Throughout the magazines, wherever we come across a video that’s about or relevant to a resource we’re featuring, here’s where we’ll post the link. Just click and watch!
You can also view these videos on our YouTube channel. Check out the playlist for our July 2016 issue at www.youtube.com/user/interfacemagazine
Code kingdoms
Aimed at six to 13-year-olds, Code Kingdoms (www.codekingdoms.com) uses a simple adventure game format based on Minecraft to explain the concepts of computer programming. Learn and use coding and problem-solving skills to navigate the world and complete missions.
Apple unveils iOS 10
Apple has announced the imminent arrival of iOS 10 at its annual developer conference and is releasing a public beta this month. The 10th major installment of the operating system for iPhones and iPads comes with a collection of new features, from ‘Invisible Ink’ and ‘Tapback’, to hand-written message and even more ways to use Siri.
Samsung Gear 360 Action Camera
See an introduction to Samusung’s new Gear 360 Action Camera.
Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust
The numbers of Monarch Butterflies are in decline and scientists are worried. They’re known as an ‘indicator species’, with their changing fortunes reflecting changes in our environment. A tagging programme is monitoring Monarchs – and you can take part. Find out more about these beautiful creatures and the Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust. Find out more at www.monarch.org.nz
Chapter chat
All you need to know about Chapter Chat.
ThingLink
(www.thinglink.com) is a tool for creating more engaging visual content by enabling the embedding of rich media – text, photos, videos, links, and text – to images.
Cantor Arts Center
Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center (www.museum.stanford.edu) has completed a six-year project to make its collection accessible online. To search, simply type in a title, artist, theme or other search criteria, and see high-quality digital images of the majority of the 45,000-plus objects in the catalogue.
Lawrence Hall of Science
From University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Hall of Science (www.lawrencehallofscience.org) has a wide variety of resources to engage students in learning science. While you may not make it to the actual location, the website contains activities and experiments for use in the classroom.
NetBasics
Learn about cybersafety risks facing students at NetBasics (www.netbasics.org.nz). Created by NetSafe, it uses animated stories to address common risks and issues, including phishing, firewall protection dangerous downloads, and password protection. Additional sections cover ‘Computer Security’ and ‘Protect Your Stuff’.
Digital Compass
Digital Compass (www.digitalcompass.org) is an animated, choose-your-own-path interactive game that lets kids explore the impact of decisions made in their digital lives. They step into the shoes of one of eight characters to experience different elements of digital citizenship, like cyberbullying, privacy and copyright.
Turtle Academy
This easy-to-use project (www.turtleacademy.com) uses the LOGO language to introduce three basic principles of computer programming: sequences of commands, loops and functions. For ages 8 and up.
Robot Movie
A video showing what the Waipawa School ICT Extension group did for 10 hours one week.
The ‘Hour of Code’
The ‘Hour of Code’ (www.code.org). It’s a simple and quick introduction, and an easy way to write some basic code – you even get a certificate when you’re done. If you want, there are then follow-up courses for learning more core computer science and programming concepts. This initiative has some heavyweight backing, so expect video encouragement from the likes of Bill Gates and Mark Zukerberg along the way.
Let’s teach kids to code
Coding isn’t just for computer whizzes, says computer scientist Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab … it’s for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled TED Talk, Let’s teach kids to code, he outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just “read new technologies – but also create them”.
CodeMonkey
CodeMonkey (www.playcodemonkey.com) is an online game that teaches computer programming. In the game, users control a monkey and help him catch bananas by writing lines of code in a real programming language.
Gamestar Mechanic
Gamestar Mechanic (www.gamestarmechanic.com) uses game-based quests and courses to help you learn game design coding to make your own video games.
Sketch Nation
Sketch Nation (www.sketchnation.com) offers a free, easy introduction to some basic building blocks of coding, like app design and game logic. It lets you create games by drawing them. You can design the characters, scenery and objects, using your own art, photos and ideas, and we provide the game-playing genres and modes needed to bring those games to life.
