Month: May 2022
10 Best Computer Classes for Kids: Learn to Code, Create Games & More
Do you want your kids to learn the basics of coding? Or maybe how to play games on a computer?
There is something for your kid, from online courses that teach coding to gaming classes that help them master their favourite titles. Computer classes for kids are becoming popular as parents seek to give their children a leg up in the ever-changing job market. This course can help foster a love of technology and set the foundation for a future in coding or gaming.
Here’s everything you need to know before enrolling in computer-related courses.
The Benefits of Enrolling Your Kids in Computer Classes
The world is becoming reliant on computers. That’s why kids need to gain early experience in game development.
Here are a few reasons why a computer science course can be beneficial:
- Kids learn how to use computers and technology at an early age, which will help them in the future.
- Students learn problem-solving and computer skills.
- The collaborative environment helps kids develop social skills.
- Students often have great fun learning about computers in a class setting. This includes a video tutorial, screen sharing, or even face to face.
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10 Fun and Educational Computer Classes for Kids
A computer is a part of everyday life, and kids need to learn to use them early.
Here are 10 of the best courses that your little ones may enjoy during school holidays:
1. Scratch Coding
Scratch is a programming language that helps kids to create unique projects. With Scratch, students can build their own interactive stories, games, and animations.
Scratch uses drag-and-drop command blocks which stack together to create code. Best of all, this program is free and can be used on any computer or mobile device.
2. Java Programming
Java programming is also a great way to learn code and instil good habits in young programmers. With Processing, students can learn the basics of writing.
Additionally, they can learn how to debug java to create their games. They can also explore other areas of computer science, such as data mining.
3. Minecraft Modding Class
Minecraft is a game that encourages exploration and creativity. Kids can spend one-hour Minecrafting and building elaborate worlds with tools. But for some kids, the Minecraft experience can be enhanced by learning how to mod the game.
Minecraft modding classes teach kids how to create custom content for the game. This includes new blocks, items, mobs, and more. In addition, they can share their mods and even collaborate with other modders to create larger projects.
4. Python Programming
One of the most popular courses online is Python. This platform can be used for apps like Instagram, Netflix, and Spotify.
Python coding is a language for web development, scientific computing, etc. The class starts with the basics of Python syntax and moves on to more complex concepts.
5. 3D Printing & Modelling
3D printing and modelling is an excellent way for kids to learn about technology and engineering. In this course, kids aged 6 and up will 3D print and model their creations. They will learn how to use 3D printers and software to create their models.
By the end of the program, your kids will have created their own 3D printed models that they can take home with them.
6. Robotics with Edison
Robotics with Edison is a course for kids utilising an educational robot called Edison. With this, students instruct their robots with code to communicate with other robots. If you’re looking for an innovative one, this is great for young people at age 7 to up.
7. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is an exciting field of computer science that is constantly evolving. In this online class, kids will learn about AI and how it works. By the end of the course, your kids will have a strong foundation and hands-on experience with AI.
8. Data Science Course
What if your child learned how to think like a data scientist?
Data Science is an exciting and new field of study. In this program, kids will learn all aspects of statistics through programming to create their own algorithms for video games or YouTube videos. Plus, boost their confidence- knowing that what kids are doing has real-world consequences.
9. Graphic Design
We all know how much kids nowadays love to draw. So why not give them the chance of a child’s experience by letting them create their own graphics?
In this course, kids whose age range is 12 up can create logos and movie posters like pro artists. There’s no need for expensive programs because there are plenty of free ones on the internet to allow children to enjoy learning new skills.
10. 3D Game Design
In this course, students learn how to design and create their platformer games. Unity is a powerful game design platform that students use to build 3D pre-designed levels. These budding rockstar developers can create custom stages for their newly created simple games as they learn the basics.
In Conclusion
So, what are the best weekly coding classes?
From learning to code to playing games, there’s something for everyone to teach your child about computers. With these resources, they will be able to learn new tech skills and have a blast doing it.
Are Hybrid Cars Worth It?
Between the rising effects of climate change and the increasing cost of gas prices, many drivers are trying to find an alternative to the impacts gasoline-powered vehicles are having on the climate and their wallets. If you‘re currently reconsidering your gas vehicle, knowing the pros and cons of hybrid cars is the important first step to deciding if you want to make the switch. We’ve outlined the basics here.
What Is a Hybrid Car?
A hybrid electric vehicle combines one or more electric motors with the standard gas engine, powering the car via the efforts of both engines. Each can work individually to power the car, or they can function together. While the electric motor is powered by a high-voltage battery pack, depending on the type, you may not need to plug it in to recharge. Instead, most standard hybrid batteries are recharged through regenerative braking, saving excess energy in a generator to use for later. However, there are some plug-in hybrid cars you can recharge, much like an electric-only vehicle.
Advantages of Hybrid Cars
As you may have suspected, there are several benefits of hybrid cars over their gasoline counterparts and even electric-only cars.
1. Environmentally Friendly
Switching to a hybrid car can lower your carbon footprint. You’ll use less fossil fuels than a gas-powered car, producing fewer emissions. That’s because hybrid electric vehicles have a better fuel efficiency and conserve more energy than their gas-powered counterparts. As a result, they have much less impact on the environment in the way of releasing carbon emissions.
Because hybrid electric vehicles are made with lighter materials, they also need to consume less energy. Their engines are also lighter, conserving energy and creating another environmental advantage of hybrids.
2. Regenerative Braking
As mentioned, regenerative braking is a system where the excess heat energy from the friction caused by braking is transferred to recharging the battery. Regenerative braking is not a concept new to hybrid cars — vehicles have used the same system to power minor support systems without placing needless strain on the engine. The difference with regenerative braking in a hybrid electric system is that it has a much more significant impact on how the car itself is powered. This is another way hybrid vehicles use less energy by reusing the energy a standard car would waste.
3. More Value, Less Expense
Many people purchase hybrid cars with the idea that they’ll have to buy less gas. While this is certainly a factor, you’ll also find that your car may hold its value better than in the past — especially if you want to sell it. With gas prices rising, more and more people are considering the switch to hybrid cars. Their popularity means your car’s resale value could be pretty high — likely higher than the gas counterpart of the same vehicle. The more people have environmental and financial concerns in mind when buying a car, the higher the resale price of hybrid electric cars.
4. Reduced Maintenance
Think of how hybrid cars power themselves by relying on the electric motor and the battery pack and reusing excess energy. This means another advantage to hybrid cars is less heat and less wear and tear on the engine itself. Because of this, you may not need repairs or routine maintenance as often.
5. Less Stress on Long Trips
Owners of electric vehicles have fears of not having enough battery charge to get to their next recharge station. Even though recharge stations for plug-in vehicles have grown in number, this is still a prominent concern. There are not always recharge stations in the places drivers need them most, especially along the scenic route. This, however, isn’t a fear for owners of hybrid cars — when the electric motor runs out of charge, the gas engine will take over, powering your car while charging and supporting the electric engine.
Disadvantages of Hybrid Cars
While there are some astonishing benefits to switching over to hybrid electric cars, there are disadvantages of hybrid cars that should not be ignored. Knowing the potential prices and dangers of an electric car can help you better weigh the cost of a possible switch.
1. Expensive Up Front
While the price difference between gas and hybrid cars is decreasing, a hybrid car is still more expensive than a gas car of the same make and model. However, because of government incentives and tax breaks in support of the environmental benefits of these cars, this cost can be lowered. The greater initial cost can also be offset by the future savings the car brings through its lower use of energy and fuel.
2. Costly Repairs
While the gas engine may not need as much maintenance or repair, problems can still occur with the battery and high voltage system. Depending on your car’s battery, the replacement cost could be in the thousands. Complex systems also require complex solutions if they break down, and not every repair shop is equipped to repair a hybrid.
3. Less Power
While a lighter car means less fuel and energy use, it also means less power. To make the car lighter and more energy efficient with its heavy machinery, the size of the engines and battery needed to be reduced, making the car less powerful. This results in lower acceleration and horsepower for hybrid cars.
4. Potential Electrocution Risk
Because of the high voltage within the electric engine, the occupants of a hybrid vehicle have a higher risk of electrocution in a crash than those in a gas-powered vehicle.
So, Are Hybrid Cars Worth It?
Now that you know this information in support of the financial and environmental benefits of hybrid cars, as well as their drawbacks and dangers, one question remains. Are hybrid cars worth it? While there are drawbacks, the financial and environmental benefits are not to be ignored. If you feel you can handle less power, a higher upfront cost, and potential repair difficulties, the reduced operating costs and environmentally-friendly features may just be worth it to you.
Whatever your current feelings are about hybrid electric vehicles, things are always changing in this new market. It’s important to stay up-to-date on all the newest information on hybrid electric cars. New information could sway or reinforce how you feel about hybrid vehicles, especially as our grasp on this exciting technology increases.
Project-based Learning: Is it a learner’s main course yet?
With everything evolving in the education landscape, we can adapt to newer pedagogical strategies like project-based learning (PBL) in our curriculum planning!
Tons of surveys and research are pointing to the gaps that exist in our education system and the lack of job-readiness and employability skills. As educators, how then do we make way for our learners to become problem-solvers, innovators, and critical-thinkers?
We take the PBL route!
This blog focuses on Designing Instruction and how educators can embed projects in their curriculum, and not just at the end of it.
Make PBL your main course, not just a dessert
Tracing back to when we were students, project work formed a part of holiday homework, CCE evaluation, or an end-of-the-chapter real-life application! But things are changing and we are adding newer ways to achieve learning outcomes effectively.
PBL is the answer to all our checklist bullets of a high-quality lesson plan—21st century skills, student choice and voice, and ownership of learning.
This gold standard PBL graphic shows the key focus areas of inculcating the pedagogy in our learning experiences. The first step is to keep the learning goals at the center of every project: understand the academic outcomes we want from the lesson, conceptual understanding of learners, and skills that we can develop using the project.
Use a challenge to nudge learners towards deeper questions and more inquiry. One good way to begin, while making your next unit plan, is to revisit your curriculum and think how you can execute it through projects. If you can make it interdisciplinary across subjects, even better!
Take Note: Project or PBL? Ask yourself if you are doing proactive research to make learners understand concepts through a project, or just tagging one at the end? Did your students have a say in the project, or in what they wanted to know more about?
Where to start?
Take a unit that you have already taught, maybe in the previous academic year, or something you are familiar with, and remodel it into a project. Another way is to introduce the unit with a quick shoutout of big ideas of what students think, know and want to learn more of. Educators can use tools like Toddle and Flipgrid to make students’ learning visible in remote scenarios.
Put on your research hat and find out what’s happening in the world that interests your students; teach from the headlines! PBL is when students understand the WHY of a project, feel passionate about finding it out, speak to the experts in the field, and make proposal pitches to them. What a beautiful example of student ownership!
These projects make an important part of formative assessments. Look beyond grades and tune in to how students are learning as the project unfolds. Educators must also encourage group projects and peer feedback mechanisms to make our learners ready for working in teams and taking constructive criticism well.
Harness the natural creativity of the little ones!
Have you ever observed a young one when they are just figuring things out on their own or the kind of curious questions they ask?
A NASA study finds that 98% of 4-5 year olds scored at a ‘creative genius’ level. Five years later, only 30% of the same group scored that title. For adults, it was a mere 2%. As we grow older, the systemic spirit of our education curbs our divergent thinking and WHY questions.
PBL is the best way to stop turning our learners all mechanical!
Begin with co-constructing ‘What good looks like?’ with your teacher colleagues. Use the four Cs framework of Create, Collaborate, Communicate, Critical Thinking to design your project plan. Inculcate visible thinking strategies for engagement and CFUs, like KWL charts. These strategies also inform your project’s driving questions well.
Before moving ahead, here’s the trick! Don’t converge your learners’ thinking to make your lesson successful. Divide them in groups with common ideas, differentiate, and let your students have their own explorative journey! Inching closer to a real research-based project, curate a resource bank of relevant reads and encourage students to add to and leverage it. To extend peer learning, students can also upload their videos or presentations on a platform like the Student app of Toddle and receive feedback in comments.
After every lesson, assess them through reflection exercises and exit tickets. Click HERE to explore more techniques of online assessments. Thinking about assessments, you may be wondering how PBL can replace our pen-and-paper tests? With huge amounts of syllabus, how to include PBL and cover it all?
Reminder: PBL is not just one project, it becomes your curriculum. When you are unit planning, map HOW projects will help build WHAT knowledge, skills and mindsets. And also remember, PBL makes learning stick! Because learners, from start to end, are asking their own questions and finding answers themselves too!
Expand your collaborative horizons with Toddle
Toddle offer educators ready-made lesson plans and questions to discuss, and lots of resources to learn from and step up their game. It provides teachers from a school the space and opportunity to interact and collaborate in planning and assessment. Visualize a smooth interface that allows learners to own their projects and get peer and educator feedback. educators can invite parents to share students’ work and be proud of them. Through this platform, educators can see what the students are doing, co-assess their work and give feedback. From writing and comprehension skills to digital citizenship, our learners are taking it all in through PBL!
Make learning through projects the main course and enjoy the dessert of your effort on effective learning outcomes…
Complete guide on RBI Grade B examination
The RBI or Reserve Bank of India examination is conducted in a couple of phases; Phase I and Phase II. The Reserve Bank of India Grade B notification gets released every year so that eligible candidates can fill in the vacancies. Candidates get the admit cards only some weeks before the preliminary examination. The application process for RBI Grade B closed down on the 18th of April, 2022, and it was for 294 vacancies. If you are interested in taking the RBI Grade B exam, you can visit the website of RBI and go through the notification details.
The importance of the RBI Grade B mock test
The RBI Grade B mock test 2022 does not only turn out to be the best that candidates can practice but is reliable too. This test is designed in a way so that candidates get a clue about the actual examination. Every mock test that is available in the mock test series of RBI Grade B is found with a comprehensive solution to every question. And these questions give candidates an excellent idea about how they can improve their performance. So, it is the ideal time when you can give your preparations a new elevation.
The eligibility criteria
When you are interested in applying, you need to meet the min. Eligibility criteria. You must possess a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree from a sanctioned University, and only then you can apply for the RBI Grade B job. The exam of RBI Grade B is held online, and the selection of candidates is made according to a competitive examination. This examination is conducted in 3 phases; preliminary, main, and personal interview round. The mock test series of the RBI Grade B is available in Hindi and English languages.
Why are the mock tests so important?
The mock tests turn out to be useful all the time, before as well as after candidates cover the whole syllabus.
Towards the start of their preparation – Students use mock tests to analyse where they stand currently, the topics they need to concentrate on, etc. If they become perplexed, they can go through the preparation policy for the RBI Grade B exam.
At the time of their preparation – Students utilise a mock test to test how they have been advancing with their preparation process. Additionally, they will come to know about their strengths and weaknesses besides whether or not they must make necessary alterations to take their preparation to the subsequent level.
At the time of finishing their preparation – Candidates can begin to give comprehensive mock tests before the exam, and it will drive their preparation to the eventual goal, which is taking on the post of the RBI Grade B officer.
The process of attempting the RBI Grade B mock test
If candidates can practice the RBI Grade B mock test 2022 with quicker comprehension skills, they will identify their weak and strong areas. Solving RBI Grade B mock test brings candidates closest to solving the real RBI Grade B examination papers in real-time.
Diamond Shield Management Press: The Biggest Delivery Companies Falling for Fake Driver Scam
Fake driver scams have made the headlines in the US over the past months. These scams, as their names suggest, involve fake licenses. The scams range in complexity. Some scammers use stolen IDs to impersonate drivers. Others obtain an ID photo. Then they Photoshop it. Afterward, change some of the data. And in the end, they create a new driver profile.
These fake IDs were at the center of many scams. Some of the biggest companies in the US were targets. Amazon drivers carrying merchandise are one example. However, scammers also impersonated Uber drivers. And the list of companies can continue.
An interesting fact is the scammers’ nationality. In multiple cases, these were Brazilian citizens. More so, they often sold the fake documents to undocumented immigrants. Learn more about these scams. We’ll also look into the authorities’ opinion of them.
Recommended article: Diamond Shield Management Report – How to Steer Clear of Robocall Red Flags
Creating the Fake Driver’s Licenses
Homeland Security Investigations agents handled the fake driver’s licenses case. They were surprised by some of their findings. More precisely, by how sloppy some scammers were. The whole strategy was quite basic. It’s incredible it even worked, according to Frankie DiGiacco, ex-prosecutor for the Justice Department of California.
The targets were delivery and ride-share companies. Scammers got employment opportunities at these companies based on fake IDs. So, how did they create those? In some cases, easier than you imagine. Some of the scammers were already working in the delivery companies. So, they dealt with lots of people regularly. For example, they delivered alcohol. Therefore, they could ask for customers’ proof of age. So, they quickly took a photo of their IDs.
Afterward, they used those IDs to create fake driver profiles. There were other ways to get hold of IDs too. For example, through internet phishing scams. Regardless of their origin, the ID photos were the basis of the scam. Criminals used them to impersonate victims or forge new identities.
The striking fact is how unprofessional the new IDs looked. According to investigators, the criminals didn’t strive for perfection. They simply swapped out the photos on the IDs. In many cases, they used their own. And only left the identification information from the real documents. In other cases, they combined different stolen identities.
Most of these belonged to customers who bought, for example, something from Amazon. However, scammers had basic photo editing skills. According to the authorities, some of the photoshopped photos were outrageous. Even someone with limited skills could have done a better job. On some IDs, they even forgot to change all the photos. They photoshopped the main ID photo. However, the small one in the watermark remained unchanged. Hence, some IDs had two different photos. One showed the actual ID possessor. The second belonged to the criminal or another victim.
Using the Fake Documents
Scammers uploaded fake driver’s licenses on different delivery company websites. Hence, they created fake driver profiles. Then, they sold them. Anyone who wanted a license, or a delivery job could pay for it. In most cases, these were undocumented immigrants. However, there were also worst cases. Convicted criminals also used the licenses. Furthermore, people with no driving right in the US bought them. Scammers leveraged the IDs to the full. On the one hand, they sold them for good money. On the other, they sometimes got referral bonuses too. This is possible thanks to the delivery companies’ policies. An employee or collaborator who recruits new drivers gets such bonuses. And these are not small. In some instances, just for one driver, the referral bonus is around $1,500.
As for the scam perpetrators, many of them were Brazilian nationals. For example, in California, five Brazilian scammers ended up in federal court. This happened shortly after other Brazilian citizens were involved in similar crimes in Massachusetts. All the while, companies using their services were not charged. Basically, they were the victims. Together with their clients.
What did the authorities fail to grasp? How scammers were not detected earlier. According to them, spotting the forged documents should have been easy. Moreover, delivery companies have strict verifications policies. Precisely to avoid identity theft and impersonation cases such as these. Yet, crooks managed to trick the system. Probably, this was due to automated verification procedures. In other words, relying on programs instead of humans to check the IDs.
Conclusion
The California fake driver’s license scam took place roughly from 2018 to 2020. Hundreds of Fake IDs emerged during this time. Scammers used them to create profiles on delivery and ride-share platforms. Then, they sold these identities. Often, the buyers were illegal immigrants or convicted criminals. According to investigators, thousands of consumers used these people’s services. These criminals impersonated real US citizens. With their identities, they earned from goods delivery or shared riding services. The delivery and rideshare companies were not charged in the legal lawsuits.