Resources

ShapeCreator

ShapeCreator takes concepts from primary math (shapes, transformations, coordinates) and shows children how to map them to simple functions which can be composed together to create arbitrarily complex shapes. This tool helps us teach:

Divide-and-Conquer as a problem-solving strategy.

What functions are and how they help us.

Text-based coding is a language.

Why we need negative numbers.

Why we need coordinates.

How colours are encoded.

But mostly, it is about fun graphics! Now in 20 languages!
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FREE Textbook

Creating with Code is an Introduction to Functional Programming, User Interaction, and Design Thinking that assumes no knowledge of coding, and builds up the knowledge you need to make software which solves real problems. It

uses graphics to introduce the concept of functional programming in Elm,

introduces state diagrams as an organizing concept for understanding the mechanisms of user interaction,

introduces Norman's principles for good UI design,

explains how design science differs from normal science, and

shows how to apply this using design thinking with two worked examples.

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https://STaBL.Rocks

Our on-line code editor lets beginners go from simple to complex projects without installing any software. Within an hour, children can create something to share (with a few clicks), while teams can develop single- and multi-user applications in shared projects.

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MacVenture 2.0

MacVenture2.0

MacVenture is back. This web-based rewrite of the successful iPad app lets you to create an adventure game including places, items and lockable ways, and create graphics for the scenes, characters, and items with an integrated version of ShapeCreator, so children can code without encountering syntax errors. Like our other tools, when they are ready, then can generate code to paste into STaBL.Rocks where they can add advanced features like animation and minigames.

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Based on Helen Brown's iPad app and MSc Thesis

SDDraw

State Diagram Draw lets you draw an interactive application as a state diagram, an important concept in computer science. Computer Science is a lot more than recipes, and state diagrams promote the high-level reasoning which powers it. When your map of the app is ready, one button generates all the code necessary to run it on STaBL.Rocks.

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Padma's MSc Thesis

CSCDraw

Communicating Statechart Draw lets you to create an interactive game like SDDraw, but for multiple players.

CSC represents a new way of thinking about concurrency which is accessible to beginners.

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Sheida's MSc Thesis

Videos

Our YouTube playlist covers the basics of ShapeCreator. A great resource for learners, for teachers, and our most important resource for training new mentors.

Subscribe our Youtube channel to support our mission.

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