This is iCreate Technology Club, an after school program at Baldwin Elementary. This ‘computer club’ is an outlet for our students to explore, play, learn and have fun with their classmates. The mission is to demystify computers through engaging activities that inspire our children to be the creators of technology rather than mere consumers. Offerings will change whenever new adventures in technology become available.

NEW THIS YEAR!ComputerCraftEdu! Your students and I have explored many different mods since this journey began. We have had a plethora of animals to create zoos and animal hospitals for. We have built rockets and flown to the Moon and Mars. We have built homes complete with furniture, working appliances and even doorbells. This year we are exploring computer coding with ComputerCraft where players will be able to craft robots in Minecraft that they can then learn how to code. Like many entry to code programs this mod provides a visual editor. However this one goes a step further and actually guides the player as they drag and drop commands into their program. It helps them create conditional statements. Check this out:

The robots (Turtles) can be equipped with tools and then programmed to build bridges, roads, buildings, dig subways systems, plant and harvest crops, mine for ore, create pixel art and anything else they can dream up. These user-created programs can be saved and shared with other players. It is incredible. We will begin with a tutorial world that demonstrates what these robots can do (i.e. things that players can’t), how they are controlled and see some sample code in action then we will create a city together. We will plan, collaborate, make mistakes, make more mistakes, make even more mistakes, learn and have fun doing it. Some may choose not to utilize the robots. However, the server will run constantly so we will witness the efficiency of using robots each week by seeing how much work their robots did for them while they were busy living their real lives outside of Minecraft.

Thank YOU parents for your continued enthusiasm and support. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion for technology with your child!