This is the final post I will be making on this blog. AP CS was a great course that helped me develop a better understanding of Java and a better understanding of programming. In the final weeks of the school year, we did a last project–our initial intent for this course was to develop an app to try to solve, or help, a widespread problem, as I posted a while back–however, time was a major constraint and we were unable to get this done. In lieu of creating an app that will help someone with access to education, I created a quiz, to quiz people on their knowledge of this topic. This quiz has eight questions, all of which deal with shocking statistics of access to education. It was posted on my website which I have linked previously on my site.

Instead of actually creating that final app, I am going to relay some ideas that I have had for this would-have-been app.

1. This app would have been an online schooling app, that would display concepts and force the person that has the app to read and learn, and once they prove competent with the topic, they will be quizzed on it. I would try to make it as close as possible to an actual school environment as possible. I might have even incorporated voice chat for students and possibly even a teacher.
2. We could set up stations around the world, with computers, free of access, or maybe even a bin where you could donate old electronics, so people could have access to technology which may inspire them to program and code. Together we could donate our old electronics so someone may find better use of them.
3. This WE service learning project has taught me the serious issue that access to education is. It taught me that anyone can make a difference and help solve this problem, no matter how small of a contribution, everything matters. It has taught me that I can help, and it has inspired me to help more people and try to solve as many problems as I can. It taught me that I can inspire and help others, and that if we want our world to be changed, we can step up and help and make a significant difference.

In conclusion, this project, despite cut short, brought a lot to the table and really was a fascinating idea, and it is unfortunate we were unable to finish it.

I had a great time this year in APCS! I am excited for what comes next!

–Kevin

Today we learned about human rights. Human rights are the rights and abilities that each and every human should have no matter their background or history. We are asked to follow three questions about human rights.

From the information you have gathered watching these videos, what are some basic human rights? Is education a basic human right? Some human rights include the right to be free, the right to be treated equally under the law, and the right to marry and have a family. Education is a basic human right, it is #26 on the Declaration of Human Rights.

What sort of barriers do you think prevent children from having the right to education? Why do these barriers to education exist? Do you think there are barriers that exist in our community that prevent children from going to school? If so, what are they? The barriers that prevent children from having the right to education are societal standards and norms that do not put education at the utmost importance. These barriers exist because not every society is the same and there are poorer countries who put survival above education and all other extremities in their country. Yes there are barriers that prevent children from having the right to education in the US. Some include poor family structure and homelessness.

How might computer science help break these barriers to education? How might apps, in particular, help to break these barriers? Computer science will help break the education barriers because we can make apps that teach young kids simple ideas such as math and English that would not require too much time to learn.

Today we watched a video called “Jessi Goes To India.” This video talked about the struggle for young children to go to school in India. From this video, I learned that I should not take my education for granted. As a class we are asked to respond to the following questions:

1. What your future would look like if you never had a formal education, or your formal education had ended at the 2nd grade. My future would be rather bleak and I would be uneducated, looking for a job. I would have either joined the military or did some other form of work in order to obtain money.
2. When you consider the barriers to education we have learned about, are there barriers that have impacted your access to education? Whether yes or no, how do you feel about that? Not really, other than a few teachers who did not want to teach or care about their students, I have really had no “barriers” to education. I feel neutral to that, I understand that people have it way worse than I do, and are unable to get education, however, I can see that societies function differently and school is not the highest priority.
3. Have these lessons made you think differently about the value of your education? Yes, I see that education should not be taken for granted.
4. What could you do to improve access to education at home or overseas? I could travel overseas like Jessi and spread the message about education, or try to convince people that do not go to school, or do not want to go to school at home, to go and learn.

Throughout the past week I learned about the lack of access to education throughout the world and all of the sociopolitical aspects of education that make women and other minority groups struggle to get education. I watched a video depicting why these issues occur, I felt as if I wanted to make a difference. I brainstormed ideas in hopes of bettering communities for these people. I worked on a fish-bone diagram to organize my thoughts about the topic of education and what problems cause it. I also learned how to create an app on appinventor.mit.edu. I created an app where you can click on Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X and hear their respective speeches. It worked when I transferred the app onto a tablet. I am excited to find out what comes next!

My name is Kevin Tomcho. I go to North Olmsted High School and I am a Junior. I love programming and game development. I aspire to become a programmer in the future. For the next couple of months these will be my updates on my WE service project; it is a project to better the world using code and programming.

More about me:

I program in C++ and have used Python in the past, as of now I am getting into SFML, a graphics API. In AP Computer Science we are learning Java.