[Bf-education] Blender for kids

[Jamie Le Rossignol]

Hi Monique,



With Python, why not use something like Khan academy (
https://www.khanacademy.org). I have not included Python in my Blender
course yet, but will in the future. Based on my experiences with Games
programming using Flash, I will not be pitching it below about year 5-6 (10
year olds?). however, my experience as a teacher has mostly being secondary.

@Peter. I've used a similar way when teaching ActionScripting in Flash.
They can attach behaviours to the graphical objects they create in flash,
and I'd go the same way with Blender. Use the Game engine to create simple
games that demonstrate concepts. for example drag and drop, decision
statements, collision detection, etc. Over the 16 weeks I could take a
class from nothing through to a clone of space invaders.

In terms of teaching blender, I take the approach of a series of tasks
aimed at creating a short 10-30 video with 15 year old students. As I can
not assume prior experience. I can see the same approach working with 12
y.o.

In order;

   1. Shape stack - basic UI, moving objects, and rendering a frame
   2. Pong Task - Covers the basic UI, adding objects, moving them, key
   framing, rendering an animation
   3. Star Wars Credits - Using & editing Text objects, adding materials
   (Blender Internal Engine), adding stars with the world settings
   4. Cartoon Car - editing objects (basic mesh modeling),  Combining
   simple objects into a group/parenting,
   5. Creating the Earth - Adding multiple materials to an object including
   image maps, bump/texture maps.

I am planning of putting up my course outline, but I have limited time for
tasks not directly related to my current teaching load. If anyone wants the
outlines, I can post copies online. I'm still to full write up the lesson
plans and presentations.

Cheers,
Jamie Le Rossignol


On 19 August 2015 at 03:54, Monique <m.dewanchand at atmind.nl> wrote:

> That is great!
>
> Op 18/08/15 om 18:07 schreef rebel rosy:
>
> Hello there, I have read this wonderful post about how you are willing to
> start a project on teaching kids to use this very powerful program. I'm
> willing to assist in this as well as I have 10 plus years of experience in
> blender and it is wonderful to see open oppotunities like this. I'm 33 in
> age and I focus on animation, modelling and cartooning. I hope this message
> is not automated. :)
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, August 11, 2015 3:32 PM, Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com>
> <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> In a way I am focused on this project. My target age is a bit older but
> not much. I was thinking 14 to 24.
> I want to teach the basics of modeling and game programming.
>
> I have not found much in the way of good programming tools for learning. I
> have made a few videos. Please check them out and tell me what you think. I
> am a pro and not afraid of well given crits. I am new to this idea of
> teaching with videos and am learning as I go.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyfsIkrFlGyqDtGzKj8B3bw
> I am also very fond of Pygame and Panda3d.
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 8:32 PM, Monique < <m.dewanchand at atmind.nl>
> m.dewanchand at atmind.nl> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Past months I've been asked to give Blender workshops to kids between 8
> and 16 years old. I searched for Blender teaching material but couldn't
> find much. I decided to use some simple models from Blendswap and hide
> the majority of buttons in the UI. Surprisingly this worked better than
> expected.
> The kids were very enthusiastic and could perform the tasks pretty well.
> At the end I was asked how kids could continu learning Blender.
>
> This motivated me to start an open website/platform in NL to teach kids
> more on technology, especially Blender & Python. But what is a good
> format for teaching Blender to kids?
> Can we teach Blender to kids in a same manner as kids are thaught math
> or grammar?
> Are there tutorials or program lessons available for kids?
> Is anyone working on this and willing to cooperate?
>
> Kind regards,
> Monique Dewanchand
> At Mind
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>
> --
> Douglas E Knapp, MSAOM, LAc.
>
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