ABSTRACT

Learning to code has become both more important and more complicated
in the last decade. We need to make it attractive and easy again.

Most western countries currently experience a shortage of skilled
computing professionals in the employment market. We have seen a
similar problem in the 1990s, but this time the situation is
different: While the problem in the 90s was university capacity (we
just couldn’t educate enough people quickly enough), this time around
it is enrolment: Universities have the capacity, but not enough
students sign up to study technical, computing related subjects, such
as computer science or software engineering.

The real problem lies before university: at school age, students
decide against computing as a subject, because it is perceived as
geeky, tedious, intellectually not challenging, and most of all
boring. At the same time, programming in schools is on a sharp decline.

We need to counter this trend by bringing programming back into
schools, and make it an engaging, challenging, relevant and enjoyable
activity. To be successful, the public sector, academia and business
should work together to make this happen.

At the University of Kent, we have developed two successful
development environments, named BlueJ and Greenfoot, and educational
material to address these challenges. In this presentation, we will
discuss both, with the main focus on Greenfoot, a system for beginners
to learn Java programming through development of interactive graphical
applications.

Greenfoot and its associated materials can be used to teach
programming in schools, computer clubs, or to your own children. Kids
develop computer games, and — almost as an aside — learn object-
oriented programming in Java.

In this talk, I will present the software, strategies for learning of
programming, and the benefits and drawback of Java as a first language.

Speaker: Michael Kölling, Computing Laboratory, University
Michael Kölling is the lead designer of the BlueJ and Greenfoot programming environments. Both environments are designed for beginners to learn the basics of Java, and are widely used by schools and universities all over the world. Michael is also the founder of the Sun Center of Excellence in Object-Oriented Education at the University of Kent. He works as a Senior Lecturer in the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent, where he teaches Java to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is co-author of a successful Java textbook, “Objects First With Java.”

Duration : 0:56:31

[youtube Tcwx-I6Arwk]

Duration : 0:10:38

[youtube IRYRbPCHTck]

Nichole Pinkard, Program Founder, Director of Innovation, Urban Education Institute, University of Chicago
Benjamin Bederson, Associate Professor Computer Science, Institute of
Advanced Computer Studies and iSchool, University of Maryland and
Allison Druin, Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab and
Associate Professor, University of Marylands College of Information Studies
Karen Cator, Director, Education Leadership and Advocacy, Apple
Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience, and
Daniel Russell, Research Scientist, Google

Duration : 0:59:47

[youtube ibYl79NYa5U]

ABSTRACT

Presented by Seth Shostak, SETI Institute.

The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now into its fifth decade, and we still haven’t uncovered a confirmed peep from the cosmos. For that matter, we still dont know if life at any level of intelligence exists beyond Earth. Could this mean that finding aliens, even if theyre out there, is a project for the ages one that might take centuries or longer?

The preferred technique used to hunt down cosmic company is to look for persistent radio signals or laser flashes from nearby star systems. But could this be a flawed strategy?

In this presentation, well consider some strategies that new SETI experiments might consider, as well as discuss why its possible that we might find evidence of sophisticated intelligence within only a few decades.

Seth is the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California. He has an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. For much of his career, Seth conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately sixty papers in professional journals.

He has written several hundred popular magazine and Web articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television. He lectures on astronomy and other subjects at Stanford and other venues in the Bay Area, and for the last six years, has been a Distinquished Speaker for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is also Chair of the International Academy of Astronautics SETI Permanent Study Group. Every week he hosts the SETI Institutes science radio show, Are We Alone?

Seth has edited and contributed to a half dozen books. He has also been the principal author of four: Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life, Life in the Universe (textbook with Jeff Bennett), Cosmic Company (with Alex Barnett), and, most recently, Confessions of an Alien Hunter.

Seth Shostak was hosted by Boris Debic.

Duration : 0:52:3

[youtube qyai5IyO-8E]

Duration : 0:56:54

[youtube eeb6qxLR79U]

Duration : 0:3:6

[youtube _XqRR5WJ85k]