Thursday, December 17, 2015

Hour of Code!

This is our monthly code session where we hang out and practice coding. If you're new to coding you can dip your toe in the water by visiting www.Code.org.

We learned the basics of "block coding" and hope to move on to JavaScript very soon!

Look out for future coding programs!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Winter 2016 Classes!

Winter is upon us!  That means it's time for a whole new batch of Technology Classes at Elmwood Park Public Library.

Project Next Generation has officially suspended all activities due to the Illinois state budget crisis.

We may not have any PNG funding, but we can still hold classes just like before (for the time-being).  We've removed PNG from the title, but if you're familiar with our previous PNG offerings then you know what to expect!

This time around however we're making one additional change.  We're going to offer 7pm classes and we're opening those classes up to 4th and 5th graders!

All classes are 1 hour long and meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Sign up online and make sure if you sign up for a multi-part class you show up for every class!

So here's what's slated for December, January and February:


7pm - 8pm classes (4th grade and up)

Google Smarty Pins - 12/3
Test your geography skills with an hour of playing Smarty Pins.  Smarty Pins is a Google Maps game that tests your geography knowledge with trivia questions.  Let's see who can get the high score!

Hour of Code - 12/17
Hour of Code - 1/7
Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding!

Bristle Bots - 1/12
What happens when you combine a toothbrush, a tiny motor and an electric current?  Bristle Bots!  Sign up to construct your very own Bristle Bot and then race them against your classmates! 

Photoshop FacePaint - 1/19 - 1/21
Join this Project Next Generation class if you want to learn Adobe Photoshop basics.  We'll use a combination of cameras, tracing on paper, and Photoshop to produce a one-of-a-kind self portrait! 

Movie Making - 1/26, 1/28, 2/2, 2/4
Lights, Camera, Action!  Let's write a script, shoot some footage and edit it into a movie!

Hour of Code - 2/18
Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding!


7pm - 8pm classes (6th grade and up)

Hour of Code - 12/15
Hour of Code - 1/5
Hour of Code - 2/16
Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding!  If you've already mastered the basics try your hand at some more advanced stuff from Kahn Academy!


4pm - 5pm classes (6th grade and up)

TinkerCAD - 1/5, 1/7, 1/12, 1/14
Let's use the computer to create 3D models and then print them out on the Makerbot Replicator!  This 4-part class will teach you the basics of 3D design and how to use Tinkercad.com to create 3D objects that can be printed on any 3D printer!

Soldering - 1/26, 1/28, 2/2, 2/4
Join this Project Next Generation class if you want to learn how to solder!  We've got cool electronics kits that light up, drive and scurry.  When you're finished you can take your creation home with you and you'll be an expert in circuitry and soldering!

Vinyl Cutter - 2/16, 2/18, 2/23, 2/25
Learn how to compose a photograph, and how to use Photoshop along with our awesome Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine to add a really unique and artistic presentation to your photos!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Hour of Code!

This is our monthly code session where we hang out and practice coding. If you're new to coding you can dip your toe in the water by visiting www.Code.org.

Today we got to try out Code.org's new Minecraft coding game! Slowly but surely we are getting pretty advanced in the world of code.

Look out for future coding programs!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Thanksgiving Tablescapes - Day 2

Today is the second and last day of Thanksgiving Tablescapes.  We made great progress and the results are awesome!  Can't wait to put these around the table on the big day!





Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Thanksgiving Tablescapes - Day 1

Today was the first day of our Thanksgiving Tablescapes program!  We're getting ready for Turkey Day by making name cards for our Thanksgiving table places.


Thursday, November 12, 2015

TinkerCAD - Final Day

Today was the last day of TinkerCAD.  Every single person finished a design!  I will post pictures of each one as they come off of the Makerbot Replicator!

Stay tuned!

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

TinkerCAD - Day 3

Today was the 3rd day of TinkerCAD.  Some students are finalizing their first designs and moving on to work on something new and fresh while other students are continuing to work on their original design to make sure they are as awesome as possible!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

TinkerCAD - Day 2

Today was our 2nd day of TinkerCAD and some of our 3D designers really kicked it into gear and finished their first designs.  But this is a 4-part class so it's only going to get better from here, right?!




Tuesday, November 3, 2015

TinkerCAD

Today was the first day of TinkerCAD.

We had a great turnout and we ran the newcomers through the tutorial on how TinkerCAD works.

Once the students have mastered the basics, we'll turn them loose to design a 3D object of their choosing and at the end of our 4-day class we will print them out in PLA plastic on our Makerbot Replicator 3D printer!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

L.E.D. Ghosts!

Today we learned about L.E.D.s or Light Emitting Diodes, and combined them with coin batteries, pop bottles and a sheet to make a creepy light-up Halloween ghost decoration!

BOO!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!



Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Hour of Code

Today was Hour of Code!

This is our monthly code session where we hang out and practice coding. If you're new to coding you can dip your toe in the water by visiting www.Code.org.

In the future we'd like to offer more Hour of Code sessions so keep your eyes peeled!


Thursday, October 15, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Music - Day 4

Today was the last day for our music making class. The kids have been working hard to complete their masterpieces!

Here's a sample of Armando's avant garde masterpiece!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft - Day 3

Today is the 2nd to last day of MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft!  Our recording artists are a little behind.  With only today and Thursday left to complete their masterpieces will they have enough time?!?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Music - Day 2

Today is the second day of MaKEY MaKEY Music!  The students received a crash course in how to create music in Mixcraft and now they are assembling the inputs for their virtual instruments!

Next up: creating a sonic masterpiece!




Tuesday, October 6, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Music - Day 1

Today was the first day of MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft.  This is the class where we use the popular MaKEY MaKEY kit as an input device for the computer and then use that input as a MIDI instrument in the audio editing program Mixcraft!

Sound complicated?  It is!  Sound awesome?  It is!

This is a 4-part class and we're just getting introduced to the MaKEY MaKEY kits today.  We'll post our awesome creations on Soundcloud on the last day!


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

September Hour of Code

Every month PNG holds an Hour of Code at the Elmwood Park Public Library.

Whether you've never coded before or you invented Johnny No. 5, all are welcome to come hang out, work separately or together on some fun coding activities!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Soldering - Final Day

Today was the last day of soldering in PNG and it really came down to the wire!  (ahem... sorry).

Lets take a look at the results!


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Soldering - Day 3

Today is the 3rd day of soldering and we are in the home stretch!  Everything is looking good and we are on track to finish by Thursday!



Thursday, September 17, 2015

Soldering - Day 2

Today was the second day of soldering.  We are making good progress!  2 more days and we hope to be finished!





Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Soldering - Day 1

Today was our first day of Soldering.  We had the mandatory safety tips for the first part of class and then we started actually did some soldering.  We're putting together a kit that will make a car when we're all finished!



Thursday, September 10, 2015

Silhouettes and Photography - Day 2

Today was the second and final day of Silhouettes and Photography.  We had much better luck with the machines, thanks to Omar's help.

Only one of our students returned but his final result was pretty cool!


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Silhouettes & Photography - Day 1

Today was the first day of our Silhouettes and Photography class.  To say it didn't go well would be an understatement.  We're pretty sure the vinyl cutter only works for Omar and Omar wasn't here today.  We wanted to go outside and take photo, but it was rainy and nasty all day.

Oh well, here's hoping for better luck on Thursday.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

PNG Fall 2015 Schedule

Fall will soon be here and with it a brand new slate of PNG classes! 

PNG is a series of technology classes for kids 6th and up. We meet most Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4pm - 5pm.  It's free and fun and best of all there's no homework! 

 Sign up for any and all of the PNG classes that sound good to you! 


September
Test your geography skills with an hour of playing Smarty Pins.  Smarty Pins is a Google Maps game that tests your geography knowledge with trivia questions.  Let's see who can get the high score!

Learn how to compose a photograph, and how to use Photoshop along with our awesome Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine to add a really unique and artistic presentation to your photos!

Soldering - 9/15 - 9/24
Join this Project Next Generation class if you want to learn how to solder!  We've got cool electronics kits that light up, drive and scurry.  When you're finished you can take your creation home with you and you'll be an expert in circuitry and soldering!

Hour of Code - 9/29
Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding! 

October
Makey Makey Music - 10/6 - 10/15
Let's use Makey Makey sensors to create our own beat machine out of stuff we have lying around and then build a song around our creations!

Hour of Code - 10/27
Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding! 

LED Ghosts - 10/29
Let's make some spooky D.I.Y. "ghosts" using ordinary items and some simple L.E.D.'s (light emitting diodes), batteries and magnets!

November
TinkerCAD - 11/3 - 11/12
Let's use the computer to create 3D models and then print them out on the Makerbot Replicator!  This 4-part class will teach you the basics of 3D design and how to use Tinkercad.com to create 3D objects that can be printed on any 3D printer!

Need decorations for your Thanksgiving table?  Don't go to the store, let's design them ourselves and make them real using our Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine!

Hour of Code - 11/24

Not only is coding massively important to the fabric of your digital world, coding can also be pretty fun!  Sign up for this quick introduction to activities on Code.org and play fun games while learning the fundamentals of basic coding! 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Hour of Code

Today is the last day of PNG Summer!

We hung out and had an Hour of Code.  Students were allowed to work on whatever they wanted so long as it had something to do with coding!

And don't worry, even though it's the last day of PNG's Summer schedule a whole new slate of classes for the Fall are right around the corner.

Stay tuned, we'll be announcing the new schedule here shortly!

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Reality TV - Day 4: Citizen Cake

Today was the last day of our Reality TV project!  Only one student actually finished their edit in time, and that edit is going to take another 37 minutes to render and save.

We'll upload it as soon as possible!  Can't wait to see the results.



Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Reality TV - Day 3: Cut & Taste

The editors are hard at work editing. We're trying to explain how in most reality TV shows no shot lasts longer than 3 seconds! Cut Cut Cut!!!!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Reality T.V. - Day 2! Emmy or Bust

Today we started the editing process. We are trying to make this as realistic to the actual Iron Chef show as possible with the hopes of putting the video on the Library's Facebook page for everyone to enjoy. We are slowly getting to a presentable (and quite enjoyable) T.V. show... So stay tuned!

Reality T.V. - Day 1! Kooking with Kubrick

Today was filming day! We joined forces with an other program to make Iron Chef: Elmwood Park. PNG got to film the entire event while the other program cooked food for our staff (A.K.A. Judges). Everyone had a blast and we are going to begin the long and tedious editing process.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft - Last Day!

Today was the last day of MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft!  Let the music speak for itself!




Tuesday, August 4, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft - Day 3

By now, we've got the mechanics down so it's time to buckle down and make some music!

Magnus was a newcomer today, but he picked up the MaKEY MaKEY very quickly and the whole class put on their headphones and got into it!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Day 2

Today was the second day of Makey Makey Mixcraft. The students understand how to use their MaKEY MaKEY kits and so today was all about getting acquainted with Mixcraft and seeing all of the cool things that it can do. We are basically creating virtual instrument tracks and then playing them with the inputs from the kits. Its all MIDI so we can rearrange things and tweak them after the fact.

 So far so good!


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft

Today was our first day of MaKEY MaKEY Mixcraft!

We've done this program in the past, and it was a lot of fun, but this time we'll be taking it to the next level, by directly integrating our MaKEY MaKEY kits into the Acoustica Mixcraft software in order to play virtual instruments!

The result is that we can use "touchpads" made out of tin foil that we tape to our desk to play virtual midi instruments on!



Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Hour of Code

Today was our monthly Hour of Code!  Unfortunately, summer is in full-effect so we only had two students show up, but they learned a lot.

Our Hour of Code classes are a bit of a different animal.  Rather than teach the students from lesson plans, we set them loose on their own according to their skill level.  It's a chill atmosphere where we listen to music and help each other learn.

We've got an Hour of Code scheduled every month, so join the club, come hang out and learn something!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Robotics - Last Day!

Well, in a lot of respects, the last day of our robotics class was a lot like our first.  We just didn't get much done.

Progress was very slow as we attempted to figure out these Finchbots, but we managed to do a lot of cool things like make the robots lights change color in pre-programmed ways and run routes that we designed to get around obstacles.

I feel like we're just beginning to scratch the surface and here it is time to move on to the next project.

We will definitely be revisiting the Finch bots and trying again soon!


Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Robotics Day 3 - Birdbrains working on Birdbrain


Today was the return of the Finch Robot! With some creative thinking, we got them working. We did some basic programming like programming the Finch to move in any direction and getting the Finch's nose to light up. We are hoping to do more with this on the last day now that we have everything figured out. The possibilities are endless!

Thursday, July 9, 2015

(Not so much) Robotics - Day 2

Today, we had some technical difficulties and all computers were down in our room! With some quick thinking, we planned a last minute class of some good old soldering. We tried to make a Light-Following Spider robot. The kids seemed to really enjoy the class and have demanded an encore of this soldering class since we could not finish the spider. Hopefully, everything is fixed for the next class and we can get back to the FinchBot!


Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Robotics - Day 1

What is the Finch Robot? That's what today's class is all about.  We've never seen these robots before, and we don't know how they work.  Together we're going to figure out what makes them tick and how to make them go.




Thursday, July 2, 2015

TinkerCAD - Last Day

Today is the last day of TinkerCAD class for the summer.  Our students have been working on their designs for the last 3 classes and today is the day to put the finishing touches on their objects and get them ready to be sent to our Makerbot Replicator to be printed into real objects.

We will update the blog soon with pictures of how each object turned out.  Remember not all 3D designs are "printer friendly".  Will all of the objects turn out as intended or will we see some disasters hit the build plate?  Stay tuned to find out!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

TinkerCAD - Day 3

Today was the 3rd day of TinkerCAD.  At this point the students are TinkerCAD pros, so class was very quiet as they set about their work.  Thursday will be the last day, so it's coming down to the wire for them to finish their masterpieces in time to have them 3D printed on our Makerbot Replicator at the end of the session.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

TinkerCAD - Day 2

Today was our second day of TinkerCAD.  We learned the basics of how TinkerCAD works in our first class on Tuesday and now it's time for the students to be set loose and show us what they can do!

Half the battle was just figuring out what to design!  We've got 2 more days to figure it out and fine tune our designs!