 MY FIRST BLOCKS A WHITE PAPER Ean Mikale, J.D., LaResha Swiney 342 magnolia street pasadena, ca 91105 342 magnolia street pasadena, ca 91105
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An Infinite 8 Early Learning Product www.infinite8institute.com/earlylearning
MY FIRST BLOCKS OF CODE: PREPARING A NEW GENERATION FOR AN AUTOMATED FUTURE Patent Pending - Patent Application No: 29655820 Ean Mikale, J.D., Remote Pilot in Command, LaResha Swiney, Remote Pilot in Command. Infinite 8 Aeronautics: The Drone School, Infinite 8 Institute for Autonomous Vehicles Abstract: “My First Blocks of Code” or (MFBC) for brevity. MFBC, is a trio of blocks meant to teach children from birth to age 3 how to organize beginner lines of code, using computer languages that are specific to the fields of autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics. There is a total of twenty-four six-sided blocks, split into three software development languages. Each language contains 8-blocks each. The three languages include the following: C++, Python, and the Robotic Operating System (ROS). Background: At the Drone School where instruction, research, and commercialization focus narrowly on the fields of commercial drones, self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, and accelerated computing, the fast-paced changes in the automation of our society are occurring faster than we could have ever imagined. The inspiration for this product began with my twoyear old son Nahir, who I wanted to introduce coding to in a natural way. After bringing the initial My First Blocks of Code prototype home to Nahir, and discovering his love for them, we wondered if other parents would desire the same opportunity for their children too. Materials: The blocks used are simple wooden blocks, and the text and design on each side of the blocks is engraved using laser engraving techniques. There isn’t any paint, chemicals, plastics, or other substances used in the creation of this product. It is also manufactured locally in the United States, specifically Omaha, NE. Our goal is to create a product that caters toward ecofriendly parents and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) early learning professionals. Results: A vast majority of parents understood the importance and significance of learning programming languages. Reasons cited by parents for wanting their child to learn coding early include but are not limited to the following: cognitive training, early exposure to coding, and future career opportunities. Most parents want the best opportunity for their child, and are willing to pay modestly to acquire such early learning tools. The study also found that parents care about what languages their child learns in particular, preferring a programmatic language that will prepare their children for future technologies. Conclusions: It is apparent from the research conducted that parents find true value in futureproof programmatic languages, and early learning opportunities for their children to engage with coding in a way that will maximize their intelligence and future career opportunities.
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Background: Infinite 8 Aeronautics: The
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Background: The Drone School, is a private for-profit post-secondary career school, with locations in Omaha, NE, and Kansas City, MO. Over the last two years having worked with technology companies, such as IBM, Nvidia, and Google, has allowed a unique perspective into the direction of technologic advancement in emerging fields, such as Artificial Intelligence or the Internet of Things. Our focus during the past year has heavily been tipped toward working with working-age adults, and exposing them to what is called “bleeding edge” technologies, otherwise known as technologies that are so new, that if introduced at a dinner party, 9 out of 10 people would have no idea what the technology was, or that such things even existed.
obsolete very quickly. I was also in a Math & Science Program at Upward Bound but had never been formally introduced to software development. I state these facts simply to show the lack of exposure, and thus an innate assumption that software development was too foreign a thing, and the benefits of learning it didn’t outweigh the painful costs. I didn’t want my son to experience the same apprehension because he had not been exposed to programmatic languages at an early age. However, the next question became which language should he learn? At the Drone School, we have dived head first in software development for autonomous systems, such as commercial drones, robots, self-driving cars, and artificial intelligence, and have discovered that in these high growth sectors, there are specific programmatic languages that provide different value propositions in different scenarios.
Additionally, Infinite 8 Institute, LLC the parent company of Infinite 8 Aeronautics: The Drone School, has been heavily involved in the Early Childhood sector since 2015, releasing two early childhood curriculum since that time, while also training early learning center directors and staff, and partnering with organizations such as Heartland Family Services to coordinate collective impact modular services in a severely underserved sector. Also, during Infinite 8 Institute’s history of global involvement in the Social Finance space, a large portion of research has been spent talking with the leadership of organizations across the United States concerning the lack of investment, talent, and innovation in the area of early learning.
Generally, Java is a high-level language that is extremely predominant in the current app era, as it allows for the manipulation of user interfaces. However, in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Self-driving Vehicles, Commercial Drones, Virtual Reality, and the Internet of Things, there are more powerful languages that allow for greater control and manipulation and/or training of intelligent machines and other automated systems. For this reason, the following three languages were chosen: C++, Python, and ROS (Robotic Operating System). C++ was chosen as a robust low-level language that is extremely powerful and capable in the implementation of everything from robotic systems to video game design. If we wanted to make a robot walk across the room, C++ wouldn’t be the easiest way, but C++ would get the job done.
In 2016, my wife, Aledia and I, gave birth to my first child, Nahir. Likely 6-months prior to that, I began to take up software development seriously, wanting more creative control over the drones we were working with. When I was in mentoring a program in Junior High, I remember building a bare bones computer, which became
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Next, we chose Python not only because it is one of the fastest growing, and beautifully simplistic languages around, but it is a staple in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Commercial Drones, and Self-Driving Vehicles. We believe Python is a practical and future-proof programmatic language.
smell from the laser-engraved woods also smells familiar, as if someone were barbequing with wood chips on an open-fire. We felt like we had something but could only find out by further research. Within the first week of finishing the prototype, I brought the blocks home to my son Nahir for the first time. Watching him play enthusiastically with the blocks as if they were his own was reassuring. Next, we needed to interview parents to discover if it was something they would actually buy.
Finally, we made what seemed to be an obvious choice for us. We chose ROS. ROS, is a language that is not rightfully represented in any expression I can think of. It is a lowlevel language, specifically created to simplify the process of programming robots and other automated devices. ROS has been implemented in everything from robots on the International Space Station, to SelfDriving Cars. Out of the three, ROS is our favorite, and we believe it’s importance and ubiquity will only grow exponentially in decades to come.
We conducted the Lean Process, and chose to interview 50 parents. We discovered that over 90% of parents interviewed were interested in using wooden blocks to introduce coding to their children. Even more interesting, we also discovered that roughly 40% of parents wanted their children to learn specific coding languages that would prepare their children for future technologies. 20% of parents wanted their children to learn programming languages that were simple. Another 20% wanted their children to learn programmatic languages that are wide-spread in use. Finally, another 20% of parents wanted their children to learn languages with diverse applications. Finally, the top two reasons parents see learning code early as a benefit, include educational exploration and early exposure to programming languages.
Participants, Materials, and Methodology: My colleague, LaResha Swiney, herself also being a mother, was extremely helpful in the creation of the iterations of the various stages of development of My First Blocks of Code. During observations of my sons play, I noticed that he loved building blocks. Building blocks are simple, and yet profound. My son has an Alphabet set of blocks. I thought it would be best to engage him in a way that he was familiar with, and thus the blocks of code.
Economic Impact: In mid-February, venture capital research firm CB Insights released an Artificial Intelligence Trends Report, which showed that the United States is giving up the lead in early stage funding of AI businesses to its economic rival China. In 2017, 48 percent of the world’s entire equity funding for AI startups was located in China. The United States came in second place, lagging behind at 38 percent of global equity funding for AI startups. Furthermore, in 2017, more than 13 million patent applications were filed
Initial iterations of the block design were created by Ms. Swiney using blocks created out of notebook paper. The second iteration of the blocks was creating by 3D printing letters and supergluing the letters onto wooden blocks. The final iteration involved laser engraving the symbols, letters, and numbers directly onto the blocks. The final product lacks any paints, chemicals, or plastic materials, providing an enhanced incentive for eco-conscious parents. The
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with China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), the largest patent filing for any country and greater than the combined filings that year in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Europe. Additionally, according to the World Economic Forum, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has become a Chinese priority, with 40 percent of Chinese graduates completing STEM degrees, over twice the share of American colleges and universities. The United States is also falling behind the rest of the pack academically, as U.S. students perform poorly on standardized assessments compared to the rest of the world. According to the 2015 PISA Assessment, which tests 15-year olds around the world on math, science, and reading abilities, the United States scored average to below average. East-Asian countries finished at the head of the pack, for example, with Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Mainland China finishing strong in the top 10 in reading, science, and math globally. Findings: Ms. Swiney discusses the findings in her own words, “The fact that technology is expanding at a rapid pace, most parents acknowledge that [their] children’s ability to grasp concepts exposed to them in the early stages of growth, can only benefit [from] exposure to these tangible learning tools”. Sources: 1. Snow, Jackie. (2018, February 14). China’s AI startups scored more funding than America’s last year. Retrieved from www.technologyreview.com. 2. Jackson, Abby. (2016, December 6). The latest ranking of top countries in math, reading, and science is out – and the US didn’t crack the top 10. Retrieved from www.businessinsider.com.
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