INTERACTIVE TOOLS TO HELP KIDS LEARN TO CODE (WHILE HAVING FUN)

As a mother of two boys under age 10, I know how hungry to learn children can be. My kids could teach themselves to read literature in Russian if they thought it would be fun. I kept that in mind while researching the best resources to teach kids to code. What children need is something that makes coding engaging, exciting, and (the word that parents cannot utter without turning whatever they are talking about into anything but) cool. Here are some apps, online programs, and camps to help your future coders get started.

AGES 0 – 4

Image source: Codebabies.com

1. Code Babies

Babies and toddlers should probably stay off the keyboard, but if you want to introduce coding concepts, the Code Babies series of books offer a cute way to do it. The HTML for Babies book, and the ABCs of the Web presents concepts far more simply than I ever could.

AGES 5 – 9

2. Kodable

This free app is designed for kids 5 and older. Kids can engage in self-directed learning through a character that looks like a fuzzball. There’s also a learning guide for parents to play along and understand the concepts behind the game.

3. Daisy the Dinosaur

Another free app, this one is appropriate for kids starting around age 6 or 7. The program is iPad based and lets kids use drag and drop commands to make Daisy the Dinosaur move around the screen and do tricks. If this sparks children’s imaginations and makes them interested in doing more, they can download a kit to create a video game.

4. Tynker

Tynker offers a series of online courses for kids beginning around age 8. Each course is $50. Tutorials guide kids as they use drag and connect blocks to create sequences and create animated stories and games. There are tests at the end of each lesson and kids can collect badges as well as projects. There’s also an area where parents can track children’s learning. Tynker also offers after-school clubs in some areas of the country.

5. Scratch

Designed by MIT, this free program was created to help kids ages 8 to 16 to “think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically.” The online community is one where kids can share ideas, and display and get feedback their projects.

AGES 10 – 15

6. Thinkersmith My Robotic Friends

Programming without computers. This free lesson (download a copy) helps kids think using programming logic but with low-tech tools (e.g. pens, notecards, and plastic cups). The course can be adapted for younger grades or fourth grade and up.

6. Hopscotch

A New York startup that received venture -backed funds to design version 2 of its free app, Hopscotch is a programming language designed for the iPad. It’s drag-and-drop programming (Hopscotch is also the creator of Daisy the Dinosaur for younger kids) that lets kids build games, graphics, and apps. Kids can share projects online and follow the Hopscotch blog.

7. Dash

General Assembly’s online learning tool can help young people learn to build websites with basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript instruction. The lessons are project based, so kids can create their very first website one step at a time, right in the browser. With simple tasks, fun graphics, and clear direction older kids will become coding pros in no time.

8. Hackety Hack

This program teaches Ruby to kids with no previous programming experience. Using tools called Shoes http://shoesrb.com/, kids can create interactive graphics and games.

9. Girls Who Code

Your kids may think it’s silly to make a gender distinction (that’s so 20th Century), but if your daughter is more apt to learn in the company of other women, Girls Who Code is a great option. This group is helping young women learn robotics, web design, and mobile development through clubs currently offered in schools and libraries throughout the US. A summer immersion program is offered in five cities.

10. IDTech Programming Camps for Kids

For kids in the 13 to 18 age range, a camp provides a fun and immersive way to learn a coding skill. IDTech offers two-week camps in a handful of states, with topics on everything from programming to engineering to robotics using a variety of coding languages.

Amazing Ways of Future Technolgy, Are Going To Be Mind-Blowing

 

We are living in an extremely exciting time in terms of science and technology. Things that have always been considered science fiction are becoming normal day-to-day components of our lives. And while we have been seeing invention after breakthrough over and over in the last couple of decades, this next ten years is going to blow everything else out of the water.

The awesome thing about all these scientific discoveries it that they create technology that allows us to make more breakthroughs even faster. Our ability to innovate is increasing exponentially as the years go by. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this reality, here are 10 amazing innovations to different sectors of life. They should give you a pretty good idea of what changes will be made by 2020.

1) Bio Technology

Bionic Hand controlled by brain signals

Okay, it doesn’t let you crush rocks like you would think, BUT it does allow people without fingers to have fully functional hands that can pick up and handle delicate objects. It is completely controlled by the brain and requires no surgery. Touch Bionics, the company the produces the Pro Digits hand, is able to install the hand complete with “living skin,” a plastic covering resembling human skin, for under $50,000. A small price to pay for a new hand I think.

2) Architecture

Revolving Tower in Dubai

While Dubai is currently known for it’s ridiculous extravagance, developers in the region are building a tower that has fancy and extremely practical applications.

This beautiful building is going to be made of 59 independently rotating modules/floors so that inhabitants will have a constantly shifting view of the outside world. Each floor will rotate at approximately 6 meters per minute so that the inhabitants will not notice the movement. The independent rotations will also give the building an ever-changing exterior that can warp into very complex designs.

All of that aesthetic stuff is great and all, but the real innovation comes from the wind turbines built in between each floor. The resulting pollution-free energy will be enough to power the tower and several buildings in the surrounding area. Just Wow.

3) Computer Speed, Size and Usability

Speed

Most people tech-nerds know of Moore’s Law from 1965 (the number of transistors we are able to cheaply put in computer chips doubles every year, thereby doubling the speed).  However, most people don’t know that Moore, himself, came out and said his law will most likely fail finally in 2020 where the number of transistors we can put on chips will be limited by the laws of physics. Does this mean the exponential rise in computer processing speed will come to a halt in ten years?

Not a chance, says Jim Tully, chief of research for semi-conductors at Gartner. “The technology which will replace this is a bottom-up approach, where chips will be assembled using individual atoms or molecules, a type of nanotechnology.”

Ray Kurzweil Robots, a well-respected Futurist, stated in 2008 that when this molecular computing technology comes out in 2020, computers will have the intellectual capability of human beings. You might want to digest that for a minute before moving onto the next section.

Size and Usability

That Macbook Air is pretty damn thin. So thin, in fact, that it makes you wonder if physical computers will even exist in 2020. Well according to developers at Intel, the keyboard and mouse surely won’t. Who needs QWERTY when you can control a computer with your mind?

“We’re trying to prove you can do interesting things with brain waves,” said Intel researcher Dean Pomerleau. “Eventually people may be willing to be more committed … to brain implants. Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.”

Pomerleau and countless research groups around the world are working with brain scanning devices to map blood flow in the brain. They have found that when different individual focus on the same image, they have very similar patterns of blood flow in their brains. For example, one British group announced that they could discern where subjects where in a computer generated virtual environment by looking at where blood flowed in their brains.

4) Cars and Fuel

There are tons of different fuel-types for the “automobiles of tomorrow” but the only kind that seems to have any realistic chance of actually being used by the masses in the next ten years is electric. We still can’t figure out how to make hydrogen fuel cells efficient, safe and practical and hybrids/deisal cars are yesterday’s news. Fossil fuels are so 2009…

This is the Tesla Model S sedan that will be coming out in 2011 for the modest price of $57,000 (very good for a luxury, electric car).

Besides the sexy curves, you get 160, 230 or 300 miles per charge depending on the battery size you choose. And another small detail, it goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds while seating 7 people.

So despite all of the automaker’s best attempts at making alternative-fuel cars so hideous that no one would ever buy them, it looks like market competition will soon push some very attractive and efficient cars onto the market.

5) How We Interact With the World

 The way in which we interact with the outside world has changed SO much since the introduction of the internet, smart phones, etc. In the very near future, another huge jump will be made: integrating the information on the internet with our surroundings.

By that I mean being able to look at a building, product or place and immediately seeing information about the subject on our devices and eventually just with our eyes.

If you’re still confused as to what I mean, check out the earliest innovation of this concept, Goggles by Google. This app allows you to take a picture of whatever you are looking at and instantly receive info about it on your Android phone.

Goggle is only scratching at the surface of this technology. Kurzweil says that “By 2020 we’ll routinely have pop ups in our visual field of view that give us background about the people and places that we’re looking at.” Your memory and the vast information bank of the internet will be one at all times.

Until we can do this with a chip in our brain, a new device has come out that overlays video onto our normal vision using special glasses. It’s called the Vuzix display Wrap 920AR and it goes on sale soon for around $800.

6) Energy

Solar energy will soon leave fossil fuels and inefficient wind farms in the dust. According to Kurzweil, “the cost per watt of solar energy is coming down rapidly and the total amount of solar energy is growing exponentially. It has in fact been doubling every two years for the past  20 years and is now only eight doublings away from meeting all of the world’s energy needs.”

Emerging technology from a company called Sandia is making the reality that much closer:

Sandia’s solar cells are made of 100 times less material than the current top solar cells while operating at the same efficiency. Since the biggest hurdle in the path of solar power is the expensive and large nature of solar panels, these new microscopic cells will make a huge difference. For example, current panels are massive and require large motors to move them to track the sun. Sandia’s cells, on the other hand, would only need to be moved a fraction of a millimeter to track the sun efficiently while weighing next to nothing.

Even more amazing, they can be suspended in liquids and printed on flexible materials, allowing the cells to be places on any surface. What if your entire car was covered in these powerhouses? Bye bye, Chevron.

7) Health

While we still can’t cure the common cold, custom-made organs are just around the corner.

A company called Organovo has developed the first commercial 3-D bio printer that builds custom organs cell-by-cell. Each individual cell is based upon sample cells from the body of the customer. Organovo reports that veins and arteries will be available in 5 years, and more complex organs like hearts and livers in 10.

On a more general note, nanotechnology is revolutionizing the health world. The awesome combination of a higher understanding of how DNA works and the ability to create very small cellular parts is painting a very bright future for medicine.

Scientists are finding specific sequences of DNA that code for conditions like schizophrenia, autism and even aging. The cures are actually in sight.

8) Success and Popularity Accessibility

 

By that, I mean the ability of a Joe Nobody to come from nowhere and suddenly gain recognition and become a well known someone. The internet has been continually leveling the playing field so that you don’t need million in capital or marketing to get your ideas, creations and business into the spotlight.

10 year-olds are making thousands off their viral YouTube videos. Anyone with a business idea can start a website and get going for little to no capital. Even Twitter (which I am not a big fan of) can launch people into the spotlight if they can work the system in the right way.

Many people are getting huge jobs because companies are seeing how well their content does on the web. For example, Fede Alvarez, a director from Uruguay, recently had this short film go viral and was offered $30 million from a Hollywood company to direct a film for them.

The internet is the perfect tool for capitalism, entrepreneurship, and dreaming. Whatever you can dream up, you can make possible on the World Wide Web.

9) Robots

                             

The first decade of the 21st century has been a remarkable time for innovation in robotics. While we’re still far away from having bots helping around the house or doing our construction, big strides have been made towards that future.

Recently a robot was able to teach itself human facial expressions by randomly contorting its face and receiving feedback on what resembled real expressions.

Here’s another robot called BigDog that came out a couple of years ago, but if you haven’t seen the video, you really should. It’s a 4-legged robot that can navigate difficult terrain and correct its balance when shoved. If you can’t watch the whole video, at least fast-forward to 1:50 where the robot can be seen running and jumping.

And finally here is the bipedal version of BigDog that walks heel-to-toe just like humans do. Again, it can regain balance when shoved.

10) Clothing

Nanotechnology in Clothing

– Nano-fibres will make garments tremendously more comfortable and durable. “By this process the textile products can be made more attractive, strong and responsive to customers’ choice.”

– Fiber-based nanogenerators will build up electrical energy in clothing from physical movement, ultrasonic waves and even blood flow. “If we can combine many of these fibers in double or triple layers in clothing, we could provide a flexible, foldable and wearable power source that, for example, would allow people to generate their own electrical current while walking.”

– Extremely hydrophobic (water-resistant) nanofilaments allow for completely waterproof clothing. It can be submerged in water for two months and still remain dry to the touch. “The water comes to rest on the top of the nanofilaments like a fakir sitting on a bed of nails.”

Color Harmony: Why Hulk Wears Purple Pants

Color Wheel

Color harmony is based on the concept of a color wheel. You can study up on the history of it here. Essentially, it is a wheel with all the colors formed in a circle. Primary colors are on three equally distanced points of the wheel. Typically these are Red, Blue and Yellow. In the field of painting, where the color wheel originated, these three primary colors were used to mix almost all other colors. In modern printing these are replaced with Magenta, Cyan and Yellow. Black is thrown in to create darker colors, thus C, M, Y, K.

Between the three primary colors on the wheel are their mixed colors—purple between red and blue, orange between red and yellow, green between yellow and blue. Theoretically, all colors feels somewhere on the wheel.

The wheel represents color in a circle. Closer to the middle of the circle, colors are less pure. At the outer edge of the circle, they are more pure and more saturated. In 3D representations of the color wheel, one might add darkness and lightness separate from saturation. The thing that is important to know in color harmony is that how dark or light or how saturated colors are does not affect their position on the wheel. Orange can range from a dark brown, to a bright orange to a pale skin tone. All of these are ORANGE when it comes to the color wheel.

Key Color

After the color wheel itself, the next important thing to understand is the key color. The key color is the most important color of your design. It is the color you can’t change or the color of the element you want to draw attention to. If you are doing a painting of the Hulk, your key color is green as it is the color you can’t change. If you are doing a photograph of a person, then their skin tone is your key color. If you are doing product photography, then the color of your product is the key color.

When determining your color harmony, you need to first determine your key color. From there, you can look at the various types of harmony and see which one you like best or which best suits your design.

Types of Harmony

There are 5 types of color harmony:

1) Direct Harmony: 

This is the most basic harmony. It is a point opposite to the key color on the wheel. This “opposite” color is referred to as the complementary color and thus the direct harmony can also be called the complementary harmony. Virtually all color harmonies (except Analogous) are a variation of the direct harmony. It is the reason the wheel exists as opposed to a different kind of chart.

The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look especially when used at full saturation but can be jarring if not managed properly. This is the most common color scheme and is easy to find in all sorts of designs. Hulk’s green color has purple as its complementary color—which is the reason he wears purple shorts. Red and green are the Christmas colors and also happen to be complementary colors to each other.  In photography, blue is considered the best color to put behind a person as it is the complementary color to skin tone.

Complementary color schemes are tricky to use in large doses, but work well when you want something to stand out. Complementary colors are really bad for text as both colors have a similar “strength” and will fight for attention.

2) Split Complementary: 

Rather than the point opposite the key color on the wheel, the split complementary takes the two colors directly on either side of the complementary color. This allows for a nicer range of colors while still not deviating from the basic harmony between the key color and the complementary color.

This color scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less tension.  The split complimentary color scheme is a safe choice for virtually any design as it is near impossible to mess up and always looks good.

3) Triadic Harmony: 

Also called Triadics or Triads. This refers to the color two spaces to either side of the key color’s complement. Essentially, with the triadic harmony, you are using three equally distanced colors on the color wheel. As such, you’re stretching the basic idea of color harmony and thus this harmony is best used with only touches of color.

Too much of each color and your design appears to have too many colors and can be too vibrant.

To use a triadic harmony successfully, the colors should be carefully balanced—let one color dominate and use the two others for accent. Or, desaturate all your colors and only use the triadic colors in small spots or touches.

4) Analogous Harmony: 

Also referred to as related colors, these are the colors directly on the left and right of your key color. They usually match up quite well and create a serene and comfortable design. While this color harmony can be pleasing to the eye, it can also come across as monotone. If you are going for a design that’s primarily one color, this is a good choice. 

5) Tetradic Harmony: 

Similar to the Triadic, except that there are four points, all equally distanced on the color wheel. This is a color harmony I’ve only seen mentioned in more recent texts on the subject of color harmony. In my earlier post on this subject, I didn’t even include it. My personal opinion is that a design using this isn’t really using color harmony and is instead using every color on the color wheel. Or, where done more subtly, it is a design simply using two sets of complementary colors.

That being said, this harmony is good when you have numerous elements that all need to stand out on their own—such as a poster that features 4 or more characters. By using colors equally distant on the color wheel, each character gets equal attention.