*PLEASE NOTE: Registrants must be able to bring their own personal laptops to participate in this workshop. No computers will be available at the site**
The focus of this class will be exploring how physical computing can ignite creativity and design. After watching the video, Cain’s Arcade, teachers will be challenged to go beyond the keyboard and mouse to create unique inputs with the MakeyMakey printed circuit board for their own Scratch arcade game. Simple supplies like cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, play-doh and other household items will be provided along with the MakeyMakey boards. Teachers will use the design and problem solving process to define an arcade game they would like to build, research Scratch code that might be useful, come up with some sketches, prototype inputs with the MakeyMakey and then develop their solution using the supplies. The last 30 minutes, teachers will “play” with each other’s games and celebrate our success. Note: While we are investigating various arcade type games, teachers will be introduced to Scratch as a simple yet powerful programming language that can successfully be used to teach the basics of computer science like events, loops, conditional statements, variables and more. Teacher’s Scratch coding skills will be developed and challenged during this class.
Hardware requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a USB port to attach the MakeyMakey
Software requirements: No software needs to be downloaded prior to the class. We will be using Scratch 2.0, web based version, accessible via an internet connected computer. A Scratch account would be helpful for saving projects developed during the class for future reference. A free Scratch account can be created here.
Background necessary: A basic understanding of Scratch would be helpful but not required.

Presenter: Roseanna Misuraca

This workshop proposes to immerse you in a series of activities so that you can learn the value of Unity through direct experience. When you complete this workshop, you will know how to create a fully functioning game in Unity that can be shared with others. Participants will be able to:

• Set up a game in Unity
• Create basic objects in Unity
• Manipulate the Unity Camera within the game
• Set up the Unity work area
• Code in C# and use the Unity scripting editor
• Build a final Unity Game to be played on a desktop computer

Presenter: Suzanna McGee

Bring your imagination and creativity! In this exciting and interactive workshop participants will have the opportunity to discover how schools are integrating “making” into their classrooms and libraries by spending a Makerspace Monday exploring with us. Participants will have the opportunity to make, design, program and play while exploring the elements that comprise a makerspace. Participants will also learn how to foster innovation and creativity in all curricula, from STEM to the arts to humanities. Want to know how to create or expand your own spaces? Are you on a tight budget? This workshop will provide a hands-on, interactive maker’s environment for attendees to explore some of the new digital, high tech and low-tech fabrication tools used in schools. Participants will leave full of ideas for affordable spaces AND curricular connections in all areas: Arts, STEM, Humanities, and Languages. MakerSpace Monday – Open Exploration Sessions In these sessions participants will have the opportunity to explore whatever ideas meet the needs of your classroom. In this open sessions participants can explore fabrication and design thinking using Cardboard (MakeDo), Claymation, green-screening, soft circuits (eTextiles),Makey Makey, drones, Google Cardboard, and much more!

Presenter: Michelle Wendt, Instructional Technologist at the SRI&ETTC

Debugging Scratch

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.

Instructors: Gary Schafer and Philip Polsine

This workshop will be co-sponsored by the Building CS Capacity in NJ Project (TCNJ) and The STEM Institute of Education (FDU).
The workshop involves building fully functional apps for Android smartphones and tablets using MIT App Inventor, which is an intuitive, visual programming environment that allows everyone to be able to build apps. The block based tools help in creating complex apps in significantly less time than traditional programming environments. This enables people to move from technology consumption to technology creation. App Inventor could make programming enjoyable and accessible to novices, enabling students to develop computing skills and computational thinking. Also, this empowers kids and adults to create apps that make a difference in their communities, which many have already done and continue to do so. Some features when using App Inventor:

• Your app appears on the Android phone or tablet, step-by-step as you add pieces to it, so you can test your work as you build
• If you don’t have an Android phone or tablet, you can build your apps using the Android emulator, software that runs on your computer and behaves just like a phone
• When you’re done, you can package your app and produce a stand-alone application to install.

Presenter: Rama Madhavarao and Dr. Neelu Sinha

To see your CS PD event listed on this page, please email all relevant information to buildingcsnj@tcnj.edu

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