Category: courses

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Scratch Course for Sunflower team from Rajashtan

~Saranya

Tamara Moss visited our STEM land in February. She is running Sunflower Learning C enter in Rajashtan. When she visited STEM land she was inspired by children’s projects in scratch. She wanted their children from SLC also want to learn scratch programming. There were 3 teachers and one student  from Rajashtan. STEM land facilitators, two of us (Saranya and Muralidharan).

Day 1 :

We started with the tasks. First, we want them to understand about scratch, so we asked them to drag the code and click on now you say what is happening?. It was like conversation then they got whatever the command that they are dragging the sprite is doing it. Finally, they found that. Then we gave the first task to tell a story.

Here is the outcome which we got from them.

Day 2:

The task 2 was interacting with computer by asking questions (general knowledge question). We explained what we are going to do, but we didn’t do it. We asked them  to try. When they struggled we helped them.

Here is the outcome which we received from them.

Day 3:

We want to make different shapes which are related to Mathematics. This task also we didn’t do it. We want them to think about it and we got their suggestion of how to draw a circle. Before this we explained about all the blocks in the scratch. Then we showed the demo of how to draw a circle by using that they played a lot also they got those different shapes.

Here is the outcome of this task.

Day 4:

It was continuing the last session. When they completed all the shapes we asked them to use the control function to repeat the shapes. They did that task also they got different Mandala’s. It was very nice.

Here is the outcome of this task.

Day 5:

We gave Maze game task to them. Before  doing, we explained about backdrops and filling colour in the backdrops also we  a gave small demo to make a Maze game. They were very excited to make maze game. Finally, they did the maze game also they have used scores. They learnt to use data blocks in the scratch.

Here is the outcome of this task.

Day 6:

We continued with Maze game to add life in their game. This was the last task for them. They did the life by using data blocks. Then we told them how to use write expression, arc sprite and why it is being used. We asked them use hep function to get more clarity on what they have learned. It is like tutorials. Also we had 15 min questions for clarity.

Here is their feedback for the scratch course.

New Doc 2019-03-09 14.36.28_3

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New Doc 2019-03-09 14.36.28

 

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Scratch course in Thamarai learning Centre

In Thamarai Learning Centre  STEM land team offered a basic scratch course in the evening for 5 days from 5.30 PM  to 7 PM. The facilitator in that centre didn’t know about scratch so they also joined  the course. There were about 15 children and 4 facilitators.

Day 1:
First day we introduced the different blocks and its function in scratch. Children started to explore and were excited in exploring the different options in Scratch. We have asked the children to create 10 question and answers. Then we introduced how to have a conversation between two people. Initially we showed them how to make a conversation with the 10 question. Slowly children started doing it on their own. They learnt to use ‘sensing’ and ‘=’ operators to ask 10 questions. When the wrong answer is typed, the same question should be asked again until the user gives the correct answer.

Day 2&3:
We introduced the pen function and motion function. Using these functions we showed them how to draw with and object and also to move a objects. Once when they were able to finish we had asked them to draw a triangle. They didn’t want to give up and after 15 minutes they figured it out. Then we asked them to draw a square, pentagon,hexagon, heptagon, octagon. Then they were able to draw different types of mandalas using ‘rotate’ block.

Day 4&5:
We had introduced children hoe to build a maze game. We showed how to move a object when a key is pressed. Children worked in pairs with each other to create a maze path in the backdrop image. They were able to use sensing function and also become familiar with motion function.

Everyday we asked children to sit in a circle at end of the session for 10 minutes. We asked them to share one thing that they learnt in the session. All the children share something that they learnt.

Most of the children loved and enjoyed building their own game. This created confidence in children that they can make many things using scratch.

To learn Scratch     Click here

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Raspberry pi course

In STEM land a person from Auroville came to the iSMART class to conduct a course about raspberry pi course. Initially I dont know how to use raspberry pi. I was curious to learn raspberry pi. I also learnt the differences and advantages between Arduino and Raspberry pi. I learnt the different pin functions and the number of pins on a raspberry pi board. Day 1&2 was fully theory session which was boring.

In order to make it interesting I started ask many question to the teacher and the session was engaged by the participants. What really was interesting in the course was that the Arduino can’t drive a relay but with a raspberry pie we can drive a relay. One the teacher told that a relay can be driven by rapberry, he had a relay module but he couldn’t drive it. I took as a challenge and struggled for two days and I figured it to drive a relay. We made a small circuit with 2 LED where when the relay is on one of that LED will turn on and when the relay is off the other LED will turn on.

      

After this the teacher was also very happy and he also learnt something from us. Then the next challenge was that to send and to receive inputs from a raspberry pi to a web page.The teacher had asked who knows web page development.

             

Since I learnt Django web framework in STEM land, I was able to connect What I knew with what I lean now.  So I had asked him to show an example how to pass inputs from raspberry to a web page. Then finally in the last class we were able to complete all the task that we planed to accomplish in the course. Now I have some knowledge about raspberry pi and also I can build something with it.

To learnt about raspberry pi visit this link      Click here

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Raspberry Pi Documentation

~Saranya

The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python.

What you will need

The Raspberry Pi ships as just the single-board minicomputer. There are a few additional components you will need before you can get started. So, when making your purchase, keep in mind that you’ll need the following extras.

  • Raspberry Pi zero
  • 5V micro-USB power supply
  • USB keyboard
  • USB mouse
  • microSD card(8GB or 16GB)
  • A monitor that supports HDMI
  • An HDMI cable
  • Wi-Fi dongle

Step 1: Reformat your microSD card

When the reformat is complete, you will get a notification window. Select OK to close the window.

Step 2: Download the Raspberry pi 

There is two different version that we learnt one is Terminal version another one is Desktop version. Here is the link to download Terminal version and Desktop version:  https://www.balena.io/etcher/      and  https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/

Here is the image for the page to download the Raspberry pi.

Terminal Version:

After installing it will ask your username and password. Then check your IP Address by typing this command if config ……

Step 3: Set up your Raspberry Pi

  • Insert the microSD card into the card slot on the underside of the Raspberry Pi.
  • Plug the USB keyboard into one of the USB ports.
  • Plug the USB mouse into one of the USB ports.

  • Turn on your monitor.
  • Plug the HDMI into the monitor.
  • Connect the other end of the cable into the Raspberry Pi.
  • Connect the power supply to the Raspberry Pi.

Once the installation process is finished, Raspbian will automatically begin to boot(Desktop version).

Step 5: Configure your Raspberry Pi

When Raspbian begins to load a bunch of lines of code will appear. This will continue until the boot process has completed. Then, the Raspbian Home screen will appear. You will need to configure your Raspberry Pi system in order to add your location, date, and time.

  • Click Menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
  • Select Preferences in the dropdown menu.
  • Select Raspberry Pi Configuration under Preferences.
  • When the configuration window appears, click on the Localisation tab.
  • Click on Set Locale… to set your location.
  • Click on Set timezone… to set your local time.
  • Click on Set Keyboard… to set your keyboard language.

  • Reconfiguring your Raspberry Pi will require a reboot. When the reboot window appears, click Yes to continue.

 

We did LED blink by connecting IP address. We accessed that LED in remote location it was like if we forgot to turn off the A/C. Wherevr we are by using raspberry pi we can turn it off the A/C. Here is the code for turn on and turn off the LED.

Once the terminal version installation process is finished, Raspbian will automatically ask username and password(Terminal version). Remining process please follow this video.

 

 

 

 

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Learning scratch

The 7th graders (2018-2019 batch) had stepped in for their Mathematics class for the first time in STEMland this year.  They took their own time and became familiar with filling their weekly plan and updates on the laptops. They saw their seniors work on projects and were eager to learn, some of them took the courage to approach and did learn a few blocks in scratch and got the feel of it, but had a little hard time on expanding their code. They often started to play around with the back ground painting and changing colors of sprites, but the coding part was still a little confusing.

The previous batches had a guidance course into scratch and that had kicked started their projects.  I had thought to do something of this type and get the current batch flexible with programming too. Then as a team we decided to create diversity in the class and put up an announcement for all those who were interested in attending the course to sign up. 5th graders from Isaimambalam had shown interest and 8th graders from Udavi along with the interns in STEMLand the course began.

All the participants were eager to code and make the computer do what they want rather the vice versa. Pairs were made on a mix up of boys and girls, young ones and elders, interns and students. Each day started with a focused goal and how to broaden it when attained and make the program more flexible. Girls were eager in writing their scripts and explaining their program at the end of day or beginning of the next session on the main screen. Some children did not want to move on to the next task unless they had completed the current one to their satisfaction, and took extra time and involved in making their program more stable.

Through the course the children had learnt to use the pen function and through this draw regular shapes. Once they knew the basics they made the same program dynamic and used ‘for loops’ to show all the shapes starting from an equilateral triangle to square, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon.

The children had learnt importing and exporting of sprites (arc function to draw arcs in practical geometry, writing sprites to print on the screen)

Then they were divided into teams and created a game based on sensing objects or colors (similar to a maze game but when sprite touches a wall or unwanted object the game resets)

The children were given feedback forms, and the reflections were showing that they all are more confident now than before in doing projects with scratch. They also mentioned as teams they were able to learn and help each other more.

Towards the end all children had made a number of projects to show what they had learned through the course. This was a stepping stone for them to continue and make projects based on their curriculum to project their mastery over a concept.

At present the children have come up with new projects, e.g. Abinash, Shakthikannan have created projects in measurements. While Murali took it to the next level and is doing a project from out of his syllabus (a+b+c)^2. This has inspired others and Guna sundari, Yuvan, Jeeva, Jannani, Anisha have started to expand from (a+b)^2

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WordPress course

Day 1

# What is WordPress

WordPress is an open source, free to use Content Management System. It was initially designed and build to support emerging bloggers to
effectively communicate the message to larger audience by focusing more on the content and reduce the time investment required to code a new page for every single post.

# What is a domain & a server

A web domain is an ip address with human readable name mask that points to your website when a user types it in the web browser.
A domain is just a name available on the web to point to the directory where you keep your website, to build that directory you need a web server.

# Download and install Local server –

– Xampp – https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
– Wamp – http://www.wampserver.com/en/

# Setting up database and db_user

Once we download and install Xampp/Wampp server, we need to create a new database. To do it easily, we run the xampp/wampp server, then in the web browser we type – localhost/phpmyadmin or localhost:8080/phpmyadmin

In phymyadmin look for the option create database. Give it a unique name and for language, select collection and hit the create database button.

# Installing WordPress

– Go to – https://wordpress.org and download the latest available version of the WordPress.
– Unzip the files into your htdocs folder

# WordPress folder hierarchy

———————–
| htdocs/www | ————- This is your web server’s root directory.
———————–
|
|
|
———————
|WordPress/public_html| ————- This is your web site’s home directory.
———————
| \
| \
| \
| \
| \
| —-=> This is where all your need to Extract all data
| from the .zip file we downloaded from wordpress.org

Day 2

Go to your home page

Appearance → Themes

Download themes from online.

Plugins →support theme to avoid spam activate it.

Search for install plugin

setup mail → install and activate sends email

For page builder

search for elementor pro. Download and extract it under

Xampp/ htdocs/wordpress/ wp-content/ plugins

Day 3

Download Oceanwp

Themes-→Addnew → upload themes

Check if you have style.css in your extracted oceanwp

If you have it compress oceanwp to zip file and upload it

If you get an error php.ini

Go to xampp/htdocs/wordpress/wp_config

Add a line Define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’,’256M’);

Above /* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.*/

Stop Apache and start it again

If you get the same error again

Go to xampp/php/php.ini

Find

1) memory_limit set it to 512M

2) max_input_time set it to -1

3) max_execution_time set it to 30

4) upload_max_filesize set it to 512M

Stop Apache and start again

choose file → oceanwp1.15.zip → install now

Activate the theme and bigin installing plugins

Click install on ocean extra

Download and extract wptest.io . It is a demo data for wordpress

Dashboard → tools → import→ wordpress → install now → Run importer → choose file → wptest_master → wptest.XML doc → open upload file and import → select all as admin

select download and import file attachments and submit

Dahboard → appearance → menus

Theme panel select themes and save changes.

To set Logo

Browse online for freepick or freelogo and download

To change font and style

Typography → choose options