MOSI | O'Really?

February 4, 2013

On becoming a STEMnet ambassador: What, why and how?

Filed under: communication,education,engineering,mathematics,Science,technology — Duncan Hull @ 6:01 pm
Tags: crb, Daniel O'Connell, dbs, Disclosure and Barring Service, Donna Johnson, greater manchester, Manchester, MOSI, Museum of Science and Industry, Raspberry Pi, stem, stemnet

Creative Commons licensed picture of a DayGlo Raspberry Pi by @kevinv033 on Flickr

STEMNet is an organisation in the UK which creates opportunities to inspire young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Recently, along with about 15 PhD students from the CDT in Manchester, I became an STEM Ambassador. This post briefly describes what STEMNet is all about, why you would want to get involved and how you can do so.

What is STEMNet?

STEMnet is a network of volunteers (STEM ambassadors) who help schools and teachers by providing extra support in the classroom to teach topics in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Teachers can ask the network for all kinds of help, it might be, for example:

role models to do a Day in the Life of… session (e.g. Astronaut, Star Gazer, Genetic Engineer, Roboticist etc)
help with a Raspberry Pi workshop
support running a Science club
demonstrations of interesting technology that might not normally be available in school
et cetera

Ambassadors (who have been vetted by the DBS) respond to teacher requests or propose their own ideas. Ambassadors commit to doing at least one education or outreach event per year, and often end of doing more. Interesting and varied learning experiences usually follow.

Why you should get involved

There are plenty of reasons to get involved in STEMnet:

It can be great fun working with young people.
The world would probably be a BetterPlace™ if we had more scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. STEMNet is working towards achieving this important goal.
Schools and teachers need all the help they can get in the classroom, teaching is a challenging but important job.
If you think you’re a nifty communicator, there’s nothing quite like a classroom full of teenagers (or younger) for testing your theory.
Join an active and diverse network of around 30,000 ambassadors across the UK

How to get involved

Contact your friendly local STEMnet co-ordinator if you would like to become a STEM Ambassador. For Greater Manchester, that’s the good folk based at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI): Daniel O’Connell and Donna Johnson (featured in the video below).

We’ve got some exciting new projects planned via STEMNet, in addition to what’s already going on at cs.manchester.ac.uk/schools. Watch this space!

July 13, 2012

Animation 2012: Computer Science for Schools

Filed under: education,engineering,Science,technology — Duncan Hull @ 10:02 pm
Tags: Alan O'Donohoe, Artificial Intelligence, Arturs Bekasovs, Augmented reality, BAFTA Young Game Designers, Barkmania, BBC, CGI, Computer Science, Computer-generated imagery, CS4FN, Dick and Dom, Eric Schmidt, Excel, Games Britannia, google, Hack to the Future, Humanoid, ICT, John Pinkney, Jon Howard, Jonathan Heathcote, lego, Lego Mindstorms, Michael Gove, MOSI, NESTA, Paolo Masci, Pi-Face, PowerPoint, Raspberry Jam, Raspberry Pi, robotics, Samantha Bail, Steve Furber, Steve Pettifer, thingiverse, Toby Howard, Tree Fu Tom

Computer Science as a subject in mainstream UK secondary education is in a pretty sorry state [1,2,3] but it’s not all doom and gloom. While many long suffering school children are being force-fed a nauseating diet of Excel, PowerPoint and Access others are enjoying a nutritious platter of Raspberry Pi, Hack to the Future and Animated fun.

Here’s a brief report on one of these tasty appetisers: Animation 2012, a UK schools animation competition now in its fifth year.

The day kicked off with prizes being awarded for the animation competition. To get a flavour of the creativity and skill involved, you can see winning examples online.

Following the prize giving there was a carousel of activities which included:

Jon Howard from the BBC provided a tour of game design, development and production using games such as Tree Fu Tom, Barkmania, Dick and Dom Let Rip and Tracy Beaker Party from CBBC and CBeebies.
Lee Stott guided users through the creation of a digital camera using Microsoft.NET Gadgeteer an open-source toolkit for building small electronic devices using the .NET Micro Framework.
Paolo Masci and Sinan Halilbeyoglu demonstrated some of the latest computing research using CS4FN magic and illusions
Peter Sutton and Lloyd Henning showed how Artificially Intelligent computers can learn to do seemingly complex tasks with hands-on musical demonstrations.
Samantha Bail demonstrated augmented reality, combining computer-generated imagery (CGI) and video in real-time to make the world around us appear to include strange objects
John Pinkney and Colin Talbot provided a glimpse of the future with Lego Mindstorms and NAO social humanoid robots from Aldebaran Robotics
Xin Bao demonstrated 3D computer graphics.
Tom MacPherson-Pope and Tom Preston showed what is possible with the new Raspberry Pi, a computer that only costs about £20. They demonstrated Pi-Face an extension developed by Andrew Robinson which allows customisation of the basic Rapsberry Pi.
Arturs Bekasovs demonstrated how to create fractal shapes, a fascinating class of geometrical shapes which are extremely easy to describe and yet can be incredibly complicated.
Jonathan Heathcote demonstrated 3D printing with his own creation for making remarkable shapes out of plastic, many of which come from the thingiverse: digital designs for physical objects
John Latham demonstrated The Baby, one of the first computers ever made.
Steve Pettifer closed the proceedings with a talk looking behind the scenes of some the technology, psychology and magic of modern games.

Animation 2012 was great fun for all involved, congratulations to all this years winners, hope to see you again next year. There were 526 Schools involved from across the UK, with 914 entries. 58 students were involved in the 35 winning entries from 31 different schools. Thanks to Toby Howard, all the organisers, supporters (Google, Electronic Arts and NESTA) and associates (Computing at School, CS4FN and BAFTA young game designers) for putting on an impressive show.

References

Steve Furber et al (2012). Computing in Schools: Shut down or restart? Royal Society Report
James Robinson (2011). Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, condemns British education system: criticising division between science and arts, The Guardian
Keith Stuart (2011). Michael Gove admits schools should teach computer science: education secretary recognises the failings of ICT courses, The Guardian

Comments (4)

O'Really?