I regularly teach middle school age children coding skills with Python using the ‘turtle’ module. It’s a great way to introduce students to computer programming in a very enjoyable manner. The children love the turtle graphics that they can create and it also introduces them to mathematics topics like variability, recursion and logic. When I … Read more
Are you looking for a locally hosted open source GPT that protects your privacy while allowing to leverage the latest AI models? Then you need to download Jan. Jan is easy to install on Linux, macOS and Windows and has excellent documentation to guide that process. Jan is a ChatGPT alternative that runs 100% offline … Read more
Linux, LibreOffice, GnuCash, and Audacity are all open-source projects, meaning the folks who write the code and/or the documentation are usually not paid for it. It’s quite impressive when you think of it. In a day when nearly everything is monetized, open source is still free. I used open-source software for years before contributing anything, … Read more
I’ve been continuing the large language model learning experience with my introduction to Hollama. Until now my experience with locally hosted Ollama had been querying models with snippets of Python code, using it in REPL mode and customizing it with text model files. Last week that changed when I listened to a talk about using … Read more
The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming by Terry Griffin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Great book. I’m teaching a EV3 robotics and programming class and this is my main text. It’s a fantastic resource for teachers and students. Great diagrams too.
This year I got a great opportunity to work with a unique group of students in an after school program at St. Bonaventure University. I am fortunate to work with Dr. Anne Foerst, a computer science professor at St. Bonaventure. Together we applied for and received a grant from National Grid to teach STEM to … Read more
