General Information — Mediatech’s Programming Camp for Kids
ABOUT THE CAMP: Mediatech’s Programming Camp for Kids is a one-week, morning camp for children aged 6-15 years of age designed to introduce the principles of creating digital content. The objective is to give participants an open-ended environment where they can develop and then apply their digital creativity skills. Enrollment is limited to 14 on a first-come, first-served basis, and no experience is necessary. Participants are asked to come with their own USB flash drive to store work. A $5/day payment is requested, but is not mandatory—this is a suggested donation. The camp curriculum has been designed by Warren Buckleitner, and is will be taught by volunteers with the help of two teenage counselors. Parents are encouraged to visit to observe or help.
WHAT WILL MY CHILD LEARN? The curriculum is based around MIT’s Scratch language (http://scratch.mit.edu), which will be used to create multimedia presentations that will be demonstrated at the end of the week. Each child will progress at his or her own pace.
ABSENTEE POLICY: If your child cannot make a day, please let us know. It is especially important that your child attends the special session on Friday.
BEHAVIOR: All members are expected to abide by Mediatech’s acceptable use policy. Children who break this policy, as determined by the supervisor, will first have their parents contacted, and then will be asked to leave the class. A copy of this policy is posted on the bulletin board, and at www.mediatech.org.
REPEATING THE SECOND WEEK: Because space is limited, preference will be given to children who have not already had a chance to participate in the first week. If space permits, children in the first week will be allowed to enroll in the second week as well.
COUNSELORS: Two or three high school or college-age students will serve as the counselors, to help with programming and providing individual support. They are each paid $5/sesson.
FRIDAY DEMO DAY: At 10:30 on Friday (the last day) participants will demonstrate his or her work, showing off completed projects on the big screen. At this time, each student will be presented with a certificate of completion. Anyone is welcome to come and celebrate your child’s accomplishments.
PAYMENT: There is a $5/day suggested donation (or $25 for the entire week). You can drop off $5 on a sessio-by-session basis in the donation jar, or send in a check for $25, made out to “Mediatech Foundation” with your child. Fees are used to pay the coaches and purchase a light snack and juice for the morning break. Any extra goes into Mediatech’s general fund. Mediatech is a non-profit organization.
REQUIRED MATERIALS. Every child is expected to have and keep a portable flash drive throughout the week. It should be at least 512 MB in size (1 GB is more common these days) drive with them, to store their work. Drives are on sale at Staples for $13. Mediatech is not responsible for this drive in any way, so if your child’s progress gets erased, it is their responsibility. We will make every effort to help them keep a backup version however, to avoid disasters.
WHAT TO BRING: If your child has a digital camera or laptop, feel free have them bring it along. These are optional – all other equipment will be supplied. In addition, it would be helpful if your child has a working email account that he or she can access during the course (e.g., www.gmail.com)
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
In order to run the class; we need to have a parent present at all times. You are welcome to come with your child and help him/her program. If you can serve, please call use at 908-284-2006 and tell us which days.
DROPOFF: Parents are asked to drop off their children at 9:30 and enter through the Maple Avenue entrance. If you need the elevator (or have a stroller) you can come through the front library entrance and use the elevator.
PICKUP: Please pick up your child promptly at 12:00 noon from the Maple Avenue entrance. If you’d like to arrive a few minutes earlier, you can park either on Maple Ave. or on Main Street, and walk up the steps to greet your child.
DAILY SCHEDULE:
9:30 Programming and instruction period.
10:30 Light snack or refreshment, provided in the courtyard.
10:45 Movie (optional) in the community room. We’ll be showing videos of other children’s programming projects as well as some science-related movies. Children will have the choice of working on their projects or viewing the movie.
12:00 noon: Pickup. Note that Mediatech stays open following the camp. Children are welcome to stay and continue working on their projects.
MEDIA RELEASE:
As part of this camp, your child may generate ideas, video or photographic materials that may be posted publicly, online. All of these materials will be created under Creative Commons copyright guidelines, found at www.creativecommons.org. This means that your child’s work may be used by others with attribution. In addition, it is possible that your child’s voice, name, age, photo or a video of your child might be posted either on Mediatech’s web site and or on a public site such as www.mit.scatch.com or www.youtube.com. If you have any problem with this, please let us know prior to starting the course.
Personal Information Release Form
As part of this form your child may generate ideas in the form of programming code, video or photographic images, that may be posted online. These materials will be posted using a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, using guidelines found at www.creativecommons.org. Part of this includes listing your child’s name or screen name as the author of this work.
While we will make every attempt to teach children the basics about how to create an anonymous screen name, and how to keep personal information safe, and we pledge to prevent the distribution of any personal identifying information such as your child’s name and age, it is possible that your child’s voice, name, age, photo or a video of your child might be posted online in some form such as on Mediatech’s web site (www.mediatech.org) for use in promotional materials or presentation, a documentary, a newspaper article, and or on a public site such as www.mit.scatch.com or www.youtube.com.
By participating in this class, you release the Mediatech Foundation from any legal liability that could result from release of such information. Please acknowledge that you have read this and understand it fully, by completing the following:
Name of Child (children) participating in the course:
__________________________________________ ________________________________
Signed Date
Please return to the supervisor desk, Mediatech Foundation 120 Main Street 2nd floor, Flemington, NJ 08822 908-284-2006