Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world and is now used to teach programming at six of the top ten computer science undergraduate programs in the United States. Python has a reputation for being a well-supported computer language that is ideal for education and is also a favorite among scientists. This workshop acts as an introduction to computer programming with the Python programming language. The basics of imperative programming will be covered as well as ideas from selected areas of computer science, data science and education. We will review the basics of the language and discuss how it is used and taught.

Presenter: Lars Sorensen

This workshop introduces teachers to the use of robots in upper elementary through grade nine. Includes hands-on learning with the EV3 Lego Mindstorms Robots while focusing on instructional strategies that promote problem based learning. We will also have a presentation on cybersecurity as it relates to robotics. 5 hours of hands-on, problem based Professional Development. Includes classroom lessons and strategies. Please email loriben@fdu.edu if you have any questions.

Arduino consists of both a physical programmable circuit board- often referred to as a microcontroller- and a piece of software, or IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that runs on your computer, and it is used to write and upload computer code to the physical board. This workshop will explain how to control hardware and sensors by using the IDE to program the arduino. The Arduino language is a set of C/C++ functions that can be called from your code. We will review the process of writing sketches and loading the code into the Arduino.

Middle and High School with an interface for developing small Android apps that can be tested on their devices. This user-friendly drag and drop interface starts with basic concepts but allows for growth into Java programming. Don’t have access to an Android? No problem. The app inventor provides a free Android simulator for Mac or PC. This content can be applied to an Hour-of-Code session.

Have you hit the wall coding in Scratch? This workshop will demonstrate how to troubleshoot your Scratch code projects and introduce you to advanced coding concepts such as: Variables, Arrays, Functions, Sequence, Events, Conditionals, Loops, Boolean Logic, Parallelism, Operators, Remixing, Modularizing, and Algorithms. Unleash these concepts to take your Scratch projects to the next level.