Last month was the annual Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek). CSEdWeek is dedicated to inspiring K-12 students to take interest in computer science. 

The CREATE Lab Satellite Network and our friends at the ABC CREATE network (Alle-Kiski Best Practice Collaborative CREATE Lab Satellite Hub) celebrated the week with various events and activities. Below are some of the highlights and ways to look back at the week. 

All students at Curtisville participated on Days 1,2,3.  They also did Hour of Code using Code.org, Kodable, and Tynker. Tynker also gives them several age-appropriate tutorial options such as: 

Our new Satellite at Georgia Tech, CEISMC, is looking for someone who wants to make an impact on education and tech fluency, 

The new full-time Program Director will focus on K-12 outreach. Responsibilities will include managing and leading development, budgeting, implementation, and technology programs for teachers and students. They will also provide program leadership in the administration of state and district education partnerships. 

To see a full job description and apply, click here.

If you smell it, you breathe it.

Unfortunately, pollution from industrial plants, diesel exhaust and wood smoke in Allegheny County still poses a significant threat, making the air we breathe dirty and people in our communities sick. People living in SW Pennsylvania have a significantly higher risk of developing cancer due to this exposure. Our air was ranked 8th worst in the United States in 2016 by the American Lung Association.

Foul odors outside may indicate a serious pollution problem in your community. If your air smells toxic, then it is possible that you are inhaling toxins.

Now, there is something simple you can do to help improve our air. Download and use the new Smell PGH app, which allows you to report foul odors directly to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) so they can better monitor and act on these incidents of bad smelling air. The app also includes a compelling visualization of smell reports across Pittsburgh, so you can see the widespread impact of poor odors in our community.

Smell PGH, created by Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab in collaboration with many Pittsburgh partners,  crowdsources smell reports so that air pollution across Pittsburgh can be tracked through our experiences with poor odors. The app is easy to install and it only takes seconds to submit a smell report.

The Drake House in Atlanta explores the Hummingbird Robotics Kit

"The training I received during the Nearby Nature project held at the IU1 Learning Center in California, PA, was awesome...The abundance of resources provided to participants in this two day professional development was like no other," Howard E. Johnson, Charleroi Area Middle School.

On July 21 and 22, IU1 kicked off the first Nearby Nature Professional Development with 6 teachers from surrounding school districts. Throughout the two-day workshop, teachers learned how to incorporate CREATE and other technologies into their classrooms to get students exploring their outdoor environments.  Read teacher testimonials below.

"The Nearby Nature workshop was extremely interesting and informative. Ryan and Kevin (ASSET) from the CREATE Lab at CMU shared some really great tools that I cannot wait to integrate into my classroom. The Speck will be a great way to promote student thinking about air quality and the Gigapan will be a fun way to start student conversations that can be transformed into meaningful discussions. It can be challenging to motivate students to actively participate in the classroom in an alternative setting. Some of the tools will be great to try to increase our students want to learn, even if they promote awareness and basic principles. Thanks for sharing your tools with us!"

The Microsoft Store in Atlanta recently sponsored a series of free community events introducing robotics to kids 10 years old and up. A maker space environment was set-up along with BirdBrain Technologies’ “HUMMINGBIRD KITs.” This was a great opportunity for students to design, engineer, craft and program robots for the first time! AVez Select, LLC, was the presenter and motivation coach to ‘first time’ roboticists. 

The Microsoft Store supplied Surface Tablets, recycled boxes and art supplies to help unleash animatronic robots.  It was amazing how quickly children were able to program their creatures!

Blog post submitted by Gail K. Tate, Roboticist & Trainer from AVez Select, LLC, and a big fan of BirdBrain Technologies. www.avezselect.com 

If you or someone you know is looking to make an impact through work focused on tech empowerment, two CREATE Lab related projects are now hiring:

Educator: Be a part of our new CREATE Lab Satellite in Atlanta, CEISMC, as their Educational Outreach Manger. This new hire will be directly involved in establishing this new Satellite with program development, implantation, marketing, and more.

Click here for more information, qualifications, and steps to apply.

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Developer: The Lab's spinoff company, AirViz (maker of Speck), is hiring a Firmware Programmer who will develop and manage the interactive code running on the Speck air quality sensor and for new products in their development line.

More information and how to apply can be found here.

Earlier in May the CREATE Lab launched it's latest podcast: CONTEXT. 

If you aren't familiar, the CONTEXT Conference is a forum for informal and formal educators, administrators, community members, and organizations to consider thoughtful implementation of technology in learning environments. CONTEXT first took place in 2015 and will return in 2017. 

CONTEXT, the podcast, will be what happens in between the conferences. For the first few episodes we are going to look back at CONTEXT 2015 before looking ahead at CONTEXT 2017. We’ll be listening in to the audio from actual talks and panels as well as interviews from the speakers themselves.

We launched with a listen party held at WYEP. Check out the event here.

CONTEXT can be found on the following and pretty much anywhere podcasts are available. 

Listen now:
Website
iTunes
Soundcloud
Stitcher
Pocket Casts
Overcast

Below is a set of videos that can guide you through setting up your Speck, understanding online Speck tools and accessing your Speck data.
For more information visit: http://specksensor.com/
(Note: It might be particularly useful to visit the Getting Started and Software pages)

1. Speck Features and Basic Setup

2. Installing the Speck Chrome App

- Windows

- Mac

3. Overview of Speck Chrome App Features

4. Connecting Speck to a Wi-Fi Network

5. Speck Chrome App Settings, including Factory Reset

6. On-Screen Factory Reset for Speck - Versions 16T and Higher

7. Data Upload Configuration

8. Downloading Speck Data

The Children's Innovation Project will be holding their annual Showcase of Innovation and Creativity. Join them for this showcase where children will share learning from the year, including thinking about circuits, noticing and wondering about electronic toys and overall persistence as innovators in the world.

Other learning will also be shared including children's expression through music, visual art, writing, mathematics, scientific inquiry and community-based projects.

Children’s Innovation Project embraces innovation as finding something new inside something known. This frame for innovation allows a slow space for children to find small, authentic discoveries and reflect on themselves in relation to the materials they explore.

WHERE:

Pittsburgh Allegheny K-5

810 Arch Street

Pittsburgh, 1212

WHEN:

Wednesday May 18

5:30-7:30PM