Devin Ulibarri

Learn programming in a fun way with Music Blocks! This workshop will get you started with the basics of Music Blocks visual programming, as well as introduce you to some inspirational projects that combine computation and music in a beautiful, authentic way. For the best experience, please bring your laptops! “All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians.” — Monk “Music is a hidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is counting.” — Leibniz Music Blocks is a Visual Programming Language and collection of manipulative tools for exploring musical and mathematical concepts in an integrative and fun way.

Other people: Walter Bender

Continuted from previous session.

Other people: Walter Bender

Music Blocks is a visual programming language for exploring musical concepts. It was developed by Walter Bender (SugarLabs) and Devin Ulibarri (New England Conservatory), along with contributions from countless youth from all over the world.

Bring a laptop to this hands-on workshop, and engage yourself in coding while having fun with music. Walter and Devin will be on site to guide you through what Music Blocks has to offer, and to help you with any questions you may have.

This workshop will be kid-friendly, for years 7 and up. It is recommended that you bring your laptop with Chromium and/or Firefox pre-installed, as well as your own earbuds or headphones. Some laptops and peripherals may be provided, but there is no guarantee. Adults are allowed too, but the coordinators will prioritize kids in attendance.

Other people: Walter Bender

Engaging youth by meeting in their space in a respectful and encouraging manner is critical to achieving youth participation within the free software movement. Many opportunities to engage young people within their communities already exist across the globe, so let's explore how we can contribute in ways that are fun, engaging, empowering, and memorable.

Boston-based Mariah Villarreal and Devin Ulibarri have been working in their respective fields to empower youth with free software and free culture. Mariah and Devin will present some of their fieldwork, and will discuss the challenges and opportunities that teaching libre technology to youth provides. Mariah and Devin will also highlight how this branch of activism fits into the larger software freedom advocacy landscape.

Other people: Mariah Villarreal

The bad news is that educational technology has largely failed to deliver on its promise. Its focus on efficiency rather than on learning has resulted in a further reinforcement of education as a system of instruction to curricula rather than one of student-driven construction of knowledge.

The good news is that Free/Libre Software is the starting point towards a solution--not just because it tends to focus on putting powerful tools into the hands of its end-users, but also because Free/Libre Software espouses a culture of doing and sharing in a context of critique, reflection, and personal responsibility.

In this session, we will review some tangible ways in which Free/Libre Software is having and can have a positive impact on education and some things we can and should be doing better. We will then discuss strategies for advocating for Free/Libre Software in education systems both in the US and globally. The next generation of computer users are in school today. We need to ensure that the next generation is empowered to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by Free/Libre Software.

Other people: Walter Bender