SIGCSE 2010 Preconference Workshop, March 10, 2010

Workshop Leaders: Barbara Ericson and Mark Guzdial

Laptops are required! We will provide software on CD's, and will have a limited number of USB drives to pass around with software.

Media Computation (http://www.mediacomputation.org) is an approach to teaching introductory computing where the focus is on manipulating pictures, sounds, and video. The approach motivates and engages students, by contextualizing computing in a relevant activity. The one-day pre-conference workshop is appropriate for both novices to Media Computation and those using the approach now. The day will offer an overview of the approach, touching on use with Python, Java, and Alice, for both introductory (APCS or CS1) and data structures classes.

The workshop is FREE to attendees, and will include a travel stipend and one night's lodging. Funding for the workshop comes from the National Science Foundation's CCLI program.

We'll offer $500 per person travel grant.
We'll cover one night's hotel (Tuesday night, presumably)
We'll cover breakfast and lunch and breaks that day.

Draft Schedule

For people who have never seen Media Computation before, we'll get you started in the first two hours, but you should take the 3 hour workshops at SIGCSE. For those who have tried it before, here are some newer ideas that haven't made it into our workshops previously.

8-8:30: Breakfast.
8:30-9:30: Getting started with Media Computation on images in Python.
9:30-10:30: Getting started with Media Computation on sounds in Java.
During these first two hours, "old-timers" will go to a breakout room to compare notes on assignments. What worked? What didn't? What are your favorites?
10:30-10:45: Break
10:45-12: Introducing Wonderland, Media Computation with Alice and Java.
12-1: Lunch
1-1:30: Continuing with Wonderland, but in Python. (Using Glitch examples.)
1:30-2:30: Turtles: For introducing objects, as agents in simulations, as a new way to do collages.
2:30-2:45: Break
2:45-3:45: Playing with Information: From sounds to numbers to images, and back. Simple Steganography.
3:45-4:30: What assignments do you use in your class? Report back from old-timers and sharing with newcomers.
4:30-5:30: More Movie Ideas: Drawing with light sticks, and making people disappear.

Last modified 20 November 2009 at 6:42 pm by Mark Guzdial