Photoshop Animation Workshop  -  June 13, 2020

 After connecting with our local Library Branch, we were able to organize an online Photoshop workshop for the students in our community to attend. We started off with a brief introduction to what photoshop is and how it is used and we went over the basic tools that they can use such as, lines, shapes, brushes, color values, and layers. In addition, for those who did not already have Photoshop, we used the browser-based photo editor called Photopea which was similar to Photoshop. After the lessons, we gave the students an image to replicate in order to clarify any problems they had. Once everyone had a basic understanding of the tools, we asked them to create their own image. Many of them created meme artworks, and the one of them was even able to make a character stand out by adjusting the background. Many of the were interested in the pop-out image and we went over adjusting the background off images. At the end, we went over someone the problems that they encountered and proposed some solutions that they can try when they get home.

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3D Animation Workshop - June 17, 2020

Continuing from the previous workshop, we explained to the students what WebGL and ray tracing is and how it is used in animating. Next we explained taught them the fundamentals of shapes, scenes, shininess, light, and digital canvases and how these factors can be used to make a more realistic animation. Finally we finished off the lesson with a small demonstration of making a multiple balls of different sized bouncing up and down with some of varied amounts of shininess and of different angles of light. Due to the difficulty of this lesson, instead of asking the students to create projects of their own, we asked them to replicate what we have just shown them. However, some of the kids that have already gotten the hang of it started creating their own projects. One of them.

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​Arduino Workshop Part 1 - July 23, 2020

This workshop much like the previous online Zoom classes, was a challenge for the team to execute. Through reaching out to companies like AutoDesk, we learned about Tinkercad circuits, which enabled us to host the program online. We introduced the different components, such as the Arduino microcontroller, resistors, and buttons,  to the students and gave them a brief description of what they do and how they are used in tech industries. Once we finished the introductions, we asked students to build a simple circuit out of a button and a resistor, and asked them do a simple program that tells them if the circuit is complete when they hold down the button. We were able to get all 15 of them past this step and encouraged them to build more complicated circuits and use the same program to see whether the circuit was closed when the button was held down.

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 Arduino Workshop Part 2 - July 31, 2020

​We were told by the library that many of the students were extremely interested in the first Arduino workshop that we did and wanted a follow up workshop involving more components. Therefore, in this workshop, we introduced the use of an LED. We asked the students to make a traffic light simulator. After we got the circuit set up, we asked them to program the it by having the yellow light turn on for a seconds when the button in pressed. After these two seconds, the red light would turn on, signalling the cars to stop and after about ten seconds, the green light would turn back on. We also introduced state machines, and asked them to create the code once we had all filled out the state machine diagram. Half way through the lessons, we asked them to share their different methods and approaches on screen. At the end, everyone was able to make the traffic light simulation work and others even went on to make light shows with the other colored LEDs.

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​Kickoff Github Workshop - Sept. 12, 2020

During the season kickoff event, our team hosted a programming workshop. The majority of the attendees were rookie teams, who came to our workshop to lean how to properly use Android Studios and the basics of coding both autonomous and teleOP programs. We had three sessions and during each of these sessions, we went over the material to different representatives from many different teams. We first taught them how to download and use Android studio. After a majority of them were able to do so, we taught them how to set up the phones on their robots for competition. With Alex leading the workshop and Madeleine, Aroshi, and Ethan helping those that were struggling we were able to cover a lot of material. After that, we explained to them what Op-Modes are and how they can use it. We had a question and answer session at the end to address any lingering problems that they had.

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AI SPECTRA National Bootcamp - Oct. 24-25, 2020

We started off by explaining how Artificial Intelligence is used in industries today, such as art, fashion, and the environment. After students got a basic understanding of how Artificial Intelligence is used, we introduced them to the key libraries and algorithms they needed to create their first Neural Network. We taught them how to use Python libraries such as matplotlib, keras, and pandas, in order to organize and analyze the data in the famous Iris Flower dataset. Students built their very own Augmented Neural Network (ANN) using dense layers and learned how Dropout and Batch Normalization functions can help to prevent problems like over fitting. We then asked them to create a project in groups using AI to solve a problem that they currently face no matter how big or small. We were impressed by their creativity and the issues they decided to tackle, and many groups decided to focus on the current pandemic and created presentations on how people can build robots to make people happy, or how COVID testing can be expedited using AI.

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Python Workshop - Oct. 24, 2020

We typically do this workshop at our local library. However, due to Covid restrictions, we had to do it online this year. We first gave a presentation explaining what programming was and how it is implemented in everyday life. We taught them the basics of the program starting from variables, and moving on to cover everything from for/while loops to if/else statements. At the end, we asked the students to utilize what they have learned to make a Pyg Latin translator and a prime number generator. There were some students that had some prior knowledge of programming so they were able to finish the challenges a little aster. For these students, we encouraged them to create their own projects (including a chatbox) and helped them along the way.

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Make A Game Scratch - Oct. 31, 2020

In this workshop, we taught the students how to use Scratch to make their very own game. We first helped the students create their own Scratch accounts on their laptops. We went through the UI of Scratch and the main functions that they would need to create a basic game. We also taught them how to use the costume tab and showed them how they could import images off the internet and make them into characters in their program. Scratch is fairly simple, since it is block based, and none of the children had to memorise any syntax. At the end, we asked them to make a game of Pong. All of the students were able to finish their game and had a few minutes to play around with it. Most of the students that finished making the Pong game early went a step further and added their own customizations to the game. One of the students was even able to make a two player Pong game, and play with the other children at the workshop. Before the kids left, we recapped what they had learned throughout the day, and showed them some other interesting features Scratch has to offer, including making their own blocks that can conform to their code. 

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