Creative coding for kids

Is Creative Coding the key to getting all children interested in Computer Science?

Two essential questions and challenges that the team of the Code it! learning platform continues to answer, and from experience in teaching computer science, are:

• How can we spark interest in computer science in all children?
• How do we ensure all children find programming meaningful?

Creative coding might be an answer, at least for us, it is.

In mandatory programming workshops in schools, for instance, it can be difficult to motivate all kids. To find a common ground in a group with vastly different interests can be tough. In our experience, there are three components that are important to spark interest for coding across the aisle. The access must be easy; it should be possible to create fast results with little coding and the projects must be meaningful for the kids–in the sense that they can relate to them or see some links to real life. To make coding meaningful is in our experience the key aspect to generate a long-term interest for computer science in kids.

In our school workshops, we worked for years almost exclusively with Scratch programming. Scratch is one of the greatest tools to get started with programming: it is easily accessible, and kids can create minor projects quickly. But there are also some weaknesses. It does not work well as a self-learning tool because the variety of blocks and the many elements of the interface are overwhelming for beginners and can lead to frustration. With many older students, Scratch has the image of a “coding environment for kids”, however, thrown out as a tool to create something meaningful or “cool”.

Building new programming tools

Based on these experiences, we developed tools that contain the strengths of Scratch and address some of its weaknesses. The general approach of Code it! is to combine block-based programming with different real-life applications. Applications that kids and youth often use like games or something they would like to use or create, like Apps or art objects. Besides that, we have created courses using a step-by-step teaching method. Referring to the cognitive load theory, the learners should have only those commands available which they need to solve the tasks at hand. Code it! provides an excellent introduction for self-learners.

The first application we built was a game - “The Duck Race”. We chose a game because almost all children love to play. Unfortunately, most games’ internal gameplay logic limits the student’s creative freedom. That is why we started looking for other applications to broaden the possibilities for the students.

In the search for other applications with great creative potential, we discovered Processing. Processing is a framework specifically designed for artists. The idea behind Processing is to provide non-programmers with a tool with which they can easily create images and animations of high visual and aesthetical quality. Processing stands for an old but long-time neglected field of programming - creative coding, the artistic expression through programming.

In our learning platform–app.code-it-studio.de–we created a free-to-use web-based editor that links P5.js–the JavaScript-Version of Processing–with Blockly, the block programming library used by Scratch and many others. The Processing editor allows you to create impressive pictures with just a few blocks. With every new block-type and every new programming concept, the creative possibilities multiply. The participants in our workshops, girls, and boys alike, are always enthusiastic about the pictures and animations they create.

Creative coding made easy

Our editor does not include all Processing features. Following the didactic reduction method, we have limited the core functionality of the editor to the essential functions (e.g., shapes, loops, logic). In the future, we will provide more functions for experienced users that can be loaded as extensions - functions for photos, videos, sounds, and machine learning. The editor also allows an easy transition to text programming. The block program can be displayed as source code and can be exported to the Processing web editor.

In 2019 we published an “Hour of Code” course to introduce creative coding and the Processing-Blockly editor. Additionally, we are creating free teaching material–a collection of projects based on the concepts introduced in the “Hour of Code”.

Get inspired

On our learning platform, we provide the teaching material for our Processing editor like teacher handouts and tutorials. Besides our material, there are a lot of great teaching resources for Processing on the internet that can be adopted. The Processing Foundation actively promotes the use of Processing for educational purposes. There is also a variety of teaching material for introducing creative coding: e.g. the curriculum by CS4all (https://nycdoe-cs4all.github.io/units/1/lessons/lesson_1.1), the Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/programming) or the excellent books and tutorials from Daniel Shiffman, who also runs one of the most entertaining programming YouTube channels “The Coding Train” (https://www.youtube.com/user/shiffman/). The large Processing community of artists, activists, and educators is an almost endless source of inspiration for new projects.

Processing is not only a great tool to teach programming, but it is also suitable for projects in many other areas. It can be used in art classes to teach about space, color, shape, perspective, proportion, or aesthetics; in math classes, one can use it for algebra and geometry; in physics classes, it can provide simulations and illustrations. There are countless projects on the internet that can serve as templates: Instagram filters, picture stories, video animations, art installations, or even machine learning applications.

In our experience, creative coding is an excellent starting point to get kids interested in coding. It allows fast results, provides almost endless creative possibilities, and as a “real world” application leads to high motivation right from the start, even with older students.

Author: Andreas Koch, Code it! Studios, Code for Afrika, (member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana). For comments, contact andreas.koch@code-it-studio.de or richard.amanfu@iipgh.org

How are Human Brains Different from Computers

Eric Emerson Schmidt once said, “People assume computers will do everything that humans do. Not good. People differ from each other, and they are all really different from computers.” There have been debates on the fundamental nature of the human brain and its similarities and differences with computers. The debates result from the scientific attempt to understand the human brain and replicate its functionality and capability into computer systems. Although the brain-computer metaphor has been dominant in the neuroscience field for a long time, cognitive neuroscience research presents various ways in which the human brain differs from computers. Let us take a moment and look at some differences below.

Energy Efficiency

The human brain’s energy consumption is less than that of a computer. The brain is over ten times more energy-efficient than computer systems. It requires about ten watts to function, while a computer requires over one hundred watts to run. The human brain improves its energy efficiency by storing memories in an initially transient form. There is a myth that humans only use ten percent of their brain capacity. Most of the brain’s neurons remain inactive for a long time, waiting to be activated. If the number of neurons activated at any given time is tripled, the oxygen requirements would increase significantly. Keeping most neurons inactive makes the human brain more energy-efficient than modern computers. However, the energy efficiency in computers will improve progressively with advancements in technologies.

Storage Capacity

Another significant difference between the human brain and a computer is that the human brain processes more information than current computers. In the early 21st century, the internet was compared to a single brain of a human being. However, today, there has been significant progress in computer systems development such that computers can outperform humans in activities that we equate with smarts, such as calculating square roots and playing chess or checkers. Despite such technological breakthroughs, which have left humans wondering whether they will soon battle robots for survival, the human brain still has a massive storage capacity than any computer in the world. An average adult’s brain can store trillions of bytes of information. According to a Scientific American study, the human brain has an equivalent of 2.5 petabytes of memory capacity. This means that the capacity of an average adult human brain can hold about 2.5 million gigabytes of information. Such enormous storage capacity is more than what a modern single computer can hold, giving the brain more capabilities than humans can imagine.

Processing speed

In terms of processing speed, computers have a Central Processing Unit with a fixed processing speed. This differs from a human brain’s processing speed, which is not fixed. The brain’s speed in processing information is subject to various factors, such as the speed at which electromagnetic signals can move through various neuron parts, synaptic efficacy differences, neurotransmitters availability, and many other factors. As a result, the human brain’s speed can vary from one person to another and from time to time. Based on the speed of basic operations, computers are more advantaged over the human brain. Modern computers can perform a simple arithmetic operation at speeds of 10 billion operations per second. The human brain can perform the same arithmetic operation about ten million times slower than the computer. Human brains are less disadvantaged in terms of precision of basic operations compared to computers. Computers can represent numbers using any required precision based on the binary digits assigned to each number. Most numbers in the human nervous system have variability that results from factors such as biological noise.

Reliability

Computers have limits. Although there has been significant progress in Artificial Intelligence to mimic the human brain, it is difficult to replicate every feature of the brain. Much of what has been achieved today is the development of computer systems that can help humans complete their jobs easily and efficiently. The human brain has various features that make them more reliable than computers. For example, the brain is self-maintaining, self-organizing, and self-correcting. On the other hand, computers perform monotonous jobs. They cannot maintain themselves, cannot correct themselves, and do not have the potential to self-organize. This means that computers cannot be used as a substitute for the human brain. Maybe future technological developments will achieve systems that function entirely as the human brain, but as of today, computer systems are not very reliable as the human brain. They can only help human beings to complete complex tasks quickly and efficiently.

Conclusion

Despite the brain-computer metaphor being dominant in the neuroscience field because of various similarities, the human brain has many features that distinguish it from a computer. The brain is better in terms of energy efficiency. Its storage capacity is higher than any computer available in the world today. However, computers have better processing speeds than the human brain, especially when dealing with simple arithmetic operations. Lastly, human brains are more reliable than computers because they can maintain, correct, and organize themselves. Computers lack such capabilities.

Author: Prince Andrew Livingstone Zutah | Software Engineer | Member, Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana

For comments, contact andrewp@palztechnologies.com | +233544111100

Source: www.iipgh.org

Your Digital Footprint: How It May Affect You

Make no mistake about it – the Internet is listening every time you use it! It is important that you understand what you are leaving behind when you use the Internet – visit websites, conduct searches, post on social media, comment on issues, etc. Your digital footprint may contribute to your online reputation. It could cost you an opportunity and can change people’s perception of you.

Every day, we leave our comfortable homes for one reason or the other. We leave the house for work, we visit the hospital, the shopping malls, bars, nightclubs, etc. We do so by either driving our private cars, joining the public transport, or walking. We leave traces that can attest to the fact that we were at these locations. For example, you drove from your home to the office. You record your car number in the logbook. You had lunch at a restaurant, and you were given a receipt with the date and time. You purchased a drug at the mall. There are CCTVs to record who entered the shop. In effect, you have left pieces of information at the various places you have visited. Some were willingly given by you and others you gave or left behind unknowingly.

Facility owners would want to know who visited, when did he/she visit, what did he/she purchase, etc. These details are used to make good decisions for improvement such as to know when to open and close the shop, how many attendants are needed at what times of the day.

Everything has become digital and the life we live on the Internet is no different from what we do on daily basis. You go online to order Uber or Bolt, you bought pizza online and it was delivered to your office or you attended the appointment you had with your doctor via the telehealth mobile app, do not forget about the Zoom meeting you had. Our life offline and online are the same in terms of activities.

Whether we like it or not, most of us contribute to a growing portrait of who we are online; a portrait that is probably more public than most of us assume. No matter what you do online, it is important that you know what kind of trail you are leaving, and what the possible effects can be. Every email, social media post, photo and click you make online leaves a trail. Even by reading this article, you are adding to your ever-growing details you leave online. It is permanent: it follows you for life and it is not going anywhere—it is your digital footprint.

A digital footprint is a record or trail left by the things you do online. Your social media activity, the information on your personal website, your browsing history, your online subscriptions, any photo galleries, and videos you have uploaded, the searches you do on social media or on Google. Do not forget the profiles you view on social media, the comments you pass, your presence either online or offline, status indicators such as busy, do not disturb — essentially, anything on the Internet with your name or username on it all make up your digital footprint.

“Your digital footprint is data that’s created through your activities and communication online. This can include more passive activities, such as if a website collects your IP address, as well as more active digital activities, such as sharing images on social media,” says Natalie Athanasiadis.

Your digital footprint is all the stuff you leave behind as you use the Internet. Comments on social media, Skype calls, app use, and email records - it is part of your online history and can potentially be seen by other people or tracked in a database.

Active digital footprints are created when a user willingly releases personal data for the purpose of sharing information about him. Here, data is provided explicitly, and the user is aware of such data collection by the Internet service, or he/she willingly provides such information. For example, when a user creates a social networking profile or comments on some post or article then in such a scenario, the user is creating an active digital footprint of him/herself. A passive digital footprint is created when data is collected about some online activity without the consent or knowledge of the user. This means data is collected implicitly and most of the time the user is unaware of such data collection. For example, in an online environment, whenever a user browses any website, the website can trace his geographical location through the user’s IP address.

Many organizations work behind the scenes to build profiles about us using our digital footprints. Once you share information about yourself on the Internet through social media or websites, you lose some control over your privacy. Your digital footprints may be bigger than you ever thought. They are all over the place. Be conscious about what you leave behind on the Internet.

Author: Emmanuel K. Gadasu

(Data Protection Officer, IIPGH and Data Privacy Consultant at Information Governance Solutions)

For comments, contact author  ekgadasu@gmail.com  or Mobile: +233-243913077

Source: www.iipgh.org

The CIO Diaries: Resilience Beyond Digital Transformation

Information Systems (IS) become more and more complex as the number of solutions in the IS space keeps rising; each solution promising different but convergent gains. The question no longer remains how to transform your IS strategy to meet your organization’s digital needs but how to remain resilient in uncertain times.

Managers of IS today make decisions out of a complex, contradictory, and dynamic landscape of big data that is available but has a short relevance life-cycle. This means that decision-makers spend more time making informed decisions today than they did a few years ago with fewer and less complex systems.

In this article, I posit that creating a resiliency strategy goes beyond digital transformation and offers some strategies for designing a resilience plan.

Your resilience strategy - beyond the systems

Beyond Big Data Analytics is the question of whether the systems producing data can withstand the shocks and ambush that surprises all of us (Not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital transformation it rapidly fast-tracked). Consequently, there is a need to embark on a journey of IS resilience if your organization will be able to seamlessly adapt to change while protecting its business and customers from all types of disruptions and disasters (Ambush and Shocks) - incomplete knowledge, interoperability, and surprise.

Business leaders today demand both stability and disruptive innovation – two key variables that used to be on different sides of the continuum. Your ability to balance these two competing pressures will determine success for your IS team, with your digital transformation journey underpinned by disruptive innovation whiles your resilience journey is underpinned on stability against adversity.

In this tag of war, however, there is a third and perhaps most important factor – Productivity and Business Continuity, which tends to suffer.

Resilience is not only about the systems. It has more to do with the decisions that lead to making the systems resilient. Your resilient plan may encompass an array of decisions such as:

Which services may only need load balancing to prevent the event of overloading a particular system?

Which services will demand a backup (online and/or offline)?

Which services will need a disaster recovery solution (including Geographical redundancy and their corresponding recovery time objective and recovery point objective)?

Which services will need a high availability solution?

Or which services will need a combination of the above strategies

Your resilience program should therefore:

Avoid monopoly & be flexible: A monopoly of resilience decisions may lead to widespread disruption. Monopoly may emanate from the strategy itself, using the same vendor (s) or not properly prioritizing services. In providing Disaster Recovery (DR) services as a resilience measure, geo-redundancy is a good choice. However, it may not be needed for every ‘critical service’. Instead of planning for a single failure scenario, look into the possibility of other failure scenarios occurring and the right strategies to curtail them.

The big picture: The big picture is ensuring productivity and business continuity. Your resilience strategy should hence go beyond striving for immunity and incorporate the need for productivity and business continuity. Most often, IS Managers and CIOs receive a list of services all classified as ‘critical’ by their respective business unit owners (Marketing, Finance, Operations, Customer Support, etc.), demanding that they ask the more relevant question: what is my resilience tolerance level?

What is your resilience tolerance level?

In answering this question, IS Managers and CIOs should first define the various tolerance levels and the respective strategies that would be applied for each resiliency strategy. Investment decisions would then be justified and then resilience classifications done together with the business owners for each service.

Most importantly, however, the investments should be justified. If data available reveal that a particular system has not had downtime for 8 years, it would be difficult to justify a Disaster Recovery (DR) spend. On the contrary, however, resilience is about being ready in times of uncertainty. Hence offering a DR for such a system may amount to ensuring readiness for uncertainty. But is the investment justifiable?

In conclusion

Your IS resilience journey is not a ‘quick fix’. It is a gradual journey of policy creation and an array of strategic decisions that need business alignment and investment justification with results to show.

To avoid creating resiliency strategies out of incomplete and irrelevant data, a detailed business impact analysis of the organization's IS portfolio should be conducted to address the risk appetite of the various business units and the organization. This should be accompanied by a thorough engagement of the various business units to determine policies, risk levels, and investment options (For example, how much it will cost to create resiliency as against the revenue being generated from such a system).

Finally, IS Managers and CIOs should continually revisit their resiliency strategies and update them as new and more relevant data becomes available.

Author: Kwadwo Akomea-Agyin is a seasoned business professional with 12+ years of progressive experience in Project Management, Consultative Business Development, and Digital Transformation solutions. He is a member of IIPGH and a regular contributor to this column.

Contact Kwadwo on WhatsApp: +233544341374 | Email: kojo.e@live.com | Skype: Kwadwo_2010

Source: www.iipgh.org