Monthly Archives: February 2011

Hackasaurus: getting ready for the Digital Media & Learning Conference

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Hackasaurus is packing its bags for Long Beach this week, getting ready for the Mar 3 – 5 Digital Media & Learning Conference. Supported by the MacArthur Foundation and organized by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub at the University of California, the conference will gather innovators from around the world working at the intersection of education and the web — and provide a great opportunity for Hackasaurus to recruit partners and contributors. Its mission: help youth hack. By learning HTML, design and computer science skills, and general digital literacy.

Sneak peek at the Hackasaurs DML Ignite talk

The event’s opening night will feature a Mozilla Science Fair full of great hands-on exhibits — including a Hackasaurus station. And the Hackasaurus team of Atul Varma and Jessica Klein (above) will have a chance to strut their stuff with their Hackasaurus Ignite talk. They shared their draft Ignite presentation in today’s Drumbeat community call. The feedback from the group:

  • The artwork and images look great. Jessica has done a fantastic job with design and visual storytelling (samples below.)
  • Showcase the Hackasaurus tools more. The X-Ray Goggle and HTMLpad tools are impressive, and it would be great to show off how they really work. Atul is working on adding short screen casts for each tool.
  • Reinforce the learning outcomes participants come away with. There’s a ton of different digital literacy projects out there — we need to underline the concrete take-aways for learners.

  • Emphasize that this is about teaching youth “real” HTML. Not a “kid-ified” sandbox or made-up language. Rafi made this point well. Many other web literacy tools require kids to learn a new environment. Hackasaurus is special in that it makes the web itself the learning environment. Starting with what participants already know and are familiar with. e.g.,  peer under the hood and remix your own Facebook page.
  • Emphasize the “looking under the hood” and “seeing into the Matrix” theme. When Brett and Jess asked youth at recent hack jams how many of them had ever clicked “view source” in their browser, almost none of them had. Hackasaurus makes it easy and inviting to see what’s behind the curtain.
  • Got feedback? Please add your comments here. Or dive into the various community tools on the Hackasaurus project wiki page.

 

Unterstütze das Open Web! Deutsche Untertitel gesucht

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Mozilla has been hard at work on a new video that tells the story of who we are and what we believe. Next week, we’ll be at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany talking to thousands of Firefox fans about what’s next for Mozilla and the open web. We’d LOVE to be able to show them this video — but we need your help to subtitle it in German.

Can you help us?

We need to have the video subbed by this weekend! If you’re able to help, please dive in using Universal Subtitles here.

Mozilla helps young programmers change the web with Hackasaurus

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Hackasaurus helps youth hack. Led by Atul Varma and Jessica Klein, the project held successful recent hack jams in Chicago and New York (above). The goal: make it easy for youth to explore and remix the web, through a set of tools and events that make digital literacy and programming approachable, social and fun. Check out this featured post on the MacArthur Foundation’s Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning. Test drive Hackasaurus tools like HTML Pad or X-Ray Goggles. Or share your ideas, tools and resources through the Hackasaurus mailing list or project wiki page.

Mozilla Drumbeat in BBC Focus

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“The web is inspiring a revolution in higher education”

BBC Focus, the BBC’s science and technology monthly magazine, just published a piece on the Mozilla Drumbeat Festival that includes quotes from Festival attendees like Delia Browne (P2PU), Niall Sclater (Open University), Cathy Davidson (HASTAC) and Mark Surman:

Mozilla, the organisation behind the Firefox web browser, ran the Drumbeat Festival and brought together over 400 educators and hackers in an effort to inspire open ed projects that overlap with the organisation’s ideals.

“Our mission is to keep the web open, and so we need to reach out beyond software,” says Mozilla Foundation executive director Mark Surman.  “Education is a good place to start as we can see people who have that open attitude. If we can help them, it means that a big part of how formal education will get delivered in the future is built on the same ethics, technology and culture we believe in.”