Hour of Code

On Wednesday Dec. 10th and Thursday Dec. 11th the library is hosting an Hour of Code event. 

Students, teachers and staff are invited to come to the library during an off period or after school to find out what it takes to write just a few lines of code. The coding activities range from basic to intermediate. 

What is the “Hour of Code” all about?

Very simply, put aside one hour to introduce students to the basics of writing code through engaging self-guided tutorials and apps. 

The goal of this event is to demonstrate to students that computer science is a field anyone can pursue. Code.org created the "Hour of Code" to stress the importance of coding and encourage all schools to teach computer science.

Large tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and many more are partnering up with Code.org to “inspire 100 million students worldwide to do an hour of hour by the end of 2014”. They all know that a foundational knowledge of coding is an skill essential needed for the workforce of tomorrow. Their site points out that 67% of software jobs are outside of the tech industry.

Hadi Partovi, the co-founder of Code.org, believes the pursuit of a computer science education is an opportunity that should be afforded to all students. Since computer science students average only 18% female, 3% black, and 8% Latino, they also hope to promote more diversity in the fields of technology and software development.

So come on by! I guarantee you will have a good time.

Below are a list of resources you might want to use with your own children at home or to begin coding yourself.

Hour of Code

CodeHS

Codecademy

Code Avengers

Code Monkey

Make School 

Youth Spark

Kahn Academy

Tynker


List of Apps that teach coding -

Common Sense Media

What is so great about iOS 8?

A few weeks ago, Apple released their newest iOS update. At first glance iOS 8 may not appear different, but there are some wonderful new features. 

Below are a few highlights from a document I wrote for faculty and staff about

 iOS 8. What is so great about iOS 8 ?

Multitasking with App Switcher 
Double click the home button and all of your most recent contacts will appear across the top of your screen. Tap the contacts icon and immediately place a phone call, email, or send a text. When presenting in front of the class, you might want to consider hiding your recent contacts.

Predictive Text 
Typing just got a lot easier. When typing, suggested words appear just above the keyboard. The suggestions are based on common phrases and words that may come next in your sentence. It is also possible to download additional keyboard apps such as Swype that let you type without raising a finger

Send Last Location 
The “Find My Phone (iPad)” feature just go a lot better. Now when you have misplaced a device, you can track the last place it was before the battery went dead.

Phone calls on your iPad?  
If your iPhone is in close proximity to your iPad, your iPhone calls may now start showing up on your iPad. Your phone and iPad need to be using the same iCloud account (Apple ID).

Open in 
Rearrange the order of your app icons so that your favorites show up first. Simply hold down on an icon, and then drag it to the front of the line. Another way to do this is to tap on “More” and then arrange the order by dragging app bars .

How to close multiple Safari tabs instantly on the iPad

Click here for a quick Screen Steps

Moodle EZ

Thanks to Kate Slevin we now have an updated Moodle 2.0 video tutorial that explains the process students use to upload files to MyMitty. The soundtrack adds a peaceful touch! Thanks Kate

Please let me or any Spectrum member how we can best help you with your MyMitty page.

Keynote MoodleEZ presentation

PDF Directions to MoodleEZ

MoodleEZ tutorial for download