Computer III Programming-Week 4

So, I guess I'm doing my blog a little bit earlier than I usually do; not my usual Sunday afternoon ritual, but oh well. Anyways, this week we did A TON of work with Alice. It was interesting, but also got very frustrating at times. I learned a lot about programming throughout the week. I mainly learned how to create a computer program by using codes, methods, functions, "worlds," etc. The way I started learning about this was by re-watching each tutorial because to be honest, I hadn't really remembered what to do exactly from watching them last week. After that, I thought I had a basic idea of how to use the program. Then, we were assigned the dragon and blimp project. At first, I thought I was able to figure it out. I placed the objects in the right places in the "world." Then, I figured out how to get the dragon to move towards the blimp. But then, I was not sure how to get the dragon to flap its wings and to go around the blimp. So, I tried looking on the internet for answers, but that really didn't help. Nothing was really giving me the help or information that I needed. So then, I checked the discussion boards and those helped me get going in the right direction. But I was still confused on getting the dragon to flap its wings without going in a complete circle and just looking odd (if that makes sense). So, I turned to my peers. I talked with some of my other classmates and we were able to figure it out. We all contributed ideas and eventually got the dragon to flap its wings and be able to go around the blimp! To make the dragon flap its wings, I used rightWingClose/leftWingClose, the roll method, and switching it off going left and right. To get the dragon to go around the blimp while flapping its wings, I repeated what I did for the wing-flapping, and then using the method for the dragon to turn right. And I just repeated this multiple times. So, this is how I worked on the dragon project. Later on, we were assigned the kangaroo project, which was very confusing. Again, I at first placed the objects in the "world." By using functions like distance to/above and methods like turn to face, I was able to get the kangaroo to jump onto the crate. However, its feet didn't move and I couldn't move the crate or the kangaroo to any place and still get the same effect. So again, I turned to the internet to try and find answers. But again, sadly, that didn't help at all. So, I checked the discussion board, and that really helped. Most of the answers to my questions were already answered, and I already had the basics down on my own project, so it wasn't that difficult to incorporate what was on the discussions into my program. Also, I talked to some of my classmates, and they helped, too. So, with the help of my classmates really, I was able to figure out how to do the project. The only problem I had was trying to get the kangaroo to land on the center of the crate rather than the edge, but otherwise, the rest of it was fine. Along with the two Alice projects, we had a few discussions. One was shortcuts for computers. I mainly got my research for that by just looking up sites on Google and getting a bunch of different ones. Also, I knew some of them from just using them regularly. I found the other discussion, the "Did you know?" one, very interesting. I found out so much different information that I had no previous knowledge of. I was not surprised by some information such as how MySpace would be the 8th largest country in the world. I then asked, "How large would the Facebook country be?" But then, I answered my own question....by researching Facebook and U.S. statistics on Google. So, in conclusion, this week I learned how to really program by using Alice. I think what really prevented me from learning more was my lack of knowledge about Alice. I really had to keep checking back to the discussion boards and communicate with my peers about "how to get a dragon's wings to flap" or "where to find a kangaroo's foot." But by the end, I have more knowledge about Alice than I ever thought I would have by working on my own and by using communication and coordination with my classmates. I think that my thinking changed by as I said before, becoming more knowledgeable about Alice and programming in general. Also, my way of thinking changed by now communicating with my peers more. It also changed because now I think that just trying new things and experimenting can work, too. Alright well, onto another week!