U.S. Patent 14/172,475

Today we filed a patent application for an algorithm to automatically assess the correctness of 3D CAD designs. This algorithm is an essential component of our self-paced interactive course Geometry, 3D Modeling, and CAD Design. What is the algorithm about? You are certainly familiar with online quizzes where the user answers a multiple-choice question and

Karel Course New Edition

Last night we deployed a new edition of the Karel course with significant improvements. Your students now have on-demand access to hints throughout the course, which much better reflects the needs of 21st century learners. You can UNLOCK LEVELS for your students so they do not have to redo work they already did. We already figured

Photos from Lego Robotics Competition

NCLab was part of the First Lego League competition finals at UNR. This was the right audience for NCLab’s self-paced computer programming and 3D modeling courses. Awesome experience!

Karel and the Cardan Grille

The Cardan Grille, invented around 1550, belongs to the oldest encryption techniques. “In 1550, Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), known in French as Jérôme Cardan, proposed a simple grid for writing hidden messages. He intended to cloak his messages inside an ordinary letter so that the whole would not appear to be a cipher at all. Cardinal

Pau-Wa-Lu

Thanks to an awesome teacher Michele Baumann and a forward-thinking principal Keith Lewis, the Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School in Gardnerville, NV decided to introduce a regular computer programming course with Karel the Robot in NCLab. The course takes 4-5 weeks, with 45 minutes per day. It is self-paced, so that students of all skill levels and

Meet Brian Crosby

Today I met with Brian Crosby, former teacher who is now the technology coordinator for the Washoe County School District. What an awesome guy! I had no idea who he was. He was on TED two times: http://learningismessy.com/blog/ Watch the two videos shown on the right. He was totally impressed with NCLab. Understood the main

DCSD to Adopt Karel

Today we visited the beautiful city of Minden and met with Dr. Lisa Noonan, the superintendent of Douglas County School District (DCSD). Her school district has over 6,000 students. Dr. Noonan is an impressive administrator – she actually solved the 20 exercises of the Hour of Code tutorial. If I can do it, you can

EduLock and NCLab

Las Vegas, NV – After the “hour of code” movement announced recently, two companies from Reno are combining forces to inspire children to learn and enjoy computer coding. Under an initial arrangement EduLock and NCLab will make their combined platforms available to the children from a slum in India. During EduLock’s development in India, they

10-Year-Old CAD Experts

The NCLab Winter Camp on Robotics and 3D Modeling at the Discovery Museum in Reno lasted one week and kids were exposed to many different activities. They learned about various types of robots and where they are used, ethical and philosophical issues, designed robots on paper, and built 3D models from paper, wood, and plastic.

ESCO 2014 – Deadline Extended

Based on a growing number of participants, the organizing committee of ESCO 2014 decided to expand the conference by adding one more parallel session. With more capacity available, we are pleased to announce that also the abstract submission deadline was extended until 31 January 2014. ESCO 2014 (the 4th European Seminar on Computing) will take