Dr. Kayla DesPortes

Example Page 1

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

In this tutorial, I’ll share my top 10 tips for getting started with Academic:

Tip 1

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Tip 2

Example Page 2

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:00:00 +0100

Here are some more tips for getting started with Academic:

Tip 3

Tip 4

Example Talk

Sat, 01 Jun 2030 13:00:00 +0000

Click on the Slides button above to view the built-in slides feature.

Slides can be added in a few ways:

Create slides using Academic’s Slides feature and link using slides parameter in the front matter of the talk file
Upload an existing slide deck to static/ and link using url_slides parameter in the front matter of the talk file
Embed your slides (e.g. Google Slides) or presentation video on this page using shortcodes.

Further talk details can easily be added to this page using Markdown and $\rm \LaTeX$ math code.

BitBlox: Redesigning the Breadboard

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

BitBlox was a project creating a modular solderless breadboard that is easier for students to learn. It was designed to be used as a research probe to understand how to promote collaboration and learning in physical computing. The modularity of the BitBlox boards enables students to create their prototyping tool as they build their circuit; while the coloring, helps minimize the overhead for learning the tool (ie. designed to minimize the cognitive load). The development of BitBlox was our first exploration of the tools for physical computing.

Motivation

In our initial work with physical computing, we were using the Arduino Microcontroller and the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit because it provides a flexible environment for students to explore the electronics, computing, and design concepts embedded within all physical computing artifacts. However, from an educational standpoint working with the Arduino environment has steep learning curve with little scaffolding. This poses issues for novices of programming and electronics. One stumbling block that seemed unnecessary was the breadboard. Not wanting to black-box the electronics, we designed and built BitBlox in order to try and reduce the cognitive load for students working in an Arduino environment.

Design

BitBlox is similar to the standard breadboard in that it is still a solderless prototoyping tool allowing the user to create connections between wires and components by placing them into holes that are electrically connected. The standard breadboard has connection schemes as shown in the image below. The top and bottom sections have the entire row connected while the middle sections are connected in columns. The back of the breadboard shows the metal pieces that actually create the connections.

BitBlox bring visibility to where the connections actually are in the tool with the coloring. Each section of holes that are the same color are electrically connected. Below are images of the various types of BitBlox that we have created. These different types were created to allow a user to also use components with fixed width pins such as LCD screens, transistors, and IC chips.

We’ve piloted them with College students at Georgia Tech and Berry College, as well as with High School students. Here are some images of circuits the high school students made during one of our classroom studies. You can read about the comparative classroom study with high schoolers below along with a lab study that worked with novices across universities.

Research

Comparative Classroom Study with High School Students

The high school classroom study with BitBlox, we analyzed two 11th grade classes at a rural public high school that had a focus on tying the students’ education to the strong agricultural connections in their community. We worked with 44 novice students in two drafting classes where students often participated in project work designing and building objects. In this study, we used two classes to understand effect different prototyping tools had on the socio-technical environment. One class used the standard breadboard prototyping tool and one used BitBlox. During the class, students learned the basics about the Arduino, and then built a circuit to play the Simon Memory game using three buttons and three LEDs. The study highlighted three important effects the tools had in the learning environment:

The novice students learned about the utility of organizational affordances of the tools, such as the wire colors and the connections between the BitBlox modules, in order to minimize the errors they were making
BitBlox spread out the circuit, increasing the size of the tool, which improved students’ ability to collaborate and create a shared understanding with each other and the instructors
The identifiers such as color and symbols on the breadboards facilitated students in dialogue about their circuits, allowing them to reference parts of their circuit when troubleshooting and explaining their circuits

Laboratory Study with Novices

We wanted to understand more clearly what was happening as novices began working with the Arduino for the first time. In the study, we video recorded 31 novices working with the Breadboard and the BitBlox as they completed various tasks. Video and audio recordings captured participants’ actions and thoughts as they worked. The study provided three contributions:

A codebook of the common breakdowns faced by novices
Insight into the work processes of novices
An understanding of the ways that the tools can impact learners’ experiences

Exploring Information Visualization

After the pilot tests and the classroom study we wanted to understand how we could affect the dialogue in ways that could be productive for learning based on the information built into the tool. We began to experiment with including other types of information into the BitBlox. Below you can see one example visualizing the voltage in the circuit simply by using the breadboard voltage module. We are still experimenting with these ideas.

Publications

DesPortes, K., Anupam, A., Pathak, N., & DiSalvo, B. (2016). BitBlox: A Redesign of the Breadboard. Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, (pp. 255–261). ACM. [Download]

DesPortes, K., & DiSalvo, B. (2019, July). Trials and tribulations of novices working with the arduino. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 219-227). [Download]

Research Team

Neeti Pathak - MS in Computer Science @ Georgia Tech
Aditya Anupam - PhD in Digital Media @ Georgia Tech
Dr. Kayla DesPortes - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences @ NYU
Dr. Betsy DiSalvo - Associate Professor @ Georgia Tech

Note: this was done as part of my PhD work @ Georgia Tech under the advisement of Betsy.

Computational Murals

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

The project explores the co-design of artistic computing curriculum with visual and literary artists. The effort is a collaboration with the non-profit organization Community Word Project, which is an “arts-in-education organization that inspires children in underserved communities to read, interpret and respond to their world and to become active citizens through collaborative arts residencies and teacher training programs”. The organization aims at supporting their learners to use poetry, visual art, and music as platforms to amplify their voices. The researchers have been working with the organization and their artists for the past year to explore the potential of integrating computational media as an additional platform for expression. The work has resulted in two participatory design sessions with students and artists, which has led to the launch of CWP 2.0–a 12-week program for high school students to create physical and digital computational murals using processing ( p5js ) and the Arduino. The students engage in developing a collaborative line of poetry and currating a portfolio of photography, as they learn about both the physical and digital forms of computing to create their murals.

Research Questions Explored

The project explores research questions spanning the design of learning activities and computational platforms to support learners and educators in these interdisciplinary spaces.

How can we design learning environments that enable learners to use computational media as a platform for expression?
- How can the design of physical computing platforms and programming environments support the processes of ideation, iteration, and development of murals?
- What are the affordances for expression the digital and physical forms of expression?
- What pedogogical supports are important for supporting the design and development of physical and digital murals?
- What values emerge in the learning environment as learners engage in development of their collaborative computational murals?
How do we support collaboration between learners to make decisions across their poetry, photography, coding and electronics in ways that align with their goals for expressivity?
- How can the design of activities, pedagogical supports, and technology promote engaging across the disciplines?
- How can we support collaboration in the ideation, iteration, and development phases of the students’ artistic artifacts?

Research Team

The research has been conducted in partnership with the Community Word Project organization and the researchers at NYU.

CWP Leads:
- David King - Program Director of School & Community Partnerships
- Elizabeth Leonard - Poet and Teaching Artist
- Michele Kotler - Executive Director and Founder
- Nichelle Ryan - Photographer and Teaching Artist
- Leigh Wells - Deputy Director of Programs & Operations
NYU Leads:
- Juan Pablo Sarmiento - PhD Student in Educational Communication and Technology
- Eunice Lam - MS Student in Digital Media Design for Learning
- Dr. Kayla DesPortes - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences
- Previous Collaborators:
  - Zahra Humaira - MS in Digital Media Design for Learning
  - Mengqiu Chen - MS in Digital Media Design for Learning
  - Jack Lu - MS in Digital Media Design for Learning
  - Eunyoung Jeon - MS in Digital Media Design for Learning

Dancing Across Boundaries of Computing Education

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

The project examines how to integrate machine learning, data science, and physical computing in the context of dance and cheerleading. The work is part of a collaborative grant between NYU and University of Colorado Boulder, which uses both locations to explore across a number of dance and cheerleading environments. The goal is to understand how to help learners leverage their expertise and cultural practices in order to engage them in authentic and personally meaningful computing. The dancers and cheerleaders will learn to create computing systems with programmable electronics worn on the body (physical computing), use those systems to create statistical models of movement and gesture (data science and machine learning), and then apply the models in a digital experiential learning environment. We are working closely with dance educators and learners to produce design principles, curricula, new educational technologies, and comparative analyses across contexts. In NYC, we have a partnership with the non-profit organization STEM From Dance and its founder and CEO Yamilee Toussaint Beach. The organization “gives girls of color access to a STEM education by using dance to empower, educate, and encourage them as our next generation of engineers, scientists, and techies.” Through working with Yamilee, their instructors, and learners we are building on the powerful programming they have already developed to expand the types of concepts the learners can encounter within a computational dance environment.

Research Questions Explored

This project addresses four main research questions:

How can computing be leveraged to build expertise in dance and cheerleading?
How can dance and cheerleading be leveraged to build expertise in computing?
What are the challenges of integrating computing into dance and cheerleading practices?
How can we meaningfully assess learning outcomes and dispositional shifts with respect to computing in the context of dance and cheerleading applications?

This research will produce curriculum and technology to support learning modules in machine learning, data science, and, physical computing, integrating multiple levels of abstraction across the boundaries of hardware and software (i.e., cyber-physical systems). Through this collaborative inquiry researchers will develop transformative knowledge about how to embed computing into established dance practices, resulting in computing curricula and tools that build on the learners’ and educators’ authentic practices and needs.

Research Team

Yamilee Toussaint Beach - CEO & Founder of STEM From Dance
Willie Payne - PhD Student in Music Technology @ NYU
Dr. Kayla DesPortes (PI) - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences @ NYU
Dr. Yoav Bergner (Co-PI) - Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Educational Technology @ NYU
Dr. Ben Shapiro (Co-PI) - Assistant Professor of Computer Science @ CUB

Funders

This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (STEM+C 1933961).

Data+Art Literacy Curriculum Co-Design

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

This project explores an art-based perspective on data literacy to promote student relevance, accessibility, engagement, reasoning, and meaning-making with data. Data literacy, or interpreting and reasoning about data, is an essential skill set to be able to inform decisions and actions in today’s society. Collaborating with In collaboration nwith with middle school art and math teachers, we are co-designing curriculum that leverages diverse representational forms, ways of knowing and understanding data.

Research Questions Explored

The work examines:

How do we support effective co-design of data literacy units among art teachers, mathematics teachers, and researchers?
How can we develop educational materials and technology to leverage the representational opportunities across artistic and mathematical practices?
How can we build synergistic curricula for art and math to conceptually support one another?

Answers to these questions will build an understanding of how to support interdisciplinary curriculum design collaborations among researchers and teachers. They will also show how art-integrated, maker-oriented activities can support middle school learners’ data literacy development; and how to design technologies that are accessible and powerful to teachers and learners in these interdisciplinary environments.

Research Team

The work is a collaborative project across New York University, Education Development Center, and Fordham University.

Anna Amato - PhD Student Educational Communication & Technology @ NYU
Marian Tes - PhD Student Educational Communication & Technology @ NYU
Camillia Matuk - Assistant Professor @ NYU (PI)
Kayla DesPortes (Co-PI) - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences @ NYU
Ralph Vacca - Assistant Professor @ Fordham (Co-PI)
Megan Silander - Research Scientist @ EDC (Co-PI)
Veena Vasudevan - Post-Doc @ NYU
Peter Woods Consultant PhD Candidate @ University of Wisconsin-Madison

Funders

This project has been funded by the National Science Foundation (DRK12 1908557).

Social Justice Makersapce

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

The project is an ethnographic study examining equity in makerspaces in collaboration with Clarisa James, the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization DIVAS For Social Justice. The organization recently launched a makerspace designed to empower the local community to tackle issues of social inequities while leveraging emerging technologies. The researchers formed a partnership with DIVAs soon after they acquired the space and have worked with the organization as they have begun planning and developing the makerspace. The initial work has involved co-design sessions with Clarisa, participatory design sessions with the community, and interviews to understand the important values and characteristics of a space that can engage local community members to build technological skills, while applying those skills to addressing social justice issues faced by the neighborhoods and communities in which they reside.

Research

Working closely with the organization, the researchers investigate the following research questions:

RQ. How can we design makerspaces focused on community and social equity?
- RQ1. What values and needs do local community members articulate and advocate for in the design process?
- RQ2. What tensions arise during the development of the makerspace?
- RQ3. What considerations and supports are important for developing equitable and inclusive makerspaces?

Research Team

Shiri Mund - PhD Student Educational Communication & Technology
Joey Azoulai - MS in Digital Media Design for Learning
Dr. Kayla DesPortes - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences

Spectrum of Modularity

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

This project examines what aspects of the hardware for physical computing can be designed in ways to create glass-box (instead of black-box) scaffolding that fades as the learner gains expertise. The project began with examining the electrical components that can be connected to a microcontroller to lay the foundation of how we could explore the scaffolding throughout the hardware tools.

Motivation

Circuit components for physical computing come in a variety of different forms. They can be highly plug-and-play, like in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics kit, or they can come as individual components leaving the user to figure out how they might create a circuit. Unfortunately, there are not many tools that fit in between these two extremes, or tools that are designed to facilitate learning through scaffolding that can fade. This project was designed to try and understand what tools with that capability might look like. We examined the tools based on their transparency (what the learner can see), and affordances for interaction (how the learner manipulates components within the tools).

Design

The first prototypes for the spectrum of modularity were designed using circuit boards and off-the-shelf components. We explored, six levels of modularity that could exist in the tools. Below is an outline of the various levels.

LEVEL 1: Plug-and-Play Circuits w/ Static Electronic Components

LEVEL 2: Plug-and-Play Circuits w/ Static and Variable Electronic Components<

LEVEL 3: Plug-and-Play Circuits w/ Variable Electronic Components

LEVEL 4: Static Single Electronic Component Modules

LEVEL 5: Variable Single Electronic Component Modules

LEVEL 6: Open Circuit Modules

You can read more about the levels and the rationale behind the spectrum in the publication below. The idea of this work was to draw attention to the design choices in these tools that could facilitate learning. This is not necessarily the only or best way to conceptualize the spectrum, but one attempt. While we used circuit boards for these protoypes, the same concepts can be explored experimenting with the materiality of the boards and components.

Research

Currently we are conducting a lab study comparing students using the standard breadboard, BitBlox, and a set of circuit modules as they learn about the Arduino for the first time. Some of the students will be completing a think-aloud protocol as they learn about the Arduino for the first time. The research questions in this work explore the cognitive and work processes of novices, and how they are affected by the tool design.

RQ1. How can the tools be designed to facilitate students in learning about physical computing?
RQ2. What are the common misconceptions and errors that students make when learning about the Arduino?
RQ3. How do the hardware tools students use affect their self-efficacy with physical computing?

While this study will provide insight into what the students are thinking, it does not give us an understanding of how the tools will affect the socio-technical learning environment in a real-world context. Future studies will be designed to understand research questions in that situation, enabling us to build a deeper understanding of the tools.

Publications

DesPortes, K., & DiSalvo, B. (2017). Where are the Glass-Boxes? Examining the Spectrum of Modularity in Physical Computing Hardware Tools. Proceedings of the the 16th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 292-297). ACM. [Download]

DesPortes, K., & DiSalvo, B. (2019). Trials and Tribulations of Novices Working with the Arduino. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research, pp. 219-227. 2019. [Download]

Research Team

Dr. Kayla DesPortes - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences @ NYU
Dr. Betsy DiSalvo - Associate Professor @ Georgia Tech

**Note: The initial work was done as part of my PhD work @ Georgia Tech under the advisement of Betsy and has carried into my work at NYU. **

The MoveLab

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

The MoveLab was an interdisciplinary informal educational project combining dance and technology as a medium for expression for the learners. The workshop spanned several communities involving artists and organizers from a local non-profit arts collective, students from Georgia Tech, and students and mentors from a community organization focused on providing personal growth opportunities for underserved girls in metro-Atlanta. This was our first investigation understanding the design of a learning environment focused on creating a community of learners that promoted self-reflection and integration of student values.

Motivation

The MoveLab was intended to create a community of learners by bringing in learners from different backgrounds to work together building, designing and teaching one another as they learned about dance and technology. We wanted to understand if we could create a computing and dance educational environment that provided insights on how to develop inclusive learning environments. Integrating meta-design processes, which are a type of participatory design, scaffolded the learners to self-reflect on issues that were important to themselves and integrate these reflections into their design processes for the dance. The participants created three dances that centered on the expression of themes involving self-esteem, deforestation of nature, and bullying.

Each of the groups integrated technology in different ways. Below is a picture of a dance top constructed by the group focused on bullying. The students mimed out a bully pushing another student using the (a) capacitive touch sensors which then triggered a buzzer (b) to go off and the LEDs (c) to turn red. Throughout the dance the student stands up to the bully and then becomes friends with the bully at which point the students had the LED change to blue, triggered by another touch to the capacitive sensors.

Research

The research questions that we were trying to understand within the MoveLab were:

RQ1 How can we create an inclusive community of learners using dance and technology as a medium for expression?

RQ2 What characteristics of a learning environment help students develop alignment between their self-concept and the disciplines of computing and dance?

Throughout the workshop we found dynamic processes that were occurring during each encounter with the technology. These nonlinear processes were shaping the students’ self-conceptions of how they aligned and rejected views of themselves in relation to computing and technology. We found that students would create alignment with computing through experiences which allowed them to take agency, be proud of their work, narrow their expertise, develop a group identity, and express their personal values. On the flip side students would reject views of themselves in relation to computing when they rejected preconceived ideas of computing, they were trying to avoid failure, when they had conflicting values with the work, and when they rejected participation with the group. Each student had a different path throughout the workshop as they experienced a variety of different situations; thus arriving at different perspectives of computing by the end of the workshop.

Computing and dance were integrated into the learning environment as a medium for expression and communication. We found that this provided opportunities for the dances and technology within these dances to serve as boundary objects enabling students to project multiple values onto their interpretations. The meta-design processes embedded in the learning activities prompted students to express the things they cared about in their dialogue, interactions with one another, and design of computing artifacts.

Publications

DesPortes, K., Spells, M., & DiSalvo, B. (2016a). Interdisciplinary Computing and the Emergence of Boundary Objects: A Case-Study of Dance and Technology. International Society of the Learning Sciences, (pp. 890-893). [Download]

DesPortes, K., Spells, M., & DiSalvo, B. (2016b). The MoveLab: Developing Congruence Between Students’ Self-Concepts and Computing. (pp. 267–272). ACM [Download]

Research Team

Monet Spells - MS in Human-Computer Interaction @ Georgia Tech
Dr. Kayla DesPortes - Assistant Professor of HCI and the Learning Sciences @ NYU
Dr. Betsy DiSalvo - Associate Professor @ Georgia Tech

Note: this was done as part of my PhD work @ Georgia Tech under the advisement of Betsy.

Trials and Tribulations of Novices Working with the Arduino

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Writing technical content in Academic

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Academic is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and Academic handles the rest.

Highlight your code snippets, take notes on math classes, and draw diagrams from textual representation.

On this page, you’ll find some examples of the types of technical content that can be rendered with Academic.

Examples

Code

Academic supports a Markdown extension for highlighting code syntax. You can enable this feature by toggling the highlight option in your config/_default/params.toml file.

```python
import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()
```

renders as

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()

Math

Academic supports a Markdown extension for $\LaTeX$ math. You can enable this feature by toggling the math option in your config/_default/params.toml file.

To render inline or block math, wrap your LaTeX math with $...$ or $$...$$, respectively.

Example math block:

$$\gamma_{n} = \frac{ 
\left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T 
\left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}
{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}$$

renders as

$$\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left |\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right |^2}$$

Example inline math $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$ renders as $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$.

Example multi-line math using the \\ math linebreak:

$$f(k;p_0^*) = \begin{cases} p_0^* & \text{if }k=1, \\
1-p_0^* & \text {if }k=0.\end{cases}$$

renders as

$$f(k;p_0^*) = \begin{cases} p_0^* & \text{if }k=1, \
1-p_0^* & \text {if }k=0.\end{cases}$$

Diagrams

Academic supports a Markdown extension for diagrams. You can enable this feature by toggling the diagram option in your config/_default/params.toml file or by adding diagram: true to your page front matter.

An example flowchart:

```mermaid
graph TD
A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]
```

renders as

graph TD
A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]

An example sequence diagram:

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
loop Healthcheck
    John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
end
Note right of John: Rational thoughts!
John-->>Alice: Great!
John->>Bob: How about you?
Bob-->>John: Jolly good!
```

renders as

sequenceDiagram
Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
loop Healthcheck
    John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
end
Note right of John: Rational thoughts!
John-->>Alice: Great!
John->>Bob: How about you?
Bob-->>John: Jolly good!

An example Gantt diagram:

```mermaid
gantt
section Section
Completed :done,    des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08
Active        :active,  des2, 2014-01-07, 3d
Parallel 1   :         des3, after des1, 1d
Parallel 2   :         des4, after des1, 1d
Parallel 3   :         des5, after des3, 1d
Parallel 4   :         des6, after des4, 1d
```

renders as

gantt
section Section
Completed :done,    des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08
Active        :active,  des2, 2014-01-07, 3d
Parallel 1   :         des3, after des1, 1d
Parallel 2   :         des4, after des1, 1d
Parallel 3   :         des5, after des3, 1d
Parallel 4   :         des6, after des4, 1d

An example class diagram:

```mermaid
classDiagram
Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
<<interface>> Class01
Class09 --> C2 : Where am i?
Class09 --* C3
Class09 --|> Class07
Class07 : equals()
Class07 : Object[] elementData
Class01 : size()
Class01 : int chimp
Class01 : int gorilla
class Class10 {
  <<service>>
  int id
  size()
}
```

renders as

classDiagram
Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
<<interface>> Class01
Class09 --> C2 : Where am i?
Class09 --* C3
Class09 --|> Class07
Class07 : equals()
Class07 : Object[] elementData
Class01 : size()
Class01 : int chimp
Class01 : int gorilla
class Class10 {
  <<service>>
  int id
  size()
}

An example state diagram:

```mermaid
stateDiagram
[*] --> Still
Still --> [*]
Still --> Moving
Moving --> Still
Moving --> Crash
Crash --> [*]
```

renders as

stateDiagram
[*] --> Still
Still --> [*]
Still --> Moving
Moving --> Still
Moving --> Crash
Crash --> [*]

Todo lists

You can even write your todo lists in Academic too:

- [x] Write math example
- [x] Write diagram example
- [ ] Do something else

renders as

Write math example
Write diagram example
Do something else

Tables

Represent your data in tables:

| First Header  | Second Header |
| ------------- | ------------- |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |
| Content Cell  | Content Cell  |

renders as

First Header	Second Header
Content Cell	Content Cell
Content Cell	Content Cell

Asides

Academic supports a shortcode for asides, also referred to as notices, hints, or alerts. By wrapping a paragraph in {{% alert note %}} ... {{% /alert %}}, it will render as an aside.

{{% alert note %}}
A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.
{{% /alert %}}

renders as

A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.

Icons

Academic enables you to use a wide range of icons from Font Awesome and Academicons in addition to emojis.

Here are some examples using the icon shortcode to render icons:

{{< icon name="terminal" pack="fas" >}} Terminal  
{{< icon name="python" pack="fab" >}} Python  
{{< icon name="r-project" pack="fab" >}} R

renders as

Terminal
Python
R

Display Jupyter Notebooks with Academic

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

from IPython.core.display import Image
Image('https://www.python.org/static/community_logos/python-logo-master-v3-TM-flattened.png')

print("Welcome to Academic!")

Welcome to Academic!

Install Python and JupyterLab

Install Anaconda which includes Python 3 and JupyterLab.

Alternatively, install JupyterLab with pip3 install jupyterlab.

Create or upload a Jupyter notebook

Run the following commands in your Terminal, substituting <MY-WEBSITE-FOLDER> and <SHORT-POST-TITLE> with the file path to your Academic website folder and a short title for your blog post (use hyphens instead of spaces), respectively:

mkdir -p <MY-WEBSITE-FOLDER>/content/post/<SHORT-POST-TITLE>/
cd <MY-WEBSITE-FOLDER>/content/post/<SHORT-POST-TITLE>/
jupyter lab index.ipynb

The jupyter command above will launch the JupyterLab editor, allowing us to add Academic metadata and write the content.

Edit your post metadata

The first cell of your Jupter notebook will contain your post metadata ( front matter).

In Jupter, choose Markdown as the type of the first cell and wrap your Academic metadata in three dashes, indicating that it is YAML front matter:

---
title: My post's title
date: 2019-09-01

# Put any other Academic metadata here...
---

Edit the metadata of your post, using the documentation as a guide to the available options.

To set a featured image, place an image named featured into your post’s folder.

For other tips, such as using math, see the guide on writing content with Academic.

Convert notebook to Markdown

jupyter nbconvert index.ipynb --to markdown --NbConvertApp.output_files_dir=.

Example

This post was created with Jupyter. The orginal files can be found at https://github.com/gcushen/hugo-academic/tree/master/exampleSite/content/post/jupyter

Slides

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Create slides in Markdown with Academic

Academic | Documentation

Features

Efficiently write slides in Markdown
3-in-1: Create, Present, and Publish your slides
Supports speaker notes
Mobile friendly slides

Controls

Next: Right Arrow or Space
Previous: Left Arrow
Start: Home
Finish: End
Overview: Esc
Speaker notes: S
Fullscreen: F
Zoom: Alt + Click
PDF Export: E

Code Highlighting

Inline code: variable

Code block:

porridge = "blueberry"
if porridge == "blueberry":
    print("Eating...")

Math

In-line math: $x + y = z$

Block math:

$$ f\left( x \right) = ;\frac{{2\left( {x + 4} \right)\left( {x - 4} \right)}}{{\left( {x + 4} \right)\left( {x + 1} \right)}} $$

Fragments

Make content appear incrementally

{{% fragment %}} One {{% /fragment %}}
{{% fragment %}} **Two** {{% /fragment %}}
{{% fragment %}} Three {{% /fragment %}}

Press Space to play!

One Two Three

A fragment can accept two optional parameters:

class: use a custom style (requires definition in custom CSS)
weight: sets the order in which a fragment appears

Speaker Notes

Add speaker notes to your presentation

{{% speaker_note %}}
- Only the speaker can read these notes
- Press `S` key to view
{{% /speaker_note %}}

Press the S key to view the speaker notes!

Themes

black: Black background, white text, blue links (default)
white: White background, black text, blue links
league: Gray background, white text, blue links
beige: Beige background, dark text, brown links
sky: Blue background, thin dark text, blue links

night: Black background, thick white text, orange links
serif: Cappuccino background, gray text, brown links
simple: White background, black text, blue links
solarized: Cream-colored background, dark green text, blue links

Custom Slide

Customize the slide style and background

{{< slide background-image="/img/boards.jpg" >}}
{{< slide background-color="#0000FF" >}}
{{< slide class="my-style" >}}

Custom CSS Example

Let’s make headers navy colored.

Create assets/css/reveal_custom.css with:

.reveal section h1,
.reveal section h2,
.reveal section h3 {
  color: navy;
}

Questions?

Ask

Documentation

Physical Computing Education: Designing for Student Authorship of Values-Based Learning Experiences

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Framing Makerspace Communities

Sat, 21 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Where are the Glass-Boxes? Examining the Spectrum of Modularity in Physical Computing Hardware Tools

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Participatory Design for Value-Driven Learning

Thu, 25 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Circuit Diagrams Vs. Physical Circuits: The Effect of Representational Forms During Assessment Kayla

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

BitBlox: A Redesign of the Breadboard

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Computing and the Emergence of Boundary Objects: A Case-Study of Dance and Technology

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Academic: the website builder for Hugo

Wed, 20 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Create a free website with Academic using Markdown, Jupyter, or RStudio. Choose a beautiful color theme and build anything with the Page Builder - over 40 widgets, themes, and language packs included!

Check out the latest demo of what you’ll get in less than 10 minutes, or view the showcase of personal, project, and business sites.

👉 Get Started
📚 View the documentation
💬 Ask a question on the forum
👥 Chat with the community
🐦 Twitter: @source_themes @GeorgeCushen #MadeWithAcademic
💡 Request a feature or report a bug
⬆️ Updating? View the Update Guide and Release Notes
❤ Support development of Academic:
- ☕️ Donate a coffee
- 💵 Become a backer on Patreon
- 🖼️ Decorate your laptop or journal with an Academic sticker
- 👕 Wear the T-shirt
- 👩‍💻 Contribute

Academic is mobile first with a responsive design to ensure that your site looks stunning on every device.

Key features:

Page builder - Create anything with widgets and elements
Edit any type of content - Blog posts, publications, talks, slides, projects, and more!
Create content in Markdown, Jupyter, or RStudio
Plugin System - Fully customizable color and font themes
Display Code and Math - Code highlighting and LaTeX math supported
Integrations - Google Analytics, Disqus commenting, Maps, Contact Forms, and more!
Beautiful Site - Simple and refreshing one page design
Industry-Leading SEO - Help get your website found on search engines and social media
Media Galleries - Display your images and videos with captions in a customizable gallery
Mobile Friendly - Look amazing on every screen with a mobile friendly version of your site
Multi-language - 15+ language packs including English, 中文, and Português
Multi-user - Each author gets their own profile page
Privacy Pack - Assists with GDPR
Stand Out - Bring your site to life with animation, parallax backgrounds, and scroll effects
One-Click Deployment - No servers. No databases. Only files.

Themes

Academic comes with automatic day (light) and night (dark) mode built-in. Alternatively, visitors can choose their preferred mode - click the sun/moon icon in the top right of the Demo to see it in action! Day/night mode can also be disabled by the site admin in params.toml.

Choose a stunning theme and font for your site. Themes are fully customizable.

Ecosystem

Academic Admin: An admin tool to import publications from BibTeX or import assets for an offline site
Academic Scripts: Scripts to help migrate content to new versions of Academic

Install

You can choose from one of the following four methods to install:

Then personalize and deploy your new site.

Updating

View the Update Guide.

Feel free to star the project on Github to help keep track of updates.

License

Released under the MIT license.

The MoveLab: Developing congruence between students' self-concepts and computing

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Dr. Kayla DesPortes

Example Page 1

Tip 1

Tip 2

Example Page 2

Tip 3

Tip 4

Example Talk

BitBlox: Redesigning the Breadboard

Overview

Motivation

Design

Research

Comparative Classroom Study with High School Students

Laboratory Study with Novices

Exploring Information Visualization

Publications

Research Team

Computational Murals

Overview

Research Questions Explored

Research Team

Dancing Across Boundaries of Computing Education

Overview

Research Questions Explored

Research Team

Funders

Data+Art Literacy Curriculum Co-Design

Overview

Research Questions Explored

Research Team

Funders

Social Justice Makersapce

Overview

Research

Research Team

Spectrum of Modularity

Overview

Motivation

Design

Research

Publications

Research Team

The MoveLab

Overview

Motivation

Research

Publications

Research Team

Trials and Tribulations of Novices Working with the Arduino

Writing technical content in Academic

Examples

Code

Math

Diagrams

Todo lists

Tables

Asides

Icons

Did you find this page helpful? Consider sharing it 🙌

Display Jupyter Notebooks with Academic

Install Python and JupyterLab

Create or upload a Jupyter notebook

Edit your post metadata

Convert notebook to Markdown

Example

Slides

Create slides in Markdown with Academic

Features

Controls

Code Highlighting

Math

Fragments

Speaker Notes

Themes

Custom Slide

Custom CSS Example

Questions?

Physical Computing Education: Designing for Student Authorship of Values-Based Learning Experiences

Framing Makerspace Communities