.NET Gadgeteer at Animation 12
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The University of Manchester - Animation12 competition took place on Friday 13th of July 2012. The event have over 300 registered competitors.
The University of Manchester School of Computer Science launched the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition in 2008 as part of Digital60 - celebrating the 60th Anniversary of "The Baby", the world's first stored-program computer, designed and built at The University of Manchester.
The UK Schools Computer Animation Competition was launched to introduce UK schoolchildren to the fun side of basic programming whilst animating.
The Competition is an annual event, to show schoolchildren that computers can be used creatively, and to stimulate them to learn about programming. The Competition's summer Awards Festival is held in Manchester, when winners receive their prizes, and over 300 guests attend talks and spend time in activity rooms exploring the fun side of computing.
The Competition is open to all UK schoolchildren aged 7-19, and is completely free.
“Youngsters love gadgets. So wouldn’t it be great if they could build their own, and at school? This is exactly what more than 80 of the competitors, ages 7 to 19, did using .NET Gadgeteer during a hands on session at the event.
The .NET Gadgeteer pilot project aligns with the UK’s commitment to prioritize computer science education in schools, as spelled out by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, in his speech at the BETT Show (see School ICT to be replaced by computer science programme) and will be a key part in the AQA GCSE Computer Science course starting in Sept 2012.
We look forward to more schools, colleges, and universities utilizing .NET Gadgeteer to unleash their students’ creativity and enthusiasm in technology in the UK, and beyond. Scarlet Schwiderski-Grosche, Program Manager, Microsoft Research Connections EMEA, and Steve Hodges, Principal Hardware Engineer, Microsoft Research Cambridge
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We had over 80 students attend the pre booked Gadgeteer workshop sessions which took place throughout the day in all we ran 4 x 30 min sessions demonstrating hands on how to Build a Digital Camera with .NET Gadgeteer in 30 mins.
Resources
Animation12 Web Site – Learn more about Animation12 and see details of the event.
Microsoft .NET Gadgeteer is an open-source toolkit for building small electronic devices using the .NET Micro Framework and Visual Studio/Visual C# Express.
Build all manner of electronic gadgets quickly and easily with .NET Gadgeteer! LEARN HOW TO GET STARTED
Reading Materials
Getting Started with .NET Gadgeteer by Simon Monk - This book explains .NET Gadgeteer to the novice and to using only the parts available in the Fez Spider Starter Kit. This is the most common starter kit if components for the Gadgeteer.
Curricula Resources
Teaching Material for .NET Gadgeteer in School
.NET Gadgeteer can be used in schools to help students make gadgets and learn C# programming along the way. These lesson plans give teachers all the material needed to run 8 1-hour sessions using .NET Gadgeteer, including session plans, student handouts and PowerPoint presentations.