Week 1: Giving instructions to a computer

July 6, 2021

Overview: Meet the participants, go over coding terminology, practice giving explicit instructions, and try paired coding.

Activity Time Additional Info
Introduction and icebreaker 25 min  
Blindfold navigation 10 min Practice giving instructions to navigate a blindfolded person around an object!
Intro to Scratch 10 min  
Animate your name (and sign up for NU account if needed) 10 min Go to the Scratch website, and for NU account, see intructions below.
Share your animations! 5 min  

Overview of coding lingo and blindfold exercise

Introductory slides

Specific instructions for getting NU accounts

Part 1:

  • First, go to this link, and then click on the link to “Apply for a sponsored account using the online form” (in step 2).
  • Fill out your personal information.
  • For “Job Title,” write “Coding sessions student.”
  • For “Sponsorship Start Date,” put next Tuesday’s date (07/06/2021).
  • For “Role,” select “Student Employee - 90 days.”
  • For “University Email Account Required,” select “No.”
  • For “NUNet Account Required,” select “No.”
  • For “Sponsor’s Last Name,” write “Lotterhos” and press search, and then select “Lotterhos, Kathleen Elizabeth” (which should be the only result).
  • Click the “Continue” button.
  • Submit the application.

Part 1.5:

  • Dr. Lotterhos will approve your application after you submit it.

Part 2:

  • Follow the steps in the email you recieve after approval, which are also outlined here.

If you can’t find the email:

  • Go to this link.
  • Click “Request access”.
  • Click “Activate Account” (under “Faculty, Staff & Sponsored Accounts”).

Part 3:

Submit a second form to get a sponsored Discovery account in addition to a sponsored NEU ID.

Intro to Scratch: Animate a Name!

1) Click on the “Animate a Name” challenge on the Scratch website.
2) Watch the tutorial.
3) Decide whether to animate your initials, your name, or any other word! (Aim for about 2-5 letters.)
4) Use at least one type of control and two types of motions, looks, or sounds to animate your initials/name/word of choice!

For help with the specific functions, Scratch’s “animation cards” are here.

Find step-by-step screenshots and an example solution here.