Programming Session
D.R.I.V.E./IT Exploration – Introduction (St. Paul College, April 2, 2016 - Afternoon Session)
Overview
Develop a basic understanding of how to interact with a computer operating system in order to get a particular set of outcomes.
Afternoon Lesson Plan
1. Use of flowcharting to reach a goal.
Flowcharting is a fundamental process used in industry when you are trying to determine work flow in many types of situations. There are a variety of symbols used to make flowcharts. This afternoon we are introducing the topic. Attached is a link to different shapes used in creating flow charts. These are the absolute basic symbols you should know
https://www.smartdraw.com/flowchart/flowchart-symbols.htm Flowcharting provides a logical framework for the next steps which usually include creating a program using at least one specific programming language.
Create a flowchart to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This involves using one of two types of bread (white or wheat), one of two types of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy) and one of two types of jelly (strawberry or grape). There are no options in this activity of using both types of bread, peanut butter and/or jelly. You should have eight arrows heading into the stop point – which is having a sandwich to eat.
2. How to communicate with the computer operating system.
There are two main types of programming languages: 1) command line where you work directly with instructions written into the command prompt (Windows) or the terminal (in Mac operating systems). Linux also has command prompt capabilities; 2) Object-oriented programming where your programming revolves around defining objects and establishing characteristics and/or functions.
You will use command prompt to create a new directory, two new files, find the IP address of google and amazon and use those addresses in the address bar of chrome to get to each site. In order to get to the command screen on Windows use the keyboard to type (without the apostrophes) ‘command prompt’ into the search box at the bottom of the desktop window. Check out the following link to get more precise instructions.
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-the-Command-Prompt-and-Write-in-Batch-Language
The problem with using command line is that there are no files created so each time you want to perform an operation you have to retype the instructions in the command prompt.
After using command prompt programming you will use a variation of command prompt to make files that can be saved. You will use Notepad to create two different .bat files. One will make a matrix, (see video at http://www.youtube.com/watchwatch?v=EddPBMqkytc) and the screenshot of my notepad file. The other will open up some items on our computer. The .bat files can be saved as file type text but the file name MUST be saved with the extension .bat. So, you can choose file type .bat when using notepad or you can just end the file name in the address bar with a .bat extension. Now, anytime you launch the file, it will repeat the stored instructions with the same outcome.
 the The name of the file must end with .bat
The other notepad file will have the following code:
@echo off (In a Batch file, this command tells the program not to display every command with its output in the terminal By default the command will show with the output unless you specify not to show the code.. However the 'echo off' line will be displayed unless you add a '@' in front of the words ‘echo off’. )
start mspaint.exe (The start command tells particular programs to open. This file is directing the computer to open up three programs and an internet website. )
start notepad.exe
start snippingtool.exe
start "c:\Program Files\internet Explorer" iexplore.exe www.MetroState.edu
exit (The exit command instructs the computer to stop running the program when each of the
previous lines have executed once.)
Make sure to save the name of the file with a .bat extension in the file name line’. Save the file to the desktop and then double click on the file’s icon. The files should execute and the three programs and the website should automatically open.
3. Object-oriented Programming
After making .bat files you will move on to learning how to use objects to perform operations. This Angry Bird activity is a great introduction to object- oriented programming
Angry Birds Activity:
http://code.org/
Angry Birds is a fun activity to do at home! You will advance through the levels of programming at the site, giving you a good introduction to programming strategies.
Star Wars Activity
https://star_wars.org
This website gives a brief introduction to JavaScript that is easy to understand. JavaScript allows you to program web pages dynamically, giving the people that the site was developed for to interact with the site and the people who own the site.
4. Programming for the web
The last activity of the day will be creating your FIRST WEB PAGE!!! Although this page is only visible by people who can see the computer you are working with, it’s still lots of fun to get a sense of what’s involved in making a website.
We will individually create an html file again using notepad. The name of the file must end in .htm or .html. It will be a text type file so leave the file type as text but end the name of the file with the .htm or .html extension. We will also cover adding a little bit of style to our text. Normally, the content of the page (the html) is kept in a separate file than the code that formats the content (the .css file). I’ve included a screenshot of my html file Save the file to the desktop and then double click the file icon. The file will open in a new tab on your internet browser. 
Notice how each tag is enclosed by opposite pointing arrow heads and how each open tag must have a closing tag. A closing tag has a forward slash before the name of the tag, for example: Tags in html are nested. You cannot have
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