Designing for GreenFab @ ITP

Last summer I really wanted the chance to teach interactive technology to kids. Thanks to a tip from ex-professor, Marianne Petit, I was lucky enough to find the perfect company to work for. At Vision Education, I've since had the diverse experiences of teaching:

• Lego robotics to over 30 kindergartners
  
• Scratch video game design to several classes of 2nd graders and middle schoolers
• Physical computing to over 45 high schoolers
• Educational software to over 100 high new york public school teachers
  

Now I get to try another group. Graduate students. Not just any graduate students, but Interactive Telecommunications Program students. I'm honored and excited to be able to teach at my alma mater with such a diverse and talented group of second year students. After 6 years of paying tuition to NYU, I finally get some of it back!

Here is the syllabus for the course I am co-teaching with Chris Cerrito at ITP, Designing for GreenFab. I can't thank Chris enough for proposing this class in the first place.

Designing for Greenfab
H79.2872.1, 2-credit internship Assorted Mondays, in rm 442 @ ITP and @ Greenfab

Facilitators
Jaymes Dec
Christian Cerrito

Description
During the course of this two credit internship, ITP students will develop, test, and teach workshops to the students of GreenFab, South Bronx, a hands on high school program that aims to teach science, technology, and engineering skills through coursework in both sustainable design and green technologies. ITP students will be asked to design small, creative, inexpensive, kit-able activities to be utilized in reinforcing Greenfab's core curriculum and mission. Topics of discussion will include the application of physical computing in regards to secondary education, creative uses of sustainable technologies, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum development, user testing, and open source hardware and software tools. During the semester seven meetings will be held both at ITP and at GreenFab's facilities in the South Bronx.

Grading will be based on the following: The completion of a workshop activity and the submission of accompanying curriculum, class attendance (both at ITP and Greenfab, especially important with so few class sessions), and participation during in class discussions and evaluations. In addition to time spent working together in class, students will be expected to work independently, 4-6 hours per week (standard for a 2 credit internship), in developing and refining their workshops and ideas.

Additionally, students will be expected to blog weekly about both their progress and experiences in relation to this internship.

Workshop Activity Guidelines and Accompanying Curriculum
You will work in small groups to develop and test a three-hour activity for the GreenFab students (activity should be designed for 15 - 30 students, depending on number of ITP groups). At the final meeting (11/29) groups must hand in a final curriculum document that includes:

Activity Objectives / Skills Learned

• What are the goals of the activity?
• What are they supposed to be learning?
  

Complete List of Materials and Tools Needed

• Everything needed for activity
  
• Recommendations for materials sourcing

Recommended Classroom Setup

• For students (Up to 15 - 30 students) and teacher

Supporting Resources

• Websites
• Illustrations
• Examples

Introduction Questions

• How should the teacher introduce the activity?

Full Activity Description

• Step by step directions

Closing Discussion

• How should the teacher close the activity?

Other Final Assignment Guidelines
Curriculum document should be written for teachers, not students
Must include detailed instructions and documentation
Total cost should not exceed $10.00 per student (compounded for group activities)
Should allow for individual creativity/exploration of the topic presented

(9/13) CLASS 1 @ ITP: Class overview & personal introductions
All about Greenfab ITP and Greenfab (where you come in) Workshop expectations Greenfab’s resources and examples of the current curriculum In class activity: Evaluating GRL’s LED Throwie Tutorial
CLASS 1 ASSIGNMENT : Tutorial Evaluation/Expansion (BLOG BY CLASS 2, 9/27, AND PRESENT IN CLASS 3 ON 10/18): Using a resource such as instructables.com, MAKE online, Arduino.cc, Sketchup.google.com, www.inkscape.org, or Processing.com, find a tutorial that interests you, and do it. Make something hardware or software based to present in class in two weeks while documenting the entire process. Evaluate the author’s writing style, the quality of instruction, and the tutorials final outcome. Discuss how the tutorial and final product could be improved/expanded upon...What would you do differently?

(9/27) CLASS 2 @ Greenfab:
Directions from ITP to GreenFab 841 Barretto St, Bronx NY Orientation at Greenfab at 1:15 (Leave ITP 12:30):
Meet the kids, tour the facilities, and participate in Greenfab’s student orientation.
CLASS 2 ASSIGNMENT : Experiences at Greenfab/Workshop Ideas (BLOG BY CLASS 3, 10/18, AND PRESENT YOUR WORKSHOP IDEAS IN CLASS 3 ON 10/18): Blog about your experiences while at Greenfab. Start brainstorming/prototyping ideas for your workshop. Include a rough materials list and cost outline.

(10/18) CLASS 3 @ ITP:
Present your Tutorial Evaluation/Expansion Assignment from class one, and outline your workshop ideas. Workshop topics will be discussed and evaluated by the class as a whole. Present a preliminary parts/materials list.
CLASS 3 ASSIGNMENT: Teach in 20 (DUE BY CLASS 4, 10/25):
Teach one aspect/section of your proposed workshop in 20 minutes. Present both instructions and a live demo of your activity (you will be evaluated in class on your teaching style, clarity of instruction, overall organization, etc.) Make sure to fully complete your lesson within the 20 minute time frame! Be sure to blog about your process.

(10/25) CLASS 4 @ ITP:
Present your Teach in 20 with class feedback. Finalize dates for workshop presentations at Greenfab. CLASS 4 ASSIGNMENT: FULLY DEVELOP AND USER TEST YOUR WORKSHOP (BLOG AND PRESENT BY CLASS 5, 11/8) Expand upon your activity instructions and finalize your curriculum and parts list. Before class 5, perform initial user tests of your workshop, with non-ITP students, if possible. Blog about your experiences.

(11/8) CLASS 5 @ ITP:
Present and discuss user testing results and the strengths and weaknesses of your proposed curriculum. Utilize the resources/collective brain power of the class in putting the finishing touches on your activity.
CLASS 5 ASSIGNMENT: FINAL WORKSHOP PREPARATIONS!!! Put the final touches on your curriculum, and prep your materials. Get ready to teach!

(Either 11/15 or 11/22) TEACH YOUR WORKSHOP @ Greenfab
Be sure to fully document the process, and end results, in whatever way that you deem appropriate.

FINAL ASSIGNMENT (PRESENT DURING CLASS 7, 11/29): Utilizing the materials that you’ve developed, as well as the documentation of your activity, prepare a 15-20 minute final presentation about the curriculum that you’ve developed and the work that you’ve accomplished. Be sure to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of your activity, as well as possible improvements.

(11/29) FINAL PRESENTATIONS @ ITP: Final presentations, and feedback from guests.

If you read all the way through the whole thing, let me know what you think in the comments. I'm really excited. If my students take this seriously we should have some great new activities to teach kids how fun DIY tech can be! I wish they offered this class when I was at ITP.

Winter Round Up

Hello internets. Sorry I've been MIA. Blogging is a whole lot harder than it's name implies. It sounds so casual.

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last post 161 days ago! So I thought I'd try to do a general round-up (with pictures!) of my first semester at GreenFab and then what we've been doing during this Spring semester. Hopefully I'll be posting more often for reasons that may become clear in my next post.

After our turbine demonstrations, we introduced the fundamentals of electricity and circuit building. On breadboards, we built simple circuits with batteries, a switch and various actuators: LEDs, buzzers motors, etc...We introduced resistors to the circuit and measured the difference in voltage with multimeters. We discussed voltage and resistance.

The next class, we introduced the ideas of varying resistance and Ohm's Law. We discussed several types of variable resistors. The students introduced potentiometers and photocells into their circuits from the last class. We measured the varying resistance with multimeters and observed the dimming/brightening of LEDs. We talked about different types of sensors and discussed the difference between analog and digital sensors.

The following class, we talked about transistors: what they are and why they are so damn useful! We built a simple nightlight circuit using a transistor and photocell. We looked at the schematic of the circuit and followed the path of electrons (not literally) in a dark room and a light room. I found this to be a very helpful exercise for me in understanding how a more complex circuit can work.

In the next activity we introduced voltage regulators and capacitors and showed how to use them in circuits. Over the course of a few classes, the students built their own battery powered USB charger circuits, first on breadboard, then soldered to perfboard. We discussed each step along the way including the history and beauty of USB.

For the next few sessions, we changed pace and learned InkScape, an open source vector drawing program. This was helpful for me, because I have not done much work with vector drawing. We designed and built windmills and tested them with multimeters with varying degrees of success.

For the last few weeks of the semester, we worked with Arduinos, every hobbyist's favorite microcontroller! I'm not going to dive into the lessons now, because I will be devoting much space here to Arduino in the near future.

At the end of the semester, we had a show that was open to the public for our final student projects. It was a hoot. For pictures from the semester and that show, see below! And come back soon for the Spring round-up!

Students in the Sustainable Design class came up with a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote trees in Hunts Point. Here is one of their laser-cut signs out in the field. These were posted right outside a NYPD station. I was surprised when they stayed up for a few weeks!

This is one corner of the Sustainable Design Lab.
We are really lucky to have spacious facilities with tons of shelf space.

And we have great equipment donated by MIT's FabLab initiative.
In the foreground is out Laser Cutter and in the background, our bandsaw.

Some plants germinating on the windowsill of the Sustainable Design Lab.

Every two weeks the Resident Researchers from ITP come up to GreenFab to help facilitate an afternoon activity. Here is Kacie demonstrating proper setup of helping hands. The following few pictures were taken during a Solar Robot project that Chris Cerrito designed.

I hope nobody is offended if I point out that the girls tend to be much better at soldering and following directions.

This is the top of the robot that the students were building...

...and the bottom.
When light is shined on the solar panel, the pager motors on the bottom pulse and make the robot skitter across the ground.

Students hard at work on their robots.

A student showing off impeccable soldering technique.

This activity was done in the Green Tech Lab, where I teach. There I am with long hair.

Pretty lights...

These pictures were taken during the final project show. Here is one of my students with a remote controlled robot he built.

The number of lit lights on this box changed according to light levels over the box.
So if you wave your hand over it, the lights magically respond.

One of my students made a pong controller to control Tom Igoe's Pong Client from Making Things Talk. Great book. Go get it!

Carlos, the Sustainable Design teacher playing with the light box.

A student demonstrating his alarm box. Reaching into this box to take the dollar bill at the bottom would result in your hand breaking a laser beam and setting off an alarm. Ha!

The students from the Sustainable Design class collaborated on some environmental design precedent studies on the the wall and their own design for an eco-friendly building below.

Another funny alarm project.
This one used a motion sensor to detect when people were in the hallway and set off a buzzer.

What a great experience I had my first semester!