Abstract:

i) Programming, true to earth hardcore C++ computer programming, requires years of dedicated study to properly master. Even then, many computer programming students fail to see the relevance of their craft in day-to-day living. How do we translate this ubiquity of computer programming to our students? How will we inspire the next generation of computer programmers? What we need is a system that is simple, understandable by the everyday Joe (or Jane), and produces immediate, tangible results. We need a programming language that is:
1) In plain English (or whatever is the lingua franca)
2) Graphical (the more cartoons & illustrations, the less code, the better)
3) Immediately connected to an output interface
4) FREE
Enter Scratch, a programming language created by the Media Lab of M.I.T., open sourced and free of charge. Programming codes are visually represented as bricks resembling LEGO that ‘snap’ together. Users have used Scratch to make things from interactive beat-boxing art to RPG games.
ii) Green Screen technology has become portable in recent years and has allowed students and low budget productions an avenue for special effects and scenery which would not be available otherwise. This provides a platform for production crew to visualise grander cinematic dreams. Here we will look at how the causes of Global Warming has been purposefully misconstrued by students, from an evil alien to a trio of intrepid Men in Black agents sent to ‘cut the sun in half’.
iii) Stop Motion Animation software is freely available off the Internet, and social media websites like Youtube have witnessed a plethora of stop motion productions starring Lego toys, soft toys, drawings and bits of paper. How can Science Centres leverage on this burgeoning indie art? Here we will see some unique applications of Stop Motion Animation as it applies to science museums.

The Technology & Creativity Department of the Science Centre Singapore is currently using these technologies for competitions to develop the best in its participants and their concomitant communities. This allows a three-fold success on programming exposure, community involvement and educational visitor-ship.
Link to Theme: This talk will not only talk about SCS’s current use of these technologies, but will also postulate alternative uses that will hit a few key targets for science museums around the region:
1) Increasing visitorship
2) Community involvement
3) Community education & Communal education
4) Curriculum integration
5) Enhancing learning through non-pedagogical informal education
6) Further capacity-building development with former-based derivatives

Keywords:

Scratch, Green Screen, Stop Motion Animation.