Autumn 2011 Computing in the Curriculum Teacher Conference Computing in the Curriculum Keeps on Grow Ing

COMPUTING AT SCHOOL NEW SLETTER AUTUMN 2011 COMPUTING IN THE CURRICULUM TEACHER CONFERENCE COMPUTING IN THE CURRICULUM KEEPS ON GROW ING

The 3rd CAS annual conference on 24 June was a huge success THE WORD IS OUT with a record number of delegates attending. Over 250 delegates Eric Schmidt of Google‘s address to the MacTaggart lecture in August finally attended the event, kindly hosted brought into public view many of the points CAS members have been making of by the University of Birmingham, late. He was ”flabbergasted to learn that today computer science isn‘t even School of Computing. taught as standard in UK schools‘ and made the point that to teach the use of software rather than insight into how it was made was throwing away our great Keynote presentations were given computing heritage. by leading figures in the field of Computing including: Behind the big media article, the word is out. Concern is widespread among the ñ Karen Brennan from MIT Media IT professional community who see what their children are being taught œ just Lab, the institution that created read the letters page of any of the main IT professional magazines. They are the SCRATCH programming lan- ready to help CAS, they just need to be shown how. guage for 8 - 14 year olds, ñ Professor Steve Furber, Chair of —Your IT curriculum focuses on Our views are increasingly being the Royal Society Advisory panel teaching how to use software, embraced by others. The lobby- and designer of the BBC micro but gives no insight into how it ing work Simon Peyton-Jones ñ Sir Tony Hoare, inventor of the and others are engaged in with Quicksort algorithm is made. That is just throwing BCS, The Chartered Institute for ñ Doug Aberdeen, Google Zurich, away your great computing IT (see p6) is getting us listened gave examples how to demon- heritage.“ to in government with encourag- strate technology in the classroom ing signs. Eric Schmidt In addition the 21 practical work- Google Chairman This has not been achieved with shops, 4 seminars, 5 Forums and just big steps in the press and a session for trainee teachers corridors of power, the little made it a packed day. One steps are important as well. teacher commented, —W ith the Every teacher introducing a new plenaries, workshops and lec- project has an impact. Every tures, I was totally blown away!" school governor that is helped Delegate feedback overall was to understand the issues, helps very positive. "New ideas for us. The work behind the scenes teaching, inspirational speakers, by CAS members is directly so many fantastic ideas!" being driving this change. typical of the positive comments received. Make sure you don‘t Let‘s keep up the good work œ miss next year! Claire Davenport because it is starting to work!

The —Computing At School“ working group (CAS) is a membership association in partnership with BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and supported by Microsoft, Google and others. It aims to support and promote the teaching of computing in UK schools. TW O COMPETITIONS TO PRIMARY SCHOOL ‘LIGHT HARP’ CELEBRATE ALAN TURING The 4th Annual UK Schools Computer USING ARDUINO AND SCRATCH Animation Competition received almost 900 entries from over 150 schools. The 45 Pupils at St Mary's CE School, Albrighton had used lucky winners received their prizes on 1 Scratch before to m ake things happen on-screen. Head- July, at the Animation11 Film Festival and teacher, John Rowe wanted to m ake the connection that Inspirational Computer Science Day, at they could m ake things happen beyond the com puter. The University of Manchester. Over 350 schoolchildren, teachers and parents at- As John says; "Programming can be as creative an activity as anything tended, with afternoon activities including a else, even at primary level". Scratch for Arduino (S4A) enables an Ardu- keynote talk on Animation in Games from ino microcontroller to act as an interface board to connect Scratch to Fred Gill of Electronic Arts, a presentation external sensors and actuators. The native programming environment is about stereo vision, and two rooms of based on the Processing language, but learning a subset of C++ is hands-on workshop activities. A link to the rather beyond the scope of a primary school project. The new-found S4A winning entries and video of the day are in (see supplement) makes things easy to set up and puts the use of Ardu- the supplement. ino within the reach of those likely to be using Scratch with children.

The children at St Mary's quickly learned to program a sprite to move on- Anima- screen. After a very short time they had incorporated push switches tion12 launches in September, with an mounted on the Arduino boards. W e wanted the children to make some- entry deadline of April 2012. New for the thing that worked in the real world, using the microcontroller as an inter- 2012 competition will be a larger set of face for sensing. A Pico board (see below left) would have been ideal for animation programs, and a special Alan this activity, but John was thinking of future activities and wanted to have Turing Centenary Year strand to celebrate a board that offered output as well as reading inputs. Scratch gave them his life and work. W e are also pleased to the means to listen to the microcontroller and read the voltage given on be hosting CAS‘s Code- the pins connected to a light-dependent resistor (LDR); when the LDR Breaker competition, a was put into darkness the voltage dropped. Those of us of a certain age programming chal- may remember some awe and wonder at first seeing Jean Michel Jarre's lenge based on Laser Harp in the 1980‘s. It has the same effect on children in 2011 - Greenfoot to cele- after watching a video of J-MJ they all wanted to make one! So they set brate the Turing Centenary. Further details out a project plan - find out how to make a note play, wire up the LDRs of both competitions on the website. The to the Arduino and make Scratch read the voltage as a trigger for the UK Schools Computer Animation Competi- note. Scratch can only read six pins from the Arduino, but a quick lesson tion is generously funded by Electronic on pentatonic scales and traditional Chinese music set the parameters Arts, Google, NESTA, and The Granada for the final task - Foundation. Toby Howard design and make a light harp to play some sheet music SCRATCH SENSOR BOARDS that I had brought along, courtesy of Karen Brennan, from the MIT Media Lab, Shropshire's music demonstrated some simple ideas using adviser. external sensors in Scratch projects at the CAS Teacher Conference. Initially, Once pupils knew Scratch sold their own Scratchboard via the Scratch number their website but now suggest using the for a note they similar Pico Board which is available from worked out their own various educational suppliers. These have system for pitch. built in light and sound sensors, a slider Chat levels were high as they excitedly passed new ideas between and button plus 4 additional connections to groups. They solved various physical problems, including varying light which various sensors can be attached. levels in the room and not enough differential between ambient light and They connect to the pc via usb. A getting darkness (using a tube over the LDR to make light come in only one started guide gives several projects possi- direction). Oh yes, also make sure the leads connecting the LDR to the ble in primary schools and there is a breadboard are long enough! Alongside the discussion of programming, wealth of ideas available via the Scratch physical problem-solving made them stop, think and negotiate a solu- forums. Links to all are in the supplement. tion. This was real world learning. Dale Jones

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk STUDENTS ENJOY AW E INSPIRING INTRODUCING COMPUTING WITHOUT COMPUTERS TIME AT YOUNG REW IRED STATE Getting to grips with programming can be a daunting task. One of the The idea of YRS is sim ple; firstly get together a bunch of young great strengths of resources like program m ers, an enthusiastic m entor, a welcom ing centre and Scratch, is that they allow stu- som e governm ent open data. Then, let the ingredients do their dents to visually construct logical m agic for 4 days. The result, 43 open governm ent data apps. sequences without worrying about syntax. However, even the best I had no idea what to expect when I way up to the upper age limit of 18. visual language is of little use if signed up, I had previously studied This may seem daunting but the best the student hasn‘t grasped the un- computing at school but this promised thing about the event was how well derlying constructs and related something very different. W here the everyone worked together so that eve- concepts. Paul Curzon, a key inspi- focus in school had often been on ryone was involved. Some of the pro- ration behind CS4FN tackles these organised and well maintained code, jects created throughout the week in ”Computing W ithout Computers‘. Young Rewired State certainly em- were awe-inspiring from the more triv- phasised the need sometimes for the ial to the creation of a social network Available for free download it is a quick and dirty. Living in Kendal, my based around the books in Madlab teachers dream. All the main con- nearest centre was Madlab, Manches- (—W ho says you can't build a social cepts we tend to cover when intro- ter (a hackspace for the digital com- network overnight!“). ducing programming are covered. munity). The approach is to use many varied At the end of the week each centre analogies with which your pupils will Quickly from day one it became ap- travelled down to the Microsoft‘s be familiar. By using everyday ex- parent that there were a wide range of headquarters in London to present amples, he makes computing con- people taking part in these events, their ideas. From absolute novices to cepts accessible to all. If you have some veterans of past YRS events, web development experts Young Re- ever struggled to explain an idea, some people with an experience pro- wired State is a great opportunity if this book will provide a treasure gramming but not in this sense and you want to get started coding and to trove of exemplars. Moreover, Paul some people just eager to learn. It make some great friends. Oh yes, recognises that pupils learn best by should also be noted that there were there is also always a copious amount doing. Interspersed with the expla- people from as young as 10 all the of pizza. Matthew Pickering nations are some wonderful puz- zles, often supported by material on the CS4FN website, that help rein- FOLK DANCING AND FAIRY TALES: force the ideas he explains. This excellent resource can be applied to teaching programming at any level. NOVEL WAYS TO TEACH CONCEPTS Roger Davies Algorithms and data structures can be difficult concepts for students to GOOGLE CODE-IN 2011 grasp. This is particularly true when they struggle Google Code-In is aimed at get- with the complexities of ting 13-18 year old students in- implementing them in an volved in the development of alien programming lan- open source software. The con- guage. As Paul Curzon test lets students compete for demonstrates in Computing W ithout them in introductory classes tasks like translations, documen- Computers (see column right), gain- ”kindergarten style‘. In Romania, Al- tation, research and coding. They ing a conceptual understanding is gorythmics is an initiative from Sapi- work on projects for organizations key. Children learn in many different entia University that has set common who mentor them and help them ways so providing a variety of ap- sorting algorithms to traditional folk through the tasks. All students proaches can help get the penny to dances. Six sorting algorithms, in- receive a t-shirt, and all can com- drop. At Elon University, North Caro- cluding the Quicksort, are currently pete for the grand prize: an all- lina, Shannon Duvall has written a set available on their YouTube channel. expenses-paid trip to Google's

of simple fairy tales to illustrate con- They are a marvellous tool in class to headquarters in California. Code- cepts such as loops, variable scope help visualise and reinforce the com- In 2011 begins the week of No- and algorithmic complexity. She uses plex sequences. vember 21..

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk BUILDING STAFF CONFIDENCE GETTING TO GRIPS WITH GAMES THROUGH A COMPUTING CLUB I am not afraid to say I was nervous at the IS CHILD’S PLAY WITH KODU prospect of setting up a Computing Club, worried that the students would find out Kodu is a free visual programming environment developed that my computing knowledge was worse by Microsoft and accessible to children of all ages. Nicki than theirs. This wasn‘t helped by a very Maddam s, from Hartsdown Technology College recounts low turn out of students the first week, but I her experiences and urges others to give it a go. started with the basics and we learnt how Kodu is controlled in two ways, my preferred method is using a wired to use GameMaker. I was surprised by Xbox controller, but you can also use a mouse and keyboard. I began by how easy it was to use, and even more spending a considerable amount of time —playing“ with Kodu myself to surprised when the students coped with it learn how to use it. It is fairly intuitive so once I had mastered the soft- so well. The in-built tutorial is a fool-proof ware I wrote a seven-lesson scheme of work taking children from the way to start and the speed at which stu- basics right through to designing their own game. dents can see working results really got

them interested. Numbers grew week by Games running slowly can week and our competency grew together. be a problem if you do not The students enjoyed teaching me things have hi spec machines. they found and loved that we were learning One handy tip - changing together on a level playing field. My fear of the Graphics to Standard all things ”computing‘ left and I realised and turning off Smoothing that I was supporting them in the same in the Visual Effects has a way I would support any piece of software big impact as students can I was teaching. Even better, the students become disillusioned if were becoming independent learners, their games are unrespon- learning how to support their own learning sive. by accessing all the available information

necessary from the internet. Children are keen to have a go, though some with more success than

others. The most successful learners are happy to try different things, W e moved onto Flash as our next topic, explore the menus and learn independently. Unfortunately not all chil- which the students loved. After learning a dren are happy with this and require constant reassurance. This proved few basics they had to create adverts for quite a barrier. It is tempting to give them all the answers, although as a the club. W inners were selected and I put teacher it is also important to encourage them to problem-solve on their them onto the school website. They were own. Independent thinking is something I am trying to encourage more really proud of their efforts. I have also and more throughout the curriculum as it is a huge requirement when been able to experiment with ideas in the learning to program in any way, whether it is through Kodu, Scratch or club so I can introduce them into lessons. more traditional methods. Kodu supports children in thinking (and learn- It has been great to see their confidence ing) for themselves with context sensitive assistance. grow and watch as they realise that com-

puters can do more than just browse the Some may prefer to teach Kodu within a less guided club environment. I net and creating PowerPoint presenta- run a programming club and although I often set them challenges they tions. They have created mini e-portfolios much prefer to create their own thing and often produce games that are to house everything they do in the Com- much more imaginative than anything I could have come up with! It is puting Club and record anything they want great to see children running free with the software in this way, although to share with the others I doubt this method would work in a lesson context.

Our next step will hopefully be looking at One obstacle I have found more difficult is staff training. Not all staff who Greenfoot and introducing programming. I teach ICT are from a programming background and find the use of these would be lying if I said I am not nervous as kind of tools quite daunting. I have found one of the best methods for I really did hate programming at University. learning Kodu is by challenging myself to recreate old arcade games. But I am excited to re-visit it and, to be Situations often arise that you have to solve and this extends your honest, if I can‘t get a handle on it and get knowledge. Some examples that I have worked on are Pong, Pacman my students involved in computing, then and Space Invaders. The latest version of Kodu includes some excellent maybe I‘m in the wrong job or at least the step-by-step tutorials that you can work on at your own pace. It is great wrong department? software for beginners, so if you haven‘t tried it yet, see the link in the Michael Constantino supplement, download it and have a go! Nicki Maddams

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk DEVELOPING A CURRICULUM FOR COMPUTER SCIENTISTS ASSISTING IN SCHOOLS SCHOOLS : CAS NEEDS YOUR HELP A group of students from Loreto College Coleraine, Specialist Last issue we reported on the publication of ”Com puting: A Cur- School, were recently invited to riculum For Schools‘. At the CAS Teacher Conference initial visit the school of Computing and plans were sketched out to develop this into a fully fledged re- Information Engineering at the source for teachers. Cynthia Selby outlines the ambitious plan. University of Ulster, Coleraine. This was the climax of a 12-week Following conference, the CAS Re- duce aspects of the Computing Cur- Tutoring in Schools project. Dur- sources W orking Group has now been riculum suited to the needs of their ing the project, UU students Ciara formed. A group of volunteers, mostly learners. Teachers who are currently Murphy and Rebecca Lynam teachers at secondary level from delivering aspects of the curriculum in shared their expertise with stu- across the country, have joined to- their schools have already contributed dents from Loreto in an extra- gether to tackle the challenge of mov- some resources to start the project off. curricular programming club. ing the Computing Curriculum from These are now being prepared for W hile in first year at UU, Ciara paper into the classroom. presentation. W atch the CAS website and Rebecca were highly placed for further information about their in the Microsoft Imagine Cup for The objective is to provide both new availability. games development œ beating and existing teachers with resources, many final year and post-graduate aligned to the Computing Curriculum, To provide a complete curriculum is a students. As part of the project, which can be used in Key Stage 3 huge task. W e are therefore appealing Loreto stu- classrooms. W e recognise that ICT to all CAS teachers to help. All contri- dents learned teachers will have different opportuni- butions will be appreciated. It doesn‘t the principles ties to introduce computing in their have to be perfect. Teachers rarely of software existing curriculum and want to pro- have the time to polish resources to design and vide a range of self standing re- their liking, but any contribution will be development. sources that can be used straight out developed into a consistent format. A This led to of the box. A set or box of resources contribution could be a lesson idea, group devel- may be topic focused, suitable for 1 or links to useful web sites or tools, a opment of 2 hour lessons, and cover specific worksheet, a fully resourced 60- games, in- topics from the curriculum. On the minute lesson, or even a series of cluding other hand, a box of resources may lessons. All authors will be credited 'Super Maria' be themed, suitable for a half-term with their work. Many hands make œ a clone of project, and cover a broad range of light work. Can you help? If so, please Super Mario concepts and skills from the curricu- get in touch with Stephen Hunt or my- Brothers. lum. This flexibility should provide self. Contact details in the supple- teachers with an opportunity to intro- ment. Cynthia Selby During the visit to University of Ulster, Loreto students were met INTRODUCING AND DEVELOPING A SCHEME OF W ORK by current post-graduate students including Debbie Rankin, a past- At Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr, Swansea we have just com pleted a successful pupil of Loreto and now a leading RoboMind m odule with Year 7 and are trialling a Kodu m odule with our research student at UU. Pupils Year 9 (pre-GCSE group) ready for inclusion into the Year 8 curriculum got some hands-on experience of next year. The Year 7 work was good but as with all Schem es of W ork it their research, including a 3D net- will be refined and developed further next year. The pupils really en- worked 'Pac Man' clone and mo- joyed writing com m ands but som e got stuck on the higher elem ents bile phone 'app' development. involved in program m ing. The Year 9 (Kodu) m odule was extrem ely

successful and has generated a lot of interest in m y pre-GCSE group as Throughout, the pupils benefited an enrichm ent task. As we work on the task both the pupils and I are from Ciara and Rebecca's talent evaluating the work. This evaluation will shape the new Year 8 m odule which built on their own enthusi- next year. W e will then build on that. Using a year 9 group to trial and asm. UU's Dr Michaela Black and evaluate a m odule intended for a different year has been very useful, Martin McKinney recognised the with the pupils valuing the responsibility involved in checking the tasks mutual benefit and thanked Loreto and suggesting im provem ents. Next year we hope to put together a for facilitating the Tutoring in sm all Year 9 group together to put forward a com petition entry for the Schools project. Clarke Rice BAFTA Young Gam e Designers 2011 award. Gareth Edmondson

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk NO CAS LOCAL HUB LOBBYING FOR CURRICULUM NEAR YOU ? SET ONE UP! Several new CAS Teachers‘ hubs CHANGE: CAS GOES TO WHITEHALL held their first meetings in the last Summer Term, offering an oppor- As m any of you will know, as well as tons of fantastic grass- tunity for networking with fellow roots work, BCS and CAS have also been busy m aking the case ICT or Computing teachers and for com puting at school at national level. Just at the m om ent attracting new members to the there is a lot happening. Here are som e of the bigger things: CAS group. The first Sussex Hub meeting took place on 17 May at ñ The Livingstone/Hope Report came out. Links to this, and other reports Dorothy Stringer School in Brigh- mentioned are in the supplement. Recommendation 1: —Bring computer science ton. This was followed on 7 June into the national curriculum as an essential discipline“. Fantastic. The same by the inaugural meeting of the group is now spinning up —NextGen skills“ to promote further progress. W iltshire Hub at New College, ñ The DfE is running a Review of the National Curriculum. W e wrote a sub- Swindon. On 30 June Bristol and mission and have had subsequent meetings with officials at the DfE, up to and Preston held their first meetings, including the minister, Nick Gibb. They haven‘t exactly said —oh yes, we‘ll do at University of W est of England that“, but clearly get the Computing message, and we are firmly on their radar. (UW E) and Our Lady‘s School ñ The Royal Society Computing in Schools panel has been working for the respectively. Finally Milton Keynes last year under the chairmanship of Steve Furber (who was deeply involved in met at The National Museum of the genesis of the BBC micro). CAS is well represented on the panel. The RS Computing (TNMOC) Bletchley made an interim submission to the DfE for the National Curriculum review (link Park on 7 July. below) that supported the main CAS messages. The report will come out late in 2011; the Royal Society is a heavy hitter, so I expect it to be taken notice of. Many hubs have made plans for a ñ The Commons Select Committee on Education ran a short investigation meeting in the coming term. into the English Baccalaureate. W e made a submission arguing that Computing 12 Sept: Sussex, Dorothy Stringer should be a subject that contributes to the EBac, something that would really School, Brighton help head teachers feel able to offer Computing at GCSE. The Committee‘s re- 22 Sept: South W est, UW E port (yes, link below) was pretty critical about the EBac as it is now, but didn‘t 26 Sept: Hertfordshire, venue tbd make any explicit mention of Computing. I‘m writing to the committee to suggest 3 Oct: Essex, venue tbd a broader dialogue about Computing. 6 Oct: High W ycombe, Royal ñ Tom Crick has been enormously effective in reaching out to politicians in Grammar School, High W ycombe W ales. He has addressed the W elsh Government and organised the CAS in 12 Oct: Surrey, University of Sur- W ales Teachers Conference in conjunction with the Technocamps project, which rey, Guildford had the Deputy Minister for Skills as a keynote speaker. He has been invited to 12 Oct: Norfolk, University of East consult on the new W elsh strategic science framework by the Office of the Chief Anglia (UEA), Norwich Scientific Advisor, as well as being invited to sit on the Department of Education 20 Oct: Preston, Our Lady‘s and Skills' Digital Skills advisory group. CAS in W ales are also working closely School, Preston with the Campaign for Science & Engineering (CaSE) to support the Computing Oct (date tbc): South and East education agenda in W ales, especially with respect its position with the STEM London œ BCS London office portfolio, the availability of Computing qualifications and initial teacher training. 3 Nov: Dorset and South Coast, ñ In Scotland, the Royal Society of Edinburgh is leading a project to provide Poole Grammar School exemplification for Computing Science elements of the new Curriculum for Excel- lence, with input from Education Scotland, the universities and industry. The If your area isn‘t represented, and Scottish Qualifications Agency are developing new Computing qualifications that you‘re interested in centre on core aspects of computation and that will provide a sound basis for getting a hub up study beyond the secondary school level. and running, please get in touch W hile the outcomes of all this activity remain to be seen, CAS is now getting a and we‘ll help. sympathetic hearing in the corridors of power. Over the last two years we have CAS have pro- gone from being an unknown guerrilla group to being a serious player. So far, duced a guide to however, we have not engaged much with school leaders (head teachers, gover- get you started. nors, and the like). It is time to do that, especially as schools are encouraged to Further details become more autonomous. W ith that in mind we‘re getting in touch with head in the supple- teachers‘ associations and governors organisations - but maybe you can help ment. too. Are there any head teachers or governors in your orbit with whom the CAS Claire Davenport message might resonate, and who might help us get into dialogue with school leadership? Simon Peyton-Jones

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk CAN PROGRAMMING BE TAUGHT GRAPHICS & FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMMING : GEOMLAB WITHOUT INTRODUCING VARIABLES? At Oxford University, we think functional programming is so im- If you wanted to teach program m ing, what would you show portant that we make it the basis first? A sim ple com m and, then a variable and assignm ent state- for the very first programming re- m ent to do a sim ple calculation; and m aybe next a program that lated course taken by undergradu- contains a loop. Those are the basics, aren't they? ates. To give students a taste of functional programming before W ell, not necessarily, for there's a several reusable parts. Only the func- they come to us, we've put to- style of programming, and languages tion square is specific to this program, gether an online activity called to support it, where none of these and the rest is put together from gen- GeomLab that combines func- things are used. In functional program- eral-purpose components such as tional programming with graphics. ming, there are no commands, no vari- sum, which adds up any list of num- The basic functions of the Geom- ables (not ones that change their bers, and map, which may be used to Lab language assemble pictures value, anyway), no assignments, and apply any function uniformly to all from pre-defined tiles by allowing no loops. By losing these features of members of a list. them to be placed side-by-side or conventional languages, a functional one above another. The first language gains other things that At first sight, it seems picture shows the result of the sometimes have greater value: a way wasteful to create a list expression to treat data without worrying how containing the n numbers, man $ (woman & tree) storage for it is allocated, and the abil- then make another list where a stick man is placed be- ity to build programs from kits of parts containing their squares, side ($) a picture in which a that interact in productive but manage- and finally add them up. woman appears above (&) a tree. able ways. But the answer from a functional program is the Participants are guided Let's consider a very simple problem: same whatever order the calculations through a sequence of exer- summing the squares of the first n are carried out, and a cises where they begin to de- natural numbers. A functional program compiler is free to inter- scribe more complex pictures to solve this problem is written, leave the processes of using recursion. They create generating the numbers, the second picture from a vary- sum (map square [1..n]) squaring them, and sum- ing series of rows, each made where square x = x и x ming the squares, so that up of several copies of the man the program actually car- picture, describing it with a pair The program begins with a list [1..n] ries out the same actions of nested recursive functions. containing the first n numbers; apply- in the same sequence as Before long, they are investi- ing the function map square to this list its conventional equiva- gating how more striking pic- makes a new list in which each num- lent. It‘s this opportunity to view pro- tures, like the Escher image ber has been replaced by its square; grams as more than an explicit se- shown below, can be assembled then the function sum takes this list of quence of actions that makes functional from a handful of basic tiles. squares and adds them all up. A con- programming such a valuable tool for ventional program for the same task teaching students to think about pro- W e have used GeomLab success- would have to introduce two assign- gramming, and also provides the inspi- fully to run whole-class extension able variables, one to range from 0 up ration behind Google‘s MapReduce activities for a wide range of ages to n, and another to keep a running system for carrying out immense calcu- from Year 10 up. An hour is total of the squares: lations on clouds of computers enough to get an idea of what is working in parallel. possible, but the website provides k := 0; sum := 0; sufficient material for an explora- while k < n do tion that lasts one or two days, k := k+1; sum := sum+kиk and others have reported that end they have used the materials as the basis of a computer This example is very simple, but it still club meeting weekly over the shows that whilst the loop in the con- course of a term. See the ventional program is all of a piece and web supplement for the link. cannot be split into smaller compo- Michael Spivey nents, the functional program contains WHEN SIZE DOES MATTER (PART ONE): GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE NOTION OF ALGORITHMIC COMPLEXITY The AQA Com puting specification for A2 requires candidates to have som e appreciation of the com plexity of a problem defined as the growth rate of the algorithm which solves the problem , i.e. its big O com plexity. In a two-part article, AQA Chief Exam iner, Kevin Bond suggests som e ways to introduce this tricky area to your classes.

Activities utilising the Fermi approach (see column left) can be made W hen does size matter? W hen an algo- kinaesthetic. One activity is tracing a Bubble Sort on weights, ordered by rithm executes on its input to produce an increasing size of weight. The diagram shows an outline of a first pass output. For example, one might have to with a set of objects initially placed in descending order of weight, D, C, wait a significant amount of time for a list B, A. Object D is first compared with C (and swapped), then with B, and of 100 000 strings to be rearranged into so on. The process moves D creating a new ordering C, B, A, D. The alphabetical order. The time an algorithm weighing cycle then begins again and finishes with the ordering B, A, C, takes compared with another algorithm D. The final cycle produces the desired outcome A, B, C, D. If the letter performing the same task is of consider- n is used to represent the number of weights then the number of weigh- able interest when the data set is of signifi- ing cycles is n œ 1. This is exactly the same as the number of fetch- cant size. Computer Scientists are inter- weigh-return operations in each cycle. Let's represent the time in sec- ested in estimating how a particular algo- onds for a fetch-weigh-return operation by the letter t, then one cycle rithm's execution time depends on the size will take (n œ 1) times t seconds. Therefore, n œ 1 cycles will take (n œ 1) of input notwithstanding that different com- times (n œ 1) times t seconds. The Enrico Ferm i Approach says that puters run at different speeds. To eliminate we can approximate (n œ 1) to n when n is large compared to 1, say n = the difference in speed, Computer Scien- 100 weights. Therefore, (n œ 1)(n œ 1)t is to a good approximation n tists try to answer the question "what hap- times n times t when n is large. W e write n times n times t as n2t. W e pens to the execution time when the size now have a formula for how long the weighing algorithm will take to exe- of the input is doubled?" For example, if cute on large inputs. Call this total time T. Therefore T = n2t the number of strings to be placed in alphabetical order is doubled does it take W e can now use this formula to estimate by what factor the execution twice as long, four times as long, etc? time changes when the input size is doubled, e.g. from 100 weights to 200 weights.

Many students have difficulty solving prob- Time for 100 weights: T-100 = 100 x 100 x t

lems where the solution involves making Time for 200 weights: T200 = 200 x 200 x t estimates. The Physicist Enrico Fermi This is 40 000 compared to 10 000, a ratio of 4 to 1. This is bad news. used to challenge classes with problems Doubling the number of weights takes 4 times as long. If the time for the

that seemed impossible. One such prob- fetch-weigh-return is 5 seconds, then T100 = 50 000 seconds and T200 = lem was estimating the number of piano 200 000 seconds. Approximately 56 hours compared with 14 hours! tuners in Chicago given only the popula- tion of the city. The answer is about 150 This exercise could be carried out with weights constructed from 35mm (see supplement for the solution) . The film canisters containing coins to make the different weights. The canis- approach to solving this type of problem ters should be colour coded so that they can be distinguished visually. A became known as the Fermi Approach. It balance is not necessary because the weights can be compared by relies on knowing some facts, ignoring hand. The activity can be extended with a "no exchange of weights" indi- unnecessary details and making reason- cator. Using a cup placed up or down, the cycle of weighing continues able assumptions. The same approach until the no exchange indicator shows no exchange of weights, thus indi- can be used to estimate the speed of exe- cating the list is fully sorted. Before each cycle the cup is reset. This is an cution of an algorithm. abbreviated article, taken from an Educational Computing Services course for A2 computing. Details in the supplement. Kevin Bond

Start of first set of weighings D and C weighed D and C swapped D and B weighed D and B swapped D and A weighed End of First Set of W eighings

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk FROM BASICS TO A LEVEL : FIVE DAY INCREASING USE OF BLUE-J TO TEACH JAVA PROGRAMMING SUMMER SCHOOL BlueJ is a free, open source educational pro- A Python Sum m er School, funded by the TDA, at Anglia Ruskin gramming environ- University introduced trainee ICT teachers to program m ing. The ment for the Java resources will be invaluable for m any teachers, covering the language. First re- basics to the level needed to teach A2 Com puting. leased in 1999, it supports development of ge- Many trainees come to ICT teaching to teach computing in their schools. neric applications œ which puts it without a Computing-related degree or They helped each other and worked in competition to professional de- programming experience. However, well as a group. Paul Curzon talked velopment tools, such as once in post they may be asked to about CS4FN, putting programming into NetBeans and Eclipse œ but it dif- deliver GCSE or A-Level Computing. the context of stimulating pupils‘ interest fers from those systems in impor- A secondary PGCE course is very full in Computing. The magic and audi- tant aspects. It is designed specifi- and does not allow much time for sub- ence participation made it a great end cally for beginning programming ject knowledge development. The to the course. at sixth form or early university course was an intensive week for level. It features a simpler inter- trainees to experience programming. W hy Python? Recent research has face and additional tools designed Adam McNicol and I, covered topics highlighted its value as a program- specifically for learners are in- that included lists, functions and files, ming language for beginners. Its syn- cluded. Most prominent is a building a database, Object-Oriented tax is simple and close to pseu- graphical UML-style class struc- Programming and GUI‘s. docode; it is freely available and ture display which helps students works on all platforms. It is also a per- understand the fundamental con- Most trainees had no prior experience fect language to teach object-oriented cepts of object orientation. of programming. The first day was programming, lends itself well to hard as they covered many of the ba- server-side applications and comes BlueJ is a sibling of Greenfoot, sic concepts. An AS Computing stu- complete with sqlite to build database both developed by the Programming dent might cover this ground in six applications. PyQT was our tool of Education Tools Group at the Uni- weeks! However, these basic skills choice for GUI‘s, enabling professional versity of Kent. W hile both tools were practised over and over again in looking interfaces to be built. have common ancestry, they have all the material covered in the subse- distinct uses. BlueJ and Green- quent days. Another big jump came This type of training should be incor- foot are often used in sequence œ on the fourth day, starting Object- porated into the PGCE but are keen to students start with Greenfoot and Oriented Programming using Adam‘s repeat the course for qualified as well transfer to BlueJ once they are inventive Farming scenario. By the as trainee teachers. If you would be ready for deeper, more generic end of the day they had written a com- interested in attending a future sum- study of programming concepts. plete class and on the next were able mer school please get in touch. All the Common design elements make to create an event-driven GUI to sup- materials are available online for oth- the transition easy and avoid con- port it. So many skills in one week! ers to use, trainee or teacher alike. ceptual disjoints. The trainees made impressive pro- See the supplement for links and con- gress and feel much better prepared tact details. Sue Sentance Last year saw a significant in- crease in use with around 1.8 mil- USING LINUX TO EXPLORE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE lion active users. Support for In SWITCHEDON Issue 4, Aaron Slom an m ade the case for teaching teachers using BlueJ was recently introductory courses in Artificial Intelligence / Cognitive Science using improved with the opening of the ”thinky‘ program m ing techniques. He has m ade available a wealth of ”Blueroom‘, a community where introductory program s im plem ented in the Linux based AI developm ent teachers can share material, dis- environm ent PopLog. If you would like to access these but run W in- cuss teaching strategies, ask dows at school, CAS m em bers have provided two ways to run Linux. questions and talk to the develop- Firstly Lee Gillam has set up a cloud based Linux server with AI tools ment team. It is still in an early preinstalled. All you need is an account to access it. Alternatively, Tim phase and contributions are ac- Bateson has provided instructions for setting up a Linux Virtual Box on tively encouraged. If you are a school pc‘s and an installation package for the AI tools. Both can be BlueJ user please share your used to give pupils experience of a Linux environm ent. A link to ideas–colleagues will be grateful! Aaron‘s m ore detailed instructions and support in the supplem ent. Michael Kölling

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk SUCCESSFUL FIRST CONFERENCE CHALLENGING MYTHS ABOUT FOR COMPUTING IN W ALES The first Computing in W ales conference, CAREERS IN COMPUTING / IT hosted by Computing At School (CAS), supported by BCS Academy, and the The provision of computing careers advice is sadly lacking. Technocamps project, drew over 100 at- To the outsider the skills needs of the IT industry appear tendees on 1 July at Swansea University. confusing. A recent event at City University sought to ad- The conference provided teachers, exami- dress this. Organiser Andrew Tuson explains. nation boards, academics and policymak- ers with a forum to discuss issues sur- The day focused specifically on the opportunities for students to study rounding computing education in W ales for challenging careers in Computing and IT and made a start on ad- and was organised by Dr Tom Crick, dressing some widespread misconceptions. The opening talk covered leader of CAS in W ales. how the IT industry works, the current economics and skills needs and what students need to succeed by examining the evidence base. The IT The Deputy Minister for Skills, the W elsh graduate employment market is demanding much higher base compe- Government, Jeff Cuthbert, gave a key- tence in entry level roles than even ten years ago. In fact IT is unique note speech highlighting the economic among STEM professions in requiring excellence in both technical and importance of developing computer skills soft skills in graduates. It touched on who leads the IT profession and amongst young people, explaining: —I want ended with the question ”W hat‘s a CIO?‘. Few hands went up. Students to make sure that all learners in W ales are attracted to aspirational professional roles such as judges, barristers, have access to digital technologies and surgeons, etc. The IT profession has these, but no one knows of them. that they have the skills to make the best Addressing this, Marcus East, Chief Information Officer of Comic Relief use of them. W e want learners to fulfil their gave an inspirational talk on running IT and the fun he has doing it. A potential and W ales to prosper in a digital motivational topic for students is computer games. Chris Child (Childish society.“ Other invited speakers were Things Ltd) gave an overview of how the games industry works, and Clare Riley (Group Manager, Education what employers look for. The distinction between creative and technical Relations, Microsoft), David Davies roles and the need for excellence in computer science in the latter were (Director of NHS Engagement, NHS two of the take-home messages. W ales) ,Gary Stone (Head of Strategy & Operations for Digital W ales, W elsh Gov- W hat IT employers look for had to that point been quite abstract. Stuart ernment) and Professor Faron Moller, Di- Elliston (Linksfield Technologies Ltd) presented his experiences of hiring rector of Technocamps project. graduates. Thomas Ng talked about the exciting work CAS are doing to raise career awareness and involve teachers. The final talk was on Uni- LEADER W INS ‘I’M A SCIENTIST’ COMPETITION versity Courses in Computing & IT. As an undergraduate admissions tutor of 10 years experience I hoped to help make sense of the range of In June Tom Crick triumphed in the Chro- courses and skills needed to study the subjects. The choice is wider mium Zone of —I‘m a Scientist, Get me out than just ”computer science‘ so students may wish to investigate what of Here“. Over 100 scientists and 5,000 aspects of computing they are interested in. The value to many admis- students from 150 schools took part, with sions tutors of A-level computing both as a science and indicator of moti- 7,500 questions asked and 68,000 visits to vation was highlighted. A supporting set of careers slides with links to further the website. Tom, the only Computer Sci- resources is available via the Google Group. Andrew Tuson entist in the competition, took part in 14 chat sessions and answered over 500 SPREADING THE MESSAGE TO SCHOOL GOVERNORS questions from school students. In re- The latest issue of Matters Arising, published by the National sponse to questions, Tom highlighted the Governors Association contains an article written by CAS m em - wide impact of technology, encouraging ber Neil Collins, Com m unications Officer for Norfolk Gover- students to look into computing as a ca- nors‘ Network. There is a lot CAS can do to help support IT Link reer, as well as advising on useful A- Governors spread the m essage about com puting in schools, Levels. Tom said: —It has been a very en- and support CAS teacher m em bers in their relationship with joyable and rewarding two weeks. It is a Governor curriculum com m ittees. Having friendly eyes and hugely effective way of engaging with a ears on the governing body can be very helpful with senior large audience about your role as a scien- m anagem ent team s. W e would like to put together a support tist.“ Tom is now continuing his science pack for such governors. If you are an IT Link governor, or communication work as a 2011 British Sci- know your governor is supportive of com puting in school ence Association Media Fellow with BBC please get in touch. W e would like opinions on the best ways W ales. Claire Davenport that we can support the governors.

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk PEDAGOGY, GREENFOOT AND GOOGLE COMPUTER SCIENCE GRANT AID GAMES AT CAS SUMMER SCHOOL Google funds a grant program called Computer Science for High The first CAS Sum m er School, based at the m agnificent venue Schools (CS4HS), designed to of the National STEM Centre in York was very well received. help encourage students to study Clive Beale spent a few days of the holiday getting to grips with Computer Science and introduce Greenfoot and m aking new friends. the latest CS techniques and tools. The CS4HS program provides funding to European, Middle Eastern and African universities to work in tandem with local high schools. To be considered for funding the projects must be scal- able, impact a wide cross-section of students from all backgrounds, conform to a —train the trainer“ model and, most importantly, inspire the next generation of computer scientists.

In 2011, three UK universities were awarded funding. Queen Mary University of London re- I‘m no good at break-the-ice activities. back at the campus a bus driver gave ceived continued support for My ”bingo‘ card was blank and I us a free ride to the local pub where a CS4FN, the University of Kent for needed to find someone who had round came in at under a fiver. It was Greenfoot and the University of played Dungeons and Dragons. —Ever at this point that I wondered whether Manchester for the UK School played D & D?“ I asked the chap com- the STEM centre was recruiting. Computer Animation Competition. ing down the stairs. It turns out that Read more about the program yes, Ian Livingstone OBE, co-founder On the last day we covered collision and the 2011 recipients on the of Games W orkshop and Life Presi- detection and how to handle strings, CS4HS website. Link in the sup- dent of Eidos, had indeed played once counters and scoreboards. W e also plement. Application deadlines for or twice. Ian was there to kick off the had a long chat about pedagogy and 2012 will be announced around first CAS Summer School with a in particular the reasons for the bi- December. thought-provoking talk about the state modal distribution of achievement of the UK video games and visual seen in computing courses. Neil fin- GOOGLE RISE SCHOOLS FUNDING effects industries. This included a ished by giving us some solid tips for brief history of video games which teaching Greenfoot. W e were a true Google RISE Awards are designed brought a wistful smile to many faces. mixed ability class, from those who to promote STEM and Computer The venue was the magnificent Na- had spent whole nights typing out ma- Science initiatives. Google provide tional STEM Centre in York. Every- chine code listings in Your Sinclair to awards to organisations working thing is on-site, including smart ac- those who had little programming ex- with primary and secondary commodation and the marvellously perience. It is a testament to Neil‘s schools to provide enrichment named Quarks Restaurant, where teachingœ and to Greenfoot‘s designœ programs with an emphasis on your dinner doesn‘t actually exist until that by the end of the two days we engaging under-represented you open the serving dish to look at it. were all writing classes and methods groups. Ideal programs and projects to create working programs. should inspire excitement about Day two found us in the classroom STEM and CS, enrich students where Neil Brown introduced Green- The CAS Summer School was one of learning and include hands-on foot and over the course of the day the best CPD courses that I've ever activities using CS. The applica- taught us the basics. The lessons been on, in teaching or in industry. tion portal for EMEA is open in were practical, well-paced and good W e learned a lot, exercised our September and October. Relevent fun. I‘d used Greenfoot before but still brains, had a laugh and met a bunch links and further details in the web learned a lot. An evening trip to the of interesting people. W hat better way supplement. bowling alley helped purge classes to spend a few days of your summer Alison Daniel-Cutler and objects from our heads, whilst holiday? Clive Beale

SWITCHEDON web supplement: www.computingatschool.org.uk A PAUSE FOR THOUGHT MORE CLASSROOM This problem involves circuits which feed back into themselves. The output of a gate can be traced CS4FN RESOURCES through the circuit back into the input of the same gate. This can A Com puter Science For Fun project lead to all sorts of interesting be- (cs4fn) recently featured in the Royal haviour. W hat will happen when Society Sum m er Science Exhibition, you switch on the circuits below? in an exhibit about how the hum an W hat will happen if you change brain processes faces, and whether the gates to different types? robots can do the sam e. A m ini- docum entary on the subject is now available on YouTube. The video is 14 minutes long and cov- ers issues in robotics like interpreting robot faces, giving robots social skills and face with some basic what robots could be capable of in the emotional expressions, or see an illu- future. It also deals with how our own sion in which our brain is tricked into brains recognise faces, and what life seeing a hollow face point outwards. is like for someone without that ability. How do you cope if you don't recog- You can explore more of the science of nise your loved ones' faces? W e also faces in the current issue of cs4fn. Cop- Random Access Memory is built hear from a world-class portrait ies of the magazine can be ordered free using logic gate circuits which painter about how he sees faces. for schools or you can view the material feed back into themselves. The online by going to the faces portal on most simple of these is the 'flip- W e also produced cut-out experiments the cs4fn website. Links to all the re- flop': a device which has two dif- that you might be interested in using sources can be found in the web sup- ferent stable states, and can thus with your students. They can program a plement. Jonathan Black 'remember' if a switch has previously been flipped. This problem is from a poster produced by the BCS ACADEMY PRODUCE FACTSHEET FOR EMPLOYERS NRICH Project. Alongside thou- Bill Mitchell of the BCS Academy has put together a very useful factsheet sands of mathematical problems to discuss with companies the need for computing in the school curricu- they also produced free monthly lum. The four page factsheet makes a compelling case for school leavers posters, many of which are rele- pursuing a variety of disciplines requiring a familiarity with rigorous com- vant to teaching computing. Links puting principles. It contains a succinct list of evidence and a case study in to their website, the circuit poster, computational biology. As well as providing companies with a compelling solutions and extra resources in argument, the factsheet will be of use to teachers too, helping them argue the web supplement. their case for curriculum change at school.

CAS...JOIN CAS...JOIN CAS...JOIN CAS...JOIN CAS...JO Computing at School was born out of our excitement with the discipline, combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors. Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school. W ill you help us? Simply mail m em bership@ com putingatschool.org.uk Many thanks to the following for help with this issue of SWITCHEDON: Clive Beale, Jonathan Black, Kevin Bond, Michael Constantino, Tom Crick, Alison Daniel-Cutler, Claire Davenport, Roger Davies, Gareth Edmondson, Lyndsay Hope, Toby Howard, Simon Humphreys, Dale Jones, Michael K/lling, Nicki Maddams, Bill Mitchell, Simon Peyton-Jones, Matthew Pickering, Clarke Rice, Cynthia Selby, Sue Sentance, Aaron Sloman, Genevieve Smith-Nunes, Michael Spivey, Andrew Tuson. SWITCHEDON W EB SUPPLEMENT www.computingatschool.org.uk

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