The Reader Project strikes again!!!!!

                                   
                         The Reader Project strikes again!!!!


At the start of the Reader Project ( Technology)we began to plan out our ideas for our project for example the cavemen(and how we have developed from them), blood transfusions and flight(various inventions that have been created by humans through out the years and examples of how technology has changed and developed.Further information from previous weeks are as follow:

Week 1:
 Our project was based on timelines like the past and the future and at the end of that session, we agreed on Technology.Then we got the homework for something that ocurred with Technology.

Week 2: 
Been given was to research technology in different places around the world.
We talked about our own ideas for the project, we also drew a hand with things that we did in the past and the things we want to do in the future. The homework had

Week 3:
We gave in our homework, created a story board based on our homework and presented our work as a short drama piece, the rest of our group had to guess what we were acting out.

Week 4:
We produced a script of how our ideas would be presented, and we were given homework to type on the subject then email.We also did a short drama piece based on our scripts, we had various ideas. Eg. how we adapted, how cars were made ect.

Summer Challenge 2013

How have we worked together and what have we created?

Hi everyone 

Welcome to the second day of Summer Challenge 2013 at Sheffield Hallam University!

Use the blog comments box to explore your group work and tell us  about what you have made!

Movie Making Resources

Free Movie Making Resources!

StoryMaker Flow Chart

It can be the hardest thing to come up with an idea for a movie script! By selecting colourful blocks in each section, the StoryMaker Flow Chart will help you assemble the key points in your films' plot to create your own story!

Brain Storm Template

Once you have your idea the next stage is to plan your movie. This Brainstorm template helps you to plan and begin writing your script!

Storyboard Template

Okay so you've got a great idea and want to write a script. This Storyboard Template will help you to see what your movie will look like, scene by scene and shot by shot.

Video Logging Sheet

After you have shot your film its important to log your video footage. This easy to use template will help you choose your good shots and leave out the not so great ones!

Why all our kids should be taught how to code

Why all our kids should be taught how to code another Guardian article calling on the powers that be to  invest in our kids futures.

Scratch 2.0 Has arrived!

Its here... Scratch 2.0

Building on the success of 1.4 This version offers so much more.

We've been testing it out during the after school club at the University and its pretty good!

New programming interface and program software is now web-based

Its now web-based and offers a multitude of new programming functions and you still need an account.  

Now its web-based it comes with some obvious benefits - you don't need to download software and then install, you just surf and go!

The clever bods at MIT might also develop a stand alone player so watch this space!

The Random Excuse Generator App

The Create Project 2013 Presents the .....

The App we have all been waiting for!! Created using MIT App Inventor - a great tool for rapid prototyping!

In April during workshops at Sheffield Hallam University, Jenson Grant worked with a group of Y11 secondary school students to build the worlds most useful Mobile Phone App!

Design View of our App in MIT App Inventor

During our design process we developed a design brief and thought about the user mechanics of the App. 

Why the user would want the App and what the user was going to get out of the experience.

Blocks view shows you all the programming logic . You need the latest version of JAVA on your computer to run this! 

During the design and building process we; 

- thought about what we needed in our lives - what would make us excited!

- sketched some designs and opened MIT App Inventor accounts. 

- designed an interface

- built the programming block

- tested and packaged the APP!

Our completed prototype ready for soft testing and distribution to our mobile device!

MIT App Inventor is a quick and easy to learn tool for rapid prototyping and we would need to make lots of changes to our app if we ever wanted to bring it to Market but as a quick and easy introduction - it was faultless!

The create project is an initiative supported by Maxine Greaves at Sheffield Hallam University, to encourage young people to creatively engage in digital technologies. 

Photoshop For Free!

Adobe Photoshop is the first word in image editing but there are some pretty good free alternatives out there...

Pixlr - Free download

A layers based image editing package much like photoshop.  Its got filters, transparent, a plethora of selection tools, erasers and paint brushes. Plus your can save your images in more formats than you can shake a stick at!

Its web-based so you'll have to have a decent connection + computer to use it.

For basic image editing, I use it all the time in workshops as often the computers we are using don't have the expensive Adobe software pre-loaded.

GIMP - Free download

Yup it sounds like a dodgy character from Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, but theres nothing suspect about this little piece of software's ability to keep up with the big kid on the block when it comes to tweeking your pics.

It's al there, layers,the tools, the floating pallets, and don't let all those windows or software bugs put you off - it's pretty powerful editing software that a lot of people have spent a lot of item developing free for you, yes You!

TUX Paint - Free download

Okay this tuxedo Penguin's not as sophisticated as the smart casual Photoshop but once you 've downloaded the extensive image stamp library you have a fun easy to use programme that adds surprisingly catchy sound effects when you do anything in the interface proves it to be a massive step up from MS paint 

Photoshop - Free Trial

Yep you can use photoshop for free... well for 30 days that is!

You can download a full functioning trial version to test drive straight to your hard-drive. I think it adds a nasty a watermark or stops working after this time so you'll have to part with your hard earned clams or shells or whatever they are calling money these days, if you want to continue.

You should check out their other award winning software.

That's it for now, have fun and keep those lenses clean!