Blocks and Beyond
Lessons and Directions for First Programming Environments
A VL/HCC 2015 workshop in Atlanta on Thu., Oct. 22, 2015
A prequel to the 2nd Blocks and Beyond Workshop (Oct, 2017)

Revised Workshop Schedule

This is the tentative schedule as of Oct. 14, 2015

This will be a full-day workshop on Thursday, October 22 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.

Note: Because it is rare for so many members of this community to gather in one place, some participants are planning to stay at least part of Friday, October 23 to continue conversations started the previous day. If you are planning to stay this day, please contact Franklyn Turbak.

Thursday, October 22

8:00--8:30am (Salon IV): Registration + poster and demo setup

8:30-8:40am (Salon IV): Welcome from the organizers

8:40-9:20 (Salon IV): Poster/demo session group #1

9:20-10:00 (Salon IV): Poster/demo session group #2

10:00-10:30: Group photo, followed by morning break & networking.

10:30-noon: Parallel presentation/discussion session #1. Each session will begin with a four-minute presentation for each submission, followed by a discussion of the topic area.

Session 1A: Assessment of Learning with Blocks Languages (Salon IV)

The Blocks Assessment Discussion page was used to write down questions and notes during the talk.

Session 1B: Blocks, Text, and Structured Editing (Conference Room E)

There was no shared Google Doc for this whole-group discussion.

noon-1pm: Lunch in the Conference Dining room

1:00-2:30pm: Parallel presentation/discussion session #2. Each session will begin with a four-minute presentation for each submission, followed by a discussion of the topic area.

Session 2A: New Features for Blocks Environment (Salon IV)

The Blocks New Features Discussion page was used to write down questions and notes during the talk.

Session 2B: Pedagogy of Blocks Languages (Conference Room E)

The Blocks Pedagogy Discussion page was used to write down questions and notes during the talk.

2:30-3:00pm: Mid-afternoon break

3:00-4:30pm: Parallel presentation/discussion session #3. Each session will begin with a four-minute presentation for each submission, followed by a discussion of the topic area.

Session 3A: New Domains for Blocks Languages (Conference Room E)

Session 3B: Blocks Language Design (Salon IV)

The Blocks Language Design Discussion page was used to write down questions and notes during the talk.

4:30-5:00pm: Late afternoon break

5:00-5:45pm: Discussion summary and next steps (Salon IV).
Fill out this Beyond Blocks and Beyond Form

5:45-7:00pm Downtime

7:00-9:00pm Interested parties go out to dinner in groups. Please use the Blocks and Beyond coordination document to coordinate these dinners.

Friday, October 23

Conversations will continue on this day among some participants. Please use the Blocks and Beyond coordination document to sign up for meetings and learn where they will be held.