How a computer represents information

In the first full CS Unplugged lesson, students learned:

• That computers represent all information as 0’s and 1’s (and why)
• How whole numbers are expressed in binary
• How characters are represented in ASCII 
• A magic trick!

We had planned to project this lesson until we learned that not all of the teachers had ready access to projection equipment at their schools and that the power in the classrooms was not sufficient to run a projector, in any case.  So we jettisoned the planned digital presentation and used blackboard and handmade flip-cards instead.

Blackboard at start of the lesson

We made flip-cards to use in teaching binary place value

The binary number 10101 is equivalent to the decimal number 21

Learning to count in binary

Students caught on quickly and were eager to share

Part of the ASCII Chart

Highlights of the lesson included: counting to 31 on one hand, and magically transmitting the month in which a student was born to Louise.  When the students learned the mystery code, they practiced it on one another. Working in pairs, they transmitted their age to their partner and then received their partner’s age in return.

Teaching the Internet without the Internet

Emily and I taught sessions on "Introduction to the Internet" and "Internet Safety."  Approaching these topics required taking a few things into considerations:

• 50 of the 60 girls had never used the internet before
• Internet connectivity was a challenge with only about 4 or 5 people able to access the internet at once

Lauren from the Peace Corps collaborated with us for weeks before camp.  She helped us think through creative ways to teach in the context of the environment.  So, with two rooms full of eager, bright girls and a little ingenuity, in the "Introduction to the Internet" session we were able to teach campers about:

• Common internet terms
• Types of internet content and their purpose
• Web browsers
• Search engines
• How to tell if a site might have credible information or not

In the "Internet Safety" session we taught girls:

• What a “digital footprint” is
• What personal information is
• How personal information is collected via internet usage
• How personal information gets used
• What can happen if you lose control of your data
• Guidelines for strong passwords 
• Things they can do to protect themselves and their personal information

For the "Introduction to the Internet", we used flashcards of various web-related things to familiarize girls with terms and also visual images of things like web pages. We used pages that would introduce them to new things such as the Michigan State University web site and the concept of a pointing finger indicating a hyperlink on it.

 

We also used things that might be more familiar to them such as the url for the government of Rwanda's website.

Every girl got an opportunity to get on the internet and do at least one search.

In the "Internet Safety" session, since internet connectivity prevented us from using our original plan of having the campers Google the names of some of the camp instructors so as to see their digital footprint, we instead Googled a few instructors’ names before the session and made cards of the websites where we found information.   We asked campers to hold signs with the website url and a piece of paper taped to the back with information about the person we Googled.

One person acted as the search engine running around the room, as though visiting the various websites.  Girls acted as the web sites and handed the search engine person a piece of paper with information from that site that we found. And in this creative way, we were able to convey the idea of a digital footprint and the amount of information about a person easily available on the web.

We also took the girls through an exercise using flashcards with passwords and asked them to say if this was a strong password or not, and why.

Examples of a weak and a strong password

The conditions were sub-optimal but the enthusiasm and learning that occurred were excellent.

 

 

Central Office and Scheduling

GS Janja St. Jerome assigned us a central office space in which organizers could meet to plan activities and store equipment and teaching materials.  It served as our command headquarters. 

Elisabeth at work in the office with Louise (left, plugging in a device)

The photo reveals some essential items -- a roll of TP and drinking water -- both scarce resources.

Louise already mentioned that unreliable internet connectivity was a "challenge".  But electric power was also an issue except in the office and Salle. 

Sharing power in the office

We quickly learned to share both power (rotating devices on the one good power strip) and--when the wifi was up--bandwidth (turning off wifi on phones and laptops when not in active use and outlawing use of the G.S. Janja network when it was needed for classes). 

In the classrooms, power was problematic.  Not strong enough to keep some of the laptops charged in the robotics classrooms, we carried the laptops to the main office for recharging as needed (unfortunately, the old laptops we brought did not hold a charge for very long). 

We were dismayed when the projector that Liz brought from her school seemed to fail and were very grateful to Benjamin Roode for loaning us a projector and transformer from the U.S. Embassy (delivered along with the robot kits from IBM in a nick of time).  

But when the U.S. Embassy projector also did not work in the classroom, we realized that the problem was actually with the power.  Lessons in the classrooms would need to use the blackboard; anything requiring a projector would have to take place in the Salle or the Computing Lab.

By the end of the ToT, we had worked out a pretty robust schedule for the week of camp, including lead instructors, roles for teachers and volunteers, locations for all activities and lessons, and a visitor schedule.

Close to final schedule for the week of camp

Not shown on the schedule, everyday started with a shower of sorts--hot water delivered at 6:00 am in several 5 liter containers for the teachers and volunteers to divy up in shallow plastic buckets and mix with cold water from showers or the tap.  Breakfast was at 7:00 am--tea with milk and homemade bread.

Lights went out at 10:00 pm in the dorms.  But the day didn't end for teachers and organizers until after a final meeting to discuss what worked and did not work that day and to go over the schedule for the day ahead. Nominations were also taken for a student to recognize the next morning who demonstrated an exceptional quality that day and a family to carry the "Spirit Stick" the next day. We generally headed down to the dorms at the bottom of the hill around 10:45 pm with torches lighting the way.

Visitor Schedule

Preparing for the Campers

Once the Training of Teachers (ToT) concluded, we had just Friday evening and Saturday morning to prepare for the 60 campers’ arrival.  This involved decorating the camp a little bit more than we did for the ToT.  Inspiring posters were created and hung, ribbons were tied or draped in classrooms, the refectory and the Salle (auditorium).  Some of the more artistic teachers used colored chalk to draw welcoming signs in classrooms and outside the Salle.

Ribbons adorning the refectory

The Salle with artwork to welcome campers

It also involved creating “Affirmation Bags.”  Students were encouraged to write words of praise for their fellow campers and drop them in the campers' affirmation bag throughout the week.  At the end of the week, campers were surprised to read so many little expressions of praise.

Teachers decorate "Affirmation Bags"

Affirmation bags lined the classroom window ledges

 

Affirmation bags in their festive splendor

Tote bags also had to be prepped. IBM donated tote bags, notebooks, pens and pencils for campers.  Each bag was stuffed with these school supplies plus a roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap to last the week.  They also had a colorful strip of cloth called "ibitenge" attached to them.  Campers were grouped into "families" of 6 campers.  Each family had their own pattern of ibitenge cloth which they could wear any way they wanted.  The colorful cloth made it very easy to determine if campers were in the right place.

Lauren negotiates ibitenge prices at the market in Kigali

The line-up of bags for campers with their varied ibitenge cloth

A close-up of a single bag shows the masking tape used to label bags with campers' names

The staff of GS Janja St. Jerome where the camp was held were also busy preparing.  For one thing, mosquito nets needed to be washed and dried. A single mosquito net covers a bunk-bed, so it's pretty big.  Netting is needed due to the presence of malaria in Rwanda.

dozens of mosquito nets drying in the courtyard

While most teachers and staff decorated camp, we dispatched some of the teachers (Hannah and Simon) to Kigali to gather additional supplies and to help students transfer onto the bus for Musanze.  Meanwhile, Major and James went to Musanze to transfer students from the public bus to the bus that would come to the camp in Janja.  This involved standing at the bus stop in Musanze all day, gathering girls and keeping them entertained until the bus went to Janja...which only happened twice.  Thus, girls did a lot of waiting at the bus stop.

The bus after unloading the first group of 30 girls

First group of girls checking into camp and preparing to take the camp pre-test

Elisabeth and Liz checking girls into camp

The second group of 30 girls arrived after dark

 While waiting for campers to arrive, many teachers began a spontaneous dance party in the Salle. 

Teachers dancing in the Salle while waiting for campers to arrive

Whether waiting at the bus stop all day, or decorating camp it was a tiring day.  Yet, people's spirits were high heading into dinner the first night of camp.