Anderson@Large

‘What’s Going On’ Won 1st Place at National Day of Civic Hacking Philly

Last weekend was the National Day of Civic Hacking, a two-day event that brought together technologists and subject matter experts “to create tools that make our city better.” I participated in the hackathon organized by TechnicallyPhilly.com and the City of Philadelphia at Drexel’s ExCITe Center.

I worked on a Code for Philly project with Chris Alfano and Jim Connor. We addressed the problem of the lack of a central source for information about after school and summer programs. There are a number of databases that compile information about out-of-school-time (OST) programs, but the information is not current. The demand for such programs will increase in the wake of the “doomsday” school budget recently approved by the School Reform Commission.

There’s no money and in nearly half of Philly households, no Internet access. So many parents and students will try to find out what’s going on at their local library or Keyspot public computer center. While Internet access is free, users are not free to sit there as long as it takes to find a suitable program.

So we built a mobile web app that empowers parents and students to quickly access current information about after school and summer programs.

Users are able to search for programs by grade level, season (summer or year-round) and subject. What’s Going On is at the intersection of technology, education and civic engagement. The public is invited to submit a program. We will verify the information before adding the program to our community wiki, Wikidelphia.

An asset map of OST programs in Philadelphia, What’s Going On won first place. The project can serve as a national model for how developers, advocates, parents and community members can collaborate to expand access to programs that promote year-round learning and engagement.

For more info, contact us via email. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Reliving Philly’s Jazz Legacy through Google Glass

A week ago, All That Philly Jazz, a digital history project, was launched. At the Mayors’ Innovation Summit, I got a chance to try out Google Glass, a wearable computer.

My mind began racing down Broad Street, America’s longest street, which once boasted legendary jazz clubs like Pep’s Musical Bar, the Showboat, Fantasy Lounge, Zanzibar Blue and Jewel’s. On June 5, 1945, Charlie Parker performed at the Academy of Music.

By harnessing technology and capturing oral histories, we can go back to the time when the joints were jumping on Broad, South and 52nd streets, and Columbia Avenue from 8th Street to 30th Street.

Jazz lovers can head over to South Philly and visualize Dizzy Gillespie at the Downbeat. While there, they can catch Billie Holiday at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

At the upcoming Apps for SEPTA hackathon, we will build a prototype for a mobile app that will help visitors and residents locate former jazz clubs. Users can jump on a “Jazz Bus” to, say, Germantown and re-imagine feeling good at the Cadillac Club.

In collaboration with Lenora Early, founder of the John Coltrane House, we will re-visit Trane’s Philadelphia.

Are you jazzed? Then get involved with this Code for Philly project that’s at the intersection of technology, art and community empowerment.

For more information about All That Philly Jazz, send an email or tweet to @PhillyJazzApp.

All That Philly Jazz is Live

At last weekend’s Music Hack, a music-related hackathon, the All That Philly Jazz team, Mark Headd, Mike Lamond and the writer, developed the Philly Jazz App, an interactive  map where we will tell the story of Philadelphia’s rich jazz legacy.

All That Philly Jazz is mapping historic theaters, legendary jazz clubs, Walk of Fame plaques and public murals. We will take visitors back to the days when jazz legends performed at the Uptown, the Royal, Earle and Lincoln Theaters. To contextualize the images, we will include data curated by Echo Nest and audio samples from Rdio. We’re jazzed that All That Philly Jazz won a one-year subscription to Rdio for the best hack.

Much of Philly’s jazz history has fallen victim to urban upheaval and urban removal. To preserve the history for future generations, we must tap the memories of Philadelphians and visitors. So All That Philly Jazz will be crowdsourced. We will use social media and traditional media, including community newspapers and radio, to ask folks to share their memories and photos.

We will also use technology, including Google Glass and Historypin, to breathe life into legendary jazz clubs like the Showboat, Pep’s Musical Bar, Blue Note, Up Jumped the Devil, Fantasy Lounge, and joints along 52nd Street, aka “The Strip.” Clubs like the Aqua Lounge, Billie's Boomer, Mr. Silk’s Third Base and Foo-Foo Ragan’s.

Indeed, All That Philly Jazz is at the intersection of technology, art and civic engagement. To get involved, contact us via email or Twitter: @PhillyJazzApp.

All That Philly Jazz

The Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner famously observed: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” At this weekend’s music hackathon,  my team, All That Philly Jazz, will bring Philadelphia’s jazz legacy to the present.

 

The Philly Jazz App will map historic places and markers, murals and legendary jazz clubs.

Looking beyond the hackathon, we will go back to the future and augment reality along South Street, Ridge Avenue and 52nd Street. Back in the day, those corridors were jumping with jazz clubs where legends like John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and B.B. King hung out. I’m already fantasizing about the Fantasy Lounge, which was located across the street from the studios of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records.

All That Philly Jazz is at the intersection of technology and art. It can serve as a model for how art can be used to motivate underrepresented minorities to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). While jazz appeals to an older demographic, a project on, say, Philly’s or Brooklyn’s hip-hop legacy would resonate with young people who are disconnected from the innovation economy.

For more information, send us an email or follow us on Twitter: @PhillyJazzApp.

STEM Empowers Young People to Imagine a Better Future

Friday was proclaimed “Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Day” by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. All citizens were urged to support the Foundation for the Advancement of Technology in Education (FATE).

FATE is changing the fate of underrepresented minorities by connecting the best STEM ideas to schools and students. And their ideas work. One of FATE’s students, Zora Ball, is the youngest computer programmer in the country.

At the First Anniversary FATE Bootstrap Expo, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor & Managing Director Richard Negrin gave keynote remarks.

Negrin said technology is key:

I love technology. I love innovation. But it’s not technology for technology’s sake. It’s empowering. It changes lives.

Negrin noted that 54 percent of Philly households do not have broadband Internet access at home. They live in “digital deserts” disconnected from the innovation economy and trapped in poverty:

Technology can break the cycle of poverty. Technology can empower all our children. It catapults their learning and thinking. That’s how we get out of this crisis in the education system.

Negrin observed that it is important to connect the dots on how STEM matters in students’ day-to-day lives. But we can’t show them what’s possible because no one knows what the future holds. Instead, we must show students the way, teach them the skills, and free their minds.

STEM is Everywhere

STEM is short for science, technology, engineering and math. In the nation’s revitalized manufacturing industry, math matters. And for a lot of job applicants, that’s problematic.

McClatchy reports that manufacturers are having trouble finding prospective employees with basic math skills:

But what troubles General Plastics executive Eric Hahn is that although the company considers only prospective workers who have a high school education, only one in 10 who take the test pass. And that’s not just bad luck at a single factory or in a single industry.

Jacey Wilkins, a spokeswoman for the Manufacturing Institute, added:

You could think that even for production, do you really need to know math? But the truth is, you do, because these jobs are incredibly complex and integrate multiple functions and systems.

The truth is, part of the problem is how math is taught. The focus on repetition (“drill and kill”) and teaching to the test kill students’ interest. Sam Houston, president and CEO of the North Carolina Science, Math and Technology Education Center, said the Common Core State Standard Initiative will help teachers connect math to real-world possibilities:

The Common Core should give everyone a better means to answer the question, “Why do I need to know this?”

Why indeed. That’s what most schools don’t teach. That’s also the problem that STEMeverywhere will help solve.

At last weekend’s AT&T EduTech Hackathon, my team developed a prototype for a mobile-friendly website where we will curate free resources for teachers to help them connect the dots for students. The team members are Morgan Bagshaw, Pamela Bey, Jessica Hammond, Cheo Walker and Michael Washington.

In the Teachers’ Lounge, we will break down information silos and curate a fully indexed database of resources, including Common Core instructional materials, lesson plans, and tutorial/how-to videos on inquiry-based learning. On the community message board, teachers will be able to collaborate, share strategies and effective instructional practices, and identify their needs.

The Students’ Space will promote year-round learning and engagement among our target audience of middle- and high-school students. With one click, students will have access to free resources on how to build video games and other cool things, internships and contests. Using our interactive map, they will be able to search for tech-filled fun where they live. Our STEM Rocks interactive videos will connect students to STEM superstars who can expose them to the possibilities.

STEMeverywhere made it to the second round where we will compete for the grand prize of $5,000, plus in-kind business services from local partners.

We will be judged on three criteria – concept, development progress and implementation opportunity. We have an opportunity to have an impact on increasing interest in STEM among underrepresented minorities and girls. But it will take a village – crowdsourcing – to fix the crisis in STEM education.

If you want to get involved, contact us.