Thursday August 28th, 2014

Today, I managed to get a lot done.

I got up until the end of the Joy of Code #10.

I was very happy to see that in the 7th video where we learn to put the lettuce in the world and make the turtle eat it, he made a very quick and easy explanation, and said " if you understood everything up to here, you might as well stop watching and move on to the next video, because all I'm going to do in the rest of this video is explain more about what we just did." I was happy because it wasn't super slow as usual.

After putting in the lettuce (or Tommy) and making the turtle eat it, I learned a concept that I believe will come in handy a lot in the future, and that is to keep the code clean and easy to read. We separated all the if statements and made it more easily readable. I also learned to add notes to each of the parts of the code, which I'm sure is extremely important if you are coding an actual application/ game, to be able to fix bugs later on.

After that video, we learned to put in snakes ( that want to eat the turtles) into the world and how to control the turtle in the world and make them avoid the snakes to not be eaten. This one concept to control with the keys made everything much more interesting. What I am planning to do next class is to flip the roles: make the turtles move randomly, and to make the snakes controllable by keyboard. The point of the game would now be you controlling the snakes trying to chase and eat the turtles.

What I am learning is that as the videos go on and on, the code which I learn to write gets more and more complicated but I am happy about that because I know and understand that with harder code comes more interesting outcomes and games that you can create.

Tuesday August 26th, 2014

Today I worked consistently and managed to get a lot done. I started where I left off last class: if-statements. After that, I went on to learn about random behaviour, and then where I ended was at the Joy of Code #7. 

After I learned about if-statements I realize that it is crucial to know how to code them because they will come up very often. Even in the 2 videos that followed it I used if-statements countless times. 

I was happy to learn how to make random behaviour, because this makes everything 10 times more interesting in my opinion. I was frustrated before about not being able to make the turtle turn left, but know I have learned to make it do that. And finally the last video that I saw was one where Michael teaches you to make the turtles move around randomly and when they find a lettuce they eat it. 

What I'm starting to realize is that the code gets more and more complicated, and it will always go on like that. Now there are more complex things to write, such as when you have to write an action but before have to add what class it is from, such as (Greenfoot. ... .... ). Also what is more complicated is how to make the turtle turn left- you have to add negative numbers for it to choose a random number that can be under 0 ( the only way to make it turn left). 

I also noticed that with Greenfoot even though Michael Kolling teaches us how to code, you can sort of play around with things. For example what I did last class, was instead of making the turtles find lettuce, I made them find a Tommy and eat him instead of the lettuce. All I did was create a new sub class, add an image of tommy, and add it to the lines of code. The picture below shows this. I enjoy Greenfoot very much because I can experiment with this type of stuff.

Friday August 22nd, 2014

This was my first class where I really learned about using Greenfoot and I wasn't installing anything or something like that. Today I really started to learn about code.

However, I think that the rate at which Michael Kolling (the man who talks on Joy of Code videos) explains the code is incredibly slow. A video that is 16 minutes long could easily be shortened into 8 or 9 minutes if he spent the whole video explaining and not talking about other things that are less relevant to the code itself. But apart from that one frustrating aspect, his videos are great. After watching them I always learn something new. I got up to the Joy of Code #5, where we learn about if-statements, but I haven't finished that video yet.

So far I haven't been able to do so much on Greenfoot but since I've never done anything with code I was happy to see that I was able to make a hedgehog move forward/turn. I am hoping that by the end of next class I will have advanced even more and will be able to do more in Greenfoot.

Also, last class I had forgotten to talk to Mr. Daly, so I am hoping that I will get the chance to on Tuesday.

August 20th, 2014

Today was the first real day in the computer applications class. I didn't do much. All I did was answer the initial questionnaire and then towards the end of the class I got started on the coding.

I still hadn't talked to Mr. Daly, so I asked Yeomin and he gave me a hand. He got me started with Greenfoot and the videos on youtube "Joy of Code". It seems to be a great application for me to really learn the basics of coding and I hope that thanks to it I learn the fundamentals. Just by watching about 10 minutes of video I learned that I can create many different little games and simulations.

I think it looks great and I can't wait to keep watching the videos and to test out Greenfoot. My plan for the next class is to watch as many videos as I can and to also talk to Mr. Daly.

Initial Questionnaire

When did you come to AIS?	I came to AIS in 2008.
Where were you in school before AIS? For how long? Was the school a one-to-one laptop school?	Before AIS I lived in London and went to school there for four years. The school there was not a one to one laptop school .
What computer/technology courses have you taken previously?	Robotics is the only course that I have taken that has anything to do with some kind of computer programming or anything.
Do you have a Mac or a PC. What other devices do you regularly use?	Mac. I also use an iPhone and iPad.
How much time do you spend on the computer at home on a typical school day? What are the three most common applications that you use?	On a typical school day I am on the computer for about 2-3 hours. Mostly for homework, and sometimes for leisure. The three most common applications that I use would be Spotify, Sonos, and Word.
If you could not get online for a day, what would you miss the most?	If I couldn't get online, what I would miss the most would be the iPhone application Whatsapp.
Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data How would you rate yourself as an information technology user. Which of the following best describes you. What would you add to give a more complete picture of your IT usage? A. I use IT all the time. I'm a very confident and competent user who can figure out how to solve pretty much anything. I like to experiment with new applications. B. I use IT when I need to use it. I see myself as competent and confident in the areas that I need. I have no real interest in spending time with IT unless it serves my needs. C. I tend to lack confidence with IT. My experience is a bit limited and I feel that I have quite a lot to learn.	C. I tend to lack confidence with IT. My experience is a bit limited and I feel that I have quite a lot to learn.
Computer Science: Do you have any prior experience in computer science for example programming languages (Basic, Logo, Java, Scheme, C++,Python), robotics etc. Do you think that you might be interested in taking AP computer Science?	I have no prior experience computer science or any type of programming but am eager to learn because it seems to be very interesting and useful. I would be very interested in taking the AP computer science. If this kind of thing interests me and I understand it and everything and if I am at the level of being able to pass the AP then I definitely would.
Digital Arts: Do you see yourself as a creative type? What art classes have you taken and will be taking this year? What experience do you have with... Bitmap graphics (ex: Adobe Photoshop) Vector graphics (ex: Adobe Illustrator) Audio (ex: Audacity) Video (ex: Adobe Premiere) Special Effects (ex: Adobe After Effects) 3D Design (ex: Google SketchUp, Blender) Animation Music Anything else?	I am not that type of person that is very interested in arts and everything. Although I love listening to music it doesn't interest me very much to work with it and to edit movies. I have no previous experience in this field and with any of the applications mentioned. I do know how to use basic applications like iMovie when it comes to movies for class and things like that, but more complicated like all the "Adobe" I do not know how to use.
Publishing: Do you have any prior experience using publishing applications such as In-Design. Are you enrolled in journalism or yearbook.	I am not enrolled in Journalism or yearbook. I also have no previous experience in this field.
Web Design What experience do you have  with.. HTML? Site design applications (ex: Dreamweaver) Web Graphics (ex: Fireworks) Web Animation (ex: Flash) Web programming (ex: PHP)	I don't have any experience with these.
Business Applications: What experience do you have with.. Spreadsheets, Presentations or Data Bases.	I know how a spreadsheet works and how to make a presentation, but not anything more complicated than that. I just know the basics.
What other computing experience do you have that has not been explained above.	None
How do you normally learn new technologies? How did you learn to learn in this way? Do you feel that you are an effective independent learner? Give an example of some technical skill that you learned independently. How did you learn, what resources did you use?	If I want to learn how to do something new on my computer, iPhone or whatever else, I go on youtube and search up tutorials for whatever I need to do. I found that this is a useful way because nowadays you can find almost anything that you want on the internet. I feel that I am an effective independent learner and I can learn a lot of things by myself and especially if it has to do with code since there are a lot of applications and countless tutorials on the internet for how to code.
You will be required to keep a learning log during this course. How would you describe yourself in these kinds of tasks. A. I hate writing about what I have done or what I am thinking or feeling. I tend to forget to do it and when I do I tend to be minimalistic and monosyllabic. B. I don't mind doing this kind of writing. I am usually pretty thorough. C. I welcome the opportunity to write and reflect about what I am doing. I see this as an integral part of my learning.	B. I don't mind doing this kind of writing. I am usually pretty thorough.
Take a look at the Course Connections page. What would you like to learn in this course?	In this course I would like to learn code. I would like to learn it to the level that I can really apply it to real things like websites and learn it to the level that I would be able to take the AP computer science exam.
Do you think that you understand how your performance on the course will be assessed? See assessment guidelines. Do you have any questions about this?
Are there any other questions that you would like to ask at this stage?	When we work, are we obligated to stay in the room? Can we maybe go to the library?