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21 New free Python Template Projects for Years 7-9

21 new Python Project Templates have just been added to Blippit’s PureCode Python for secondary schools.

The templates have been created by an Industry Project Team of final year computer science students at Griffith University on the Gold Coast in Australia who have been working with Blippit Australia to bring their subject expertise to schools learning to code in the cloud with Blippit.

 

Bubble Algorithm
This sorts a list using a bubble sort algorithm, can you figure out how it works?
PureCode Python Project Templates

These new project templates are progressive with the concepts they present and of course being templates they are completely editable by the teacher if schools wants to make their own version of the project.

If you’re not using Blippit already you can register for a free account in the UK here and in AU here

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Bug hunting can be like 'Where's Wally?'

First you find a bug & then you de-bug.

It’s that simple isn’t it?

blippitcode

All software applications have bugs – some cause no real problems and go unnoticed, others are minor and a minority wreak havoc.  You might be surprised to hear that software providers LOVE hearing about possible bugs via bug reports.  They love it even more if the steps that lead up to the strange behaviour  can be replicated by their Application Development Team because this means the bug is real and can be fixed.

Blippit Code
Real code from the Blippit IO Application that runs on a user’s desktop

Without the help of users (essentially many hands and eyes) application developers can’t hope to capture every bug for debugging try as they might.

In the classroom it’s a fantastic exercise to give students a simple program with a bug or two it.  This way they really REALLY have to

  • be systematic in their approach – record steps taken etc
  • be tightly focused on isolating the area where the bug is likely to be
  • be able to step through the programme in it’s component parts or sections
  • develop an understanding of how the larger whole can be viewed in chunks

Here at Blippit we were able to find and de-bug a FANTASTIC bug in quick fashion this month thanks to two schools who took the time to file a bug report (they told us about it basically) to support@blippit.co.uk .  This lead to more detailed info gathering, a school visit from us and finally within a week and a half a global update of Blippit IO.  They helped us improve Blippit IO in a measurable way for the thousands of students and teachers who are using Blippit IO across the UK, Australia and US.

If you’re a lovely Blippit IO User, we are going to make it nice and easy for you to report anything that feels like a bug to you soon.  More about that to follow.

Blippit Code
Real code from the Blippit IO Application that runs on a user’s desktop
So…the moral of this story is, if it’s safe and legal to do so, always tell the people who wrote the code if you find what you think might be a bug in their app.  They’ll never be offended, they’ll always be grateful and the rest of the community using that app will put you on their cool list.

What more could anyone want?

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Blippit IO FREE Version

Schools from 9/10/15 (GMT evening) will be able to use all of Blippit IO’s tools for FREE!

Included:

  1. Blippit IO App Maker
  2. Blippit IO PureCode Python (text based coding)
  3. Blippit IO Spotlight (video web conferencing)

You’ll be able to set up unlimited student and teacher users accounts within your school to use all of Blippit IO’s tools whenever and wherever you choose (subject to the t’s and c’s).  *Schools can upgrade their FREE Account to ‘unrestricted use’ at any time as per usual.

App Maker Privacy

Administrators can now choose whether or not to publish a student’s app onto Planet Blippit

Planet Blippit or Not

App Maker Animation

We have re-designed both the Image Widget and Slideshow Widget so that you can now upload animated Gif files into your app.  These clever little files can be seen on any mobile device and have seen a resurgence in popularity recently.  Here’s an example of such an animated gif featuring Blippit IO PureCode Python.

Animated Gif - Just do it!

Here’s another showing animated images in the rebuilt Slideshow Widget.  Don’t watch them too long though or you may go a bit mad.

animated slides

Image Widget Editor

Upload and press ‘Edit Image’ to open up the powerful image editor right there in Blippit IO App Maker.  Add text, Instagram-type filters, stickers and more sophisticated effects with ease and speed.  This in it’s own right transforms what users can creatively achieve in their app projects.

Blippit IO App Maker Image Editor

#freefriday #blippitio

*free accounts are not available for home-school arrangements or schools using single-sign on platforms in the UK.  Schools using single0-sign on setups can of course register outside of their single sign-on platform but they would then have to log in outside of their normal habits and subsequently have more than a single sign on account to manage.

Blippit IO FREE Version! Computing App Making, Python coding, video  web conferencing

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Special Blippit IO CC4 Download for RM Unify Users

RM SupporRM Unify schools should now use the browser based version of Blippit instead of the CC4 download  This is the easiest way to sign in with RM Unify.

Schools using the original Blippit App Maker will still be able to access this through RM Unify until renewal time when special upgrade rates will be applied to everyone migrating over to Blippit IO.

We love the fact that RM Unify’s approach gives their schools the single sign-on experience.  The way that we have modified Blippit IO for schools using RM Unify means that there’s no distractions or worries about usernames and passwords either – which has to be a good thing!  If you’ve never tried single sign-on services you may want to find out more.

 

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Blippit IO – downloadable for the right reasons

Blippit IO is now also a downloadable application instead of purely browser-based experience and there are many reasons why we’ve done this.  A big reason is that we sensed a potential digital divide emerging giving a two tier experience for those schools with ‘modern’ desktop browsers and those without.

Blippit IO can offer school much more in terms of features and tools in it’s downloadable version.  Even the Safari browser version for iPad does so much more than ever before, all because it’s a ‘modern’ browser.

blippit_co_uk_assets_BlippitUK-web_pdf 2

We’d love to have kept Blippit IO as purely a browser-based experience but unfortunately because of the reality that many schools have many different types of browsers (many old ones) it would have meant that only people with the latest browsers would have benefited from Blippit IO’s powerful new features and tools.  This would have gone against one of our driving principles which is all about inclusion and giving everyone the same opportunities.  Last year one of our in-house issues was that different and older browser types would cause unexpected behaviours in the app maker and this made it really difficult for us to support schools to the level we’d like. Now however, the downloadable Blippit IO package puts every school on the same level playing field and that is wonderful.

blippit_co_uk_assets_BlippitUK-web_pdf

With Blippit IO as a downloadable application we can offer every school 

  • The brand new Blippit Spotlight – an exciting and made for schools web conferencing tool which is perfect for when you’re snookered by firewalls and filtering – it just works
  • Brand new customisations for mobile apps that given a huge range of new choice about how your apps should look
  • A brand new communication tool as part of the app maker to support learner feedback between teacher and children
  • A brand new powerful photo editing Widget in the App Maker that means you no longer need to be a master of graphics to get very cool images in your app
  • Heaps of new flexibility in how teachers organise and move children around the Admin side of Blippit IO
  • The brand new interactive online coding tool PureCode Python currently cooking up a nice bit of fuss at KS 3
  • Excellent support and a rock solid knowledge base from within Blippit IO

So there you have it – we just wanted to share our thinking and hope you can see the logic too 🙂  Have a great term whether you’re trialling or using Blippit IO and speak soon.

blippit_co_uk_assets_BlippitUK-web_pdf 3

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New Blippit IO Knowledge Base & Support

We’re building a brand new Blippit IO knowledge base for schools to supplement how you can find solutions to queries and create support requests too.

Register with the Blippit IO Knowledge Base via Google, Facebook or Twitter Accounts or just use your own credentials.

When you are not Registered the Knowledge Base will look like this.

When you ARE registered here’s a peek at what’s there now…

…and here’s a sample of a Solution article

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FREE Competition: Can you code this logo in PureCode Python?




blippitmobileicononly

We want you to send us your best effort at coding the Blippit IO logo to be in with a chance of winning a Chromebook in our prize draw in the first week of June 2o15.

Competition

Simply register your school for a free trial of the new Blippit IO PureCode Python, get the app in the format you want and get coding a copy of the Blippit IO logo!

When you’re happy with your code just download it from Blippit IO and email directly to purecodepython@blippit.co.uk by 1st June giving your school name and teacher contact.

Terms & Rules

  1. Your code file must begin with import turtle
  2. All entries must be made via a school contact and individual entries outside of a school will not be accepted though they may still be much admired.
  3. One entry per user only.
  4. Include First Name, Last Initial and age only for each entry.
  5. Your code can be simple or fancy pants.
  6. We’ll be judging mainly upon the end product but may also be swayed by cool stuff you throw in to your code to make it run nice and smooth.
  7. By entering our competition you agree to the terms listed and to be part of any marketing activity and general showing off in the future.

Prize

ONE Chromebook will be awarded as a prize to the person who in our opinion does a fantastic job at creating our logo using Blippit IO PureCode Python.  No cash alternative will be offered and our decision will be final.  The Chrome Book will look very cool and make you the envy of your chums because you will be able to add the Blippit IO PureCode Python app to it from the Chrome Web Store.

Closing Date

1st June 2015

Things you might need

Here’s the logo in a ‘clean ‘ format in case you need it and here is a list of colours to download and choose from that Blippit IO PureCode Python understands.

greenblippit

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Tips for Upgrading Blippit IO

Upgrading software can be simple sometimes and trickier others.  Thankfully because Blippit IO is largely a Cloud based service you don’t have to worry about how to upgrade it ‘just happens’.

The only extra things we recommend you doing when we roll out the latest upgrades are as follows and they vary because of the different platforms that we’ve written Blippit IO to run on.

Chrome App Users

  • Chrome is a fantastic browser as Chromebooks are fantastic bits of hardware.  We recommend the Chrome Web App version of Blippit IO as the easiest and fastest version to use.  When an upgrade has been made that you log out of your Google Account and then back in again to make sure Chrome goes and gets the update for you.

Mac OSX Desktop App

  • If you’re a Mac user of the Blippit IO desktop application then we’ve made a little utility for you to keep on your device that clears out previous files that your Mac will be hanging on to from the older Blippit IO.  Just download and install Clear Blippit then run it and you’re ready to go again.

Windows Desktop App

  • If you’re a Windows user of the Blippit IO desktop application then we’ve made a little utility for you to keep on your device that clears out previous files that your PC will be hanging on to from the older Blippit IO.  Just download and install Clear Blippit then run it and you’re ready to go again.  If you’re an RM Unify school using a CC4 network your Network Administrator will download and install this for you via the RM Support Portal.

  • iPad Users

    • You don’t have to do anything extra.  All changes are instant in Safari when you’re in either the App Maker ,  Blippit Blocks or you’re bravely coding using Blippit IO Purecode Python (not really ideal on a laptop with all those characters!!).  The most you should ever have to do is reload the page if after an upgrade there seems to be something not quite in the right place

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