're writing their own blob detection,
right?" Of course. They can use libraries later. Now it's about
learning neat things.
</p>
<p>
I can't wait to see the stewards show these off tomorrow and also to
see the shipmates projects.
</p>
<p>
On a side note, I've started to go through the comments the shipmates
have been writing down about the program - they just confirm what I
already knew - I'm lucky to be working with the best group of
educators out there.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - Toolset</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-07-28T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-07-28 00:00">2014-07-28 00:00</time></a></p>
<p class="commentline"> <a href="posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html/#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="cache/posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
</style>
<div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
We're almost at the end of CSTUY SHIP's first journey. The Shipmates
and stewards will be showing off their work in another day or so and
I'm excited to see their finished projects.
</p>
<p>
But what toolset are they using.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
With knew we would be working with two rooms of relative beginners. We
needed something that allowed us to develop the shipmates CS skills
while also having a low cost of entry. At the same time, we had to
use an environment that our Stewards would be comfortable with as they
would be both supporting the shipmates and developing their own projects.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-3" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-3"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3">
<p>
Those of you that know me know that I'm <b><b>not</b></b> a fan of drag and drop
languages. I've looked at them time and again. I even made a concerted
effort while exploring a version of the new proposed AP course earlier
this year <sup><a id="fnr.1" name="fnr.1" class="footref" href="posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html/#fn.1">1</a></sup>. Languages such as scratch require almost no ramp up
but for kids that are old enough for a traditional text based language
I've found the following:
</p>
<ul class="org-ul">
<li>After a short time, my students find DnD languages restrictive and
slow. They can get more done more quickly by typing.
</li>
<li>Many kids work on laptops with small screens. Small screens and DnD
languages are not a good match.
</li>
<li>It's much easier to look things up in a text based language.
</li>
<li>I'm not convinced that starting with a DnD is in any way better
prepares a student for a text based language.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Bottom line, I've had to rescue a number of kids who were turned off
by the "toy" factor of languages like scratch and appinventor.
</p>
<p>
DnD languages are probably fine for younger kids who are experimenting
and playing around but for my kids, I want something more real.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-4">The contenders:</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-4">
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4-1" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="sec-4-1"></h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-1">
<p>
<b><b>Python</b></b> - I'm a big python fan. It's one of my go to languages. Low
cost of entry and very flexible.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4-2" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="sec-4-2"></h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-2">
<p>
<b><b>Scheme</b></b> - I love functional. It's simple, but it's a harder sell
for parents and while in school, it's ok to take a few days to ramp
up to get to the fun stuff, in a summer program, a delay in fun can
be deadly.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4-3" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="sec-4-3"></h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-3">
<p>
<b><b>Javascript / web based</b></b> - I also really like Javascript but the
development environments are pretty lousy and it's almost "C like" in
the number of hidden problems for newbies.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4-4" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="sec-4-4"></h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-4">
<p>
<b><b>Java</b></b> - I'm not really a fan of the language but it is pretty
straightforward and it is the language of the AP exam. I'm not a fan
of AP but as we're trying to build a program from the ground up, it
doesn't hurt to be able to say "this will prepare you for APCS."
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-5" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-5">The winner:</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-5">
<p>
So what did we use? <a href="http://processing.org">Processing</a>. Processing is a wrapper and IDE around
Java. It's really simple to get started with and it makes all sorts of
graphics work very easy. Here's a simple processing program that
creates a circle wherever you click the mouse:
</p>
<div class="org-src-container">
<pre class="src src-java"><span style="color: #228b22;">void</span> <span style="color: #0000ff;">setup</span>() {
size(400,400);
}
<span style="color: #228b22;">void</span> <span style="color: #0000ff;">mouseClicked</span>() {
fill(color(random(255),random(255),random(255)));
ellipse(mouseX,mouseY,20,20);
}
<span style="color: #228b22;">void</span> <span style="color: #0000ff;">draw</span>() {
}
</pre>
</div>
<p>
That's it. No <b><b>public static void main…</b></b> or anything like that, but
it's legit Java, has types and classes plus:
</p>
<ul class="org-ul">
<li>great online documentation.
</li>
<li>it's used to interface with arduino.
</li>
<li>it has libraries for web cams, music, internet APIs, and more.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
By using something like processing, the shipmates learn a real
language with sufficient depth to do something real and there's also
enough of an online community so that they can continue to work on
their own if they can't avail themselves of our future programs.
</p>
<p>
While we were convinced that processing was the right choice for the
shipmates. I wasn't 100% sold on it as the best choice for the
stewards. Python would probably have been better for them but most of
them will be doing advanced Python (as well as Javascript) in their
classes in the fall and I didn't want to teach them something now and
reteach it to them in another month. On the other hand, they all
already knew Java and there was still plenty of neat things for them
to explore with processing. In the end, I think we made the right choice.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="footnotes">
<h2 class="footnotes">Footnotes: </h2>
<div id="text-footnotes">
<div class="footdef">
<sup><a id="fn.1" name="fn.1" class="footnum" href="posts/2014-07-28-ship-toolset.html/#fnr.1">1</a></sup><p class="footpara">
After going through the curriculum and scratch in depth, I
concluded that the intro course I designed and my team has evolved
over the past ten years is a stronger and more appropriate course for
our students.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-07-20-ship-outreach.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - Outreach</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-07-20-ship-outreach.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-07-20T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-07-20 00:00">2014-07-20 00:00</time></a></p>
<p class="commentline"> <a href="posts/2014-07-20-ship-outreach.html/#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="cache/posts/2014-07-20-ship-outreach.html">Comments</a>
</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
</style>
<div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
We've got a few more topics to cover in the <b><b>Building a SHIP</b></b>
series. We still have to cover:
</p>
<ul class="org-ul">
<li>The Crew
</li>
<li>Curricular Choices
</li>
<li>The long term plan
</li>
<li>Site and funding
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
But for today, we'll talk outreach.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-3" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-3"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3">
<p>
Outreach proved to be particular challenge for SHIP. Our entire crew
is made up of teachers. That meant that we couldn't communicate with
schools during business hours. That made things particularly tough. I
could send emails after hours or set up emails to be sent at specific
times during the day, but we couldn't call while at our day jobs. As a
result, this led to a vary long communication loop and we could never
be sure that information about SHIP was getting to the right people.
</p>
<p>
We did have a small number of non-teacher volunteers and they were
invaluable but they had limited knowledge from the teaching side.
</p>
<p>
So, we had the volunteers try to call schools during the day and we
followed up by emailing a flyer and link to a web site. We tried to
emphasize that we needed help from the schools in finding the right
students – that is students who might not have even considered
something like SHIP but where we could potentially turn them on to
something new.
</p>
<p>
In spite of this, we did get over 200 applicants for our 48 slots. I
have no idea how this compares to similar programs.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-4" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-4"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-4">
<p>
There were many terrific applications, but there were some head
scratching situations. There were some incomplete applications which I
attribute to students who weren't really interested in the program,
but I was surprised by two things on the student side.
</p>
<p>
First, sme times we needed a little more information from a student so we
sent an email to the addresses (primary and backup) that they listed
in the application. Some times students got right back to us. Other
times it took days or even weeks. In one case, we weren't able to
accept the student because he didn't get back to us until after the
selection process was over. I know that not everyone reads or responds
to emails promptly but I was surprised since these were cases of
students who wanted to partake in our program.
</p>
<p>
Another thing that surprised me is that we almost lost a couple of
students because they thought the program would cost too much. We
tried to make it as clear as possible that we offered financial
assistance and in many cases could cover all fees but apparently we
weren't as clear as I had hoped.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-5" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-5"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-5">
<p>
The one <b><b>really big</b></b> shock to me involved
recommendations. We required our applicants provide one email
address for someone that agreed to write a recommendation letter and
allowed for a second, optional one. We then contacted these
recomenders. If we didn't hear back, we sent reminder emails and asked
the applicants to prod the recommenders as well.
</p>
<p>
We had a return rate of about 10%. This cut across type of school
(public, private, parochial, and charter) and grade (rising 9 through
12). As a teacher myself, I know of some colleagues who don't actually
write recs they agree to write but I was shocked that we only heard
back from 10%. The end result was that we could use a recommendation
to help an applicant but we didn't feel that it was fair to penalize a
student just because a teacher didn't send in a rec.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-6" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-6"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-6">
<p>
As a final though on outreach, it should get easier for us over
time. SHIP is going great and next year, we'll be a known quantity to
schools. We should also have our cadre of shipmates helping spread the
word and of course, we want them back for another summer of more
advanced work.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-07-17-ship-guests.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - Guest Stars</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-07-17-ship-guests.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-07-17T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-07-17 00:00">2014-07-17 00:00</time></a></p>
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</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
</style>
<figure><img height="300px" src="img/ship_guests/cynthia.jpg"><figcaption>Cynthia Koo talking about UX</figcaption></figure><div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
Much like the Love Boat had every week, at CSTUY SHIP, we too have our
guest stars.
</p>
<p>
On the one hand, it's important to have a focused program that leaves
the shipmates empowered to continue their CS studies on their
own. That means the shipmates have to explore something with
sufficient depth so that the learning sticks. It also means there has
to be sufficient depth for the shipmates to continue their voyages
after our month together has ended.
</p>
<p>
On the other hand, we want to present the big picture as well. There
are a lot of interesting things in computer science and technology
that we really can't get to in just a few weeks. Certainly not if we
want to do justice to those topics.
</p>
<p>
Having one off lectures helps. This way, our shipmates are exposed to
a wide array of voices and ideas.
</p>
<p>
Of course, scheduling the right speakers at the right time can be a challenge.
Too technical too early can be a turn off. So can too simple.
</p>
<p>
We're lucky enough to have some amazing guest stars on our ship. We
started with a great talk on UX by <a href="http://www.cynthiakoo.com/blog/">Cynthia Koo</a>. UX is something I wish
kids were more exposed to and I think it was great that Cynthia was
able to talk to the shipmates about it before they embark on their own
projects. If we set the seeds early and have user experience in the
back of the shipmates heads before they start building things, I
suspect that the end results will show it.
</p>
<p>
Cynthia talked about user needs and business needs and used looked at
Instagram and Snapchat as case studies.
</p>
<p>
The talk got the shipmates thinking about apps in a way they had never
considered before.
</p>
<figure><img height="300px" src="img/ship_guests/edgar.jpg"><figcaption>Edgar talking about all sorts of opportunities in tech</figcaption></figure><p>
Today we had our second guest star. Edgar Troudt. Edgar talked about
innovation, disruption, crowd consumption and more.
</p>
<p>
Later on, we'll drill down with more technical talks.
</p>
<p>
For now, though, these talks were meant to give a broader view and to
inspire. I think they did.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article><article class="h-entry post-text"><header><h1 class="p-name entry-title"><a href="posts/2014-07-10-ship-tas.html/" class="u-url">Building a SHIP - the Stewards</a></h1>
<div class="metadata">
<p class="byline author vcard"><span class="byline-name fn" itemprop="author">
Mike Zamansky
</span></p>
<p class="dateline"><a href="posts/2014-07-10-ship-tas.html/" rel="bookmark"><time class="published dt-published" datetime="2014-07-10T00:00:00-04:00" title="2014-07-10 00:00">2014-07-10 00:00</time></a></p>
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</p>
</div>
</header><div class="e-content entry-content">
<style>
div.center {text-align:center;}
div.left {text-align:left; padding:20px;}
div.right {text-align:right;padding:20px;}
</style>
<p>
The Stewards:
</p>
<p style="float:left">
<figure style="float:left;padding:20px"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-tas/bb.jpg"><figcaption>In size order.</figcaption></figure><figure style="padding:20px"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-tas/fawn.jpg"><figcaption>And from the other side</figcaption></figure></p>
<p style="clear:both"></p>
<figure style="float:left;padding:20px;width:100%"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-tas/stewards.jpg"><figcaption>Ok, seriously - here they are.</figcaption></figure><p style="clear:both"></p>
<div id="outline-container-sec-1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-1"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1">
<p>
I thought I'd share some thoughts on how we designed SHIP. I'll try to
talk about curriculum choices, tools and more in the coming week but
first, let's talk about our stewards.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-2" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-2"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2">
<p>
When we first designed SHIP, we knew we wanted to run two rooms each
with around 24 shipmates and two teachers. We also figured that we'd want a
few of student teaching assistants, which I decided to name
Stewards - Natan wanted to call them Tars in tribute to the British
Navy, but he was outvoted.
</p>
<p>
We had some questions:
</p>
<ul class="org-ul">
<li>what do we do with them when they're not working with the shipmates
</li>
<li>how old should they be
</li>
<li>what should they know
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-sec-3" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="sec-3"></h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3">
<p>
We knew that we'd be using <a href="http://processing.org">Processing</a> as our development environment
for the shipmates <sup><a id="fnr.1" name="fnr.1" class="footref" href="posts/2014-07-10-ship-tas.html/#fn.1">1</a></sup> so we wanted the Stewards to know Java. We
also knew that when the shipmates worked on their group projects we'd
want to have one Steward mentor each group. That meant at least 12
Stewards. We went with 14. We also decided that we'd take kids that just
finished our AP CS classes at Stuyvesant since they were already well
versed in our lunacy and would help seed the culture we're looking to
grow.
</p>
<p>
What to do with them when they weren't working with the shipmates?
</p>
<p>
Most of the stewards will be in my SoftDev class come the fall so I
didn't want to just teach them that material
</p>
<p>
How about shepherding them through some advanced projects using the
tools that the shipmates would be using.
</p>
<p>
So, we had a plan. We'd have the stewards work in small groups on
interesting projects when they weren't working with the shipmates.
</p>
<p>
How has it gone so far? Pretty well I think.
</p>
<p>
I first asked them to figure out how to work with the webcam and
images in processing – at this point they can figure things out like
that on their own.
</p>
<p>
We then talked about edge detection and they coded it up. This also
proved to be a nice demo for the shipmates.
</p>
<figure style="float:left;padding:20px"><img height="300px" src="img/ship-tas/leslie.jpg"><figcaption>Leslie demoing for the shipmates</figcaption></figure><p style="clear:both"></p>
<p>
After that I asked them to come up with their own algorithms for blob
detection. They came up with some interesting solutions after which I
let them look up techniques on line.