Fun in Bishopstone today creating what we are calling Quiz Machines!These are based on MicroBits, Bit Commanders and View screens - the same equipment that we are using to build the ChoiceBoxes at Crowdy's - but this time they act as "fastest finger first" devices that transmit to the Receiving Unit the team name followed by the answer.We plan to develop them so that…
https://youtu.be/s3I0rDUUM6Uhttps://youtu.be/BC9o5qj3xoA Marvellous Musical Machine: Micro:Bits connected to servos creating musical instruments for ASD therapeutics and expression
https://youtu.be/PB8v2dzt0G0 Our Environmental Sensing Club went sub-aqua this week!
Our Physical Computing club: dedicated to the study of the environment that can be found on the island, and in the duck pond, outside the classroom window of Key Stage 2, Bishopstone Primary School. Follow our adventures here: www.flickernet.net/bishy3
About Flickernet 25: Supporting underprivileged young people Assisting schools in the South West of England Outdoor learning and remote sensing facilities (Space To Learn), in Northern Ireland Core principles:We have a Christian ethos, seeking to meet the needs of those who face disadvantage by providing access to technology and the natural world: in combination Pupil-led investigations and project-based learning ensure creative control for those who…
Delighted to meet up with Isaac, a former primary school pupil today at The University of Gloucester ComX event, showcasing original game design projects. Isaac is poised to enter his final year of studies. It was equally shocking to both of us that so many years have gone by! Isaac attributes an early introduction to Physical Computing as an inspiration for his choice of…
The "Bash Bash Box" is nearing completion: final testing (fun!)
Building touch control kits with Years 3 and 4 so that Scratch programs can be controlled through external inputs (Makey Makey) whilst sending images to an external output (Micro:Bit)
The inter-school Robot Racing challenge is hotting up! With both Bishopstone and St Mary's Primary schools fielding teams of robots that increasingly move in the right direction - the moment is fast approaching for Race Day! For updates on team progress, please see www.flickernet.net/rrc To liven up the arena, we have been developing claw-bots that will chomp at unsuspecting robots as they pass!
Thank you to all of those who attended the first ever Bloviators debate. It was a great chance to test out the format and to explore what debating looks like when it has to be spontaneous! Of the three motions that were on offer, the motion that was voted for by those in attendance was that human beings present too much of a danger…
Another name for Minecraft is BashBash - or at least in our house anyway! We first played it on a Raspberry Pi 3b - a rather simplified version, but nonetheless fun. Given the need that I find to demonstrate to pupils what a huge range of inputs are possible (cue tin foil, pressure pads, capacitive touch experiments etc) - there developed a good excuse…
If, like me, you were a fan of the Tomy robot collection from the 1980s, then you may also recall the tantalising sensation born out of an awareness of what those robots were unable to do, which was almost as invigorating as what they could do. Take Chatbot: it was equipped with a mechanical voice recorder that was primed by pulling a large level…
Was reminded today that the Micro:Bit / Kodu link remains a simple but effective means of providing readily coded inputs and outputs: engaging interfaces that bring virtual worlds to life. Next week we will add the pressure pads via Makey Makey - leading to pupils building their own controllers.
Just one month to go until the first Bloviator debate! Free and open to all - if you enjoy debating but haven't had much of an opportunity to construct a well-reasoned argument in front of a Chairperson for some time - then please consider joining us on the 23rd February. Full details here: www.flickernet.net/debate
Now that we have got our robots avoiding obstacles - will they be able to escape ClawBot?! Follow the latest Bishopstone RRC developments at www.flickernet.net/bishy
Coming soon - we hope - the WatchBox! This project-based-learning endeavour will offer children the opportunity to build, code and deploy, a wildlife monitoring system of their own. This will be a new way to connect with nature. For further details see here: www.flickernet.net/watchbox
Thank you to Robin, Becky and the team for a great welcome back to Bishopstone, to the very classroom where so many technological adventures were had all those years ago! https://youtu.be/oWKSi6jNQEw
Led by Zjeremy, (who retains what Steve (HoD GWA) affectionately refers to as a "prototyping look"!) - a number of Raspberry Pi upgrades are now taking shape. Zjeremy needs to run Scratch 3 with a bit of vim if he is to juggle multiple HATS for interfacing with. His secondary 3b board was not up to speed, but the 4b seems happier. To celebrate,…
As the cold evenings draw in, there is a type of thermal enhancement that doesn't warm the toes much, but that does identify hidden cctv cameras in the trees! Thank you Eden for testing out your thermal imaging mobile phone functionality in our wood!
Standing by to welcome St Louis Grammar School tomorrow - a specialist school in technology - and also my neighbours! Twenty Year 11 Computer Science pupils will be learning how to code Micro:Bits for outdoor learning adventures, including environmental sensing, orienteering, and even metal detecting! www.flickernet.net/s2l
It is with great excitement that we are launching a new project which brings together the common threads of Physical Computing, Project Based Learning and a desire to see technology put to use helping those who most need it. Along with my colleague Keith Phillips, founder of Digital Writes, I am exploring the possibility of creating a new charity, which would be called Tech…
Sharing a particular historical archive using technology and the outdoors is an ongoing mission. As those familiar with this undertaking are aware, over the last year I have converted an 1830s schoolhouse building into an archive storage and digitisation facility. This then enabled me to begin work on the Historical Narrative - a book that seeks to weave together the many stories that belong…
Loving creating resources for team Digit<all> - with thanks to Amazon Sustainable Futures. This is the Recycling Machine: metal detector drives a servo to sweep ferrous materials from a conveyor belt!
Here is a summary page with Micro:Bit; Crumble; Raspberry Pi and more general links relating to the wonderful world of Physical Computing: http://www.flickernet.net/new
This 30 second video clip shows the three step process that we undertook with both St Mary's and SoS pupils this week. Having drawn their game-book characters and shaded with crayon: 1. Stop motion animation; 2. Photoshop cutout; then 3. Adobe Character Animator - at which point they are sprites that can be included into any Unity game creation - in this case fitting…
http://www.flickernet.net/crumble Enjoying exploring Crumble equipment at Bridlewood Primary and with the ARC. Have built Marge to demonstrate the ultra-sonics in action. Credit to @philwickins for inspiring the concept. Have put together a page with Crumble links that might be helpful.
Not an attempt to avoid sweating tomorrow, but rather attempting to meet a challenge set by Paddy Bradley of SWLEP ahead of my presentation at the ICE event tomorrow.. Could Zjeremy show in his live data feed a distinct difference between the current pristine tree particulate reading and the polluted air around him. No better way to pollute that air than Lynx Inca, methought…
The Particulate Sensor was put to work sniffing the air above our campfire. More than just marshmallows to chew over.! Report here. www.flickernet.net/campfire
The vast, sprawling assembly of tech-enthusiasts that is BETT was every bit as overwhelming this year as in previous years. Rather than attempt to see everything, I was more than content catching a few great seminars and panel discussions, then finding my way to the Physical Computing corner. Ricky and the team: your equipment has taken remote sensing opportunities to a new level! I…
Devizes Arts Festival featured this great homage to classic computer games. A simple idea but a brilliant one: becoming the characters in a physical recreation. I got so into being pac-man!
https://community.stem.org.uk/blogs/phillip-anley/2023/03/20/jumpstart-the-junk STEM have kindly published my blog containing some thoughts towards how old, and seemingly defunct, technology can yet be of value to teachers as a means of providing Physical Computing experiences. Perhaps the question for teachers (& school IT support teams) could be: "what can this still do?" - rather than "what can this not do?"
http://www.flickernet.net/pm25 Enjoying resource creation for my friends at Digit<all> An activity for teachers will merge DT with Computing skills and Science - to build a particle measuring machine, linked to the PM2.5 Tree Sensor so that pupils can engage with the need for careful monitoring of these dangerous airborne particles. http://www.flickernet.net/pm25 http://www.flickernet.net/pm25
The Space To Learn site in Northern Ireland captures video of wildlife passing by cameras that are spread throughout the woods. This camera, BadgerCam - is a good one for recording the soundscape too! https://youtu.be/m09STihb7ZE
