October 6, 2008

This fall a group of 9th- and 10th-grade students at Ramsay High School will get the chance to create their own videos using computer technology through an after-school program sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Community OutReach Development (CORD).

The students are participants in the UAB Alice Linear Algebra Dynamic Dimensional Information Network (ALADDIN) Program. The students were selected for ALADDIN based on their interest in and aptitude for mathematics and computer technology. Through ALADDIN, the students will learn Alice graphical programming language to create their own videos with objects moving and interacting in 3-D.

A photo op will take place Tuesday, October 7 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Ramsay High School, 1800 13th Avenue South, Room 105.

Alice is an interactive 3-D programming language that is intended to be a gentle, first introduction to programming for students who have not had previous experience with programming. The classes will be taught by UAB faculty members.

Alice storytelling approach in the films fosters analytic and logic skills development. Next summer the high school students will participate in a program to learn computer programming using programmable robots. In their junior year, they will learn advanced computer visualization skills using the UAB School of Engineering's computer visualization lab.

The ALADDIN Program at UAB is funded by the National Science Foundation.  CORD is a university-wide center dedicated to advancing the outreach efforts of UAB in the Birmingham community by developing academic programs in partnership with Birmingham area schools.

Sponsors for the event include UAB CORD, UAB School of Education, UAB School of Engineering, UAB School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and UAB School of Medicine.