Woo Week 3. Probably one of the best weeks so far. Hope that doesn't sound too cheesy.
No but seriously I’m glad I can take time to reflect. So right now I just wanted to pause and address a topic I realize had confused a lot of those that are following my blog: what I am doing at BlocPower and how that correlates to the senior project. My work at BlocPower is mainly QA testing which simply means I test a website functionality to see, for example, if someone clicks a login button that the site then asks for their username and password. My work in that sense has nothing to do with my research project because I am simply performing the technical tasks that are assigned to me. What I have done that relates to the project has been meetings about BuildHealth (initiative to build retrofits in inner city schools) and my new opportunity at 5th St. Farm. In addition, I have been doing independent research, studying cases studies about the Bronx, and familiarizing myself with sustainable education. I realize many questions have surrounded that so I hope that answers those but if not, feel free to comment below and let me know what is still confusing (cause I know it’s a lot).
Onto what I actually did this week: so I spent a lot of my free time after work reading up on the creation of urban schools which are essentially schools built around a need to teach science. What I found was that these schools often create add-ons like gardens not to add a substantial environmental impact, but rather to give greater resources to students immersed in these STEM-specialized courses. These schools have a greater agenda to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow like engineers or computer scientists so the idea behind retrofits to the buildings really is vocationally driven.
Beyond some basic research, I also did some work this week at BlocPower, which prepare yourself could get bumpy. This week I looked extensively into how to create a Slack bot in Slack. Now let me explain, Slack is a communication application that allows employees to communicate with one another in channels and through direct messaging. What slack bot is is a way for users to ask an automated built-in system questions like “how do I set up a Slack account” and things of that nature. The problem with that is the bot that is built into Slack is limited in with what we can ask it to do (for example we could not ask it to retrieve a document from our wikipedia page). So because of that, I did some digging into how we can use Python (a coding language) to create our own bot with its own features and functionality. That is particularly exciting because this coming Wednesday I will present on my findings to the technical/administrative team so *fingers crossed* that goes well.
Anyway sorry this blog ran a bit long but I hope things go as planned and I continue to find interesting answers in interesting places.
Kayvon out. *Mic drop*
Thanks so much for explaining what you are doing a little more, it was really helpful. Your project continues to sound very interesting and exciting. Good luck with presenting your findings next week!
ReplyDeleteHey Dani! Glad the explanation was somewhat helpful-thanks for the feedback. I appreciate you wishing me good luck on the presentation as I hope to represent BASIS well.
DeleteFor you work at BlocPower, are you just testing the website? It seems like a lot of coding. For your farming work, are you now working on rooftops or in the suburbs? Sounds like you keep busy! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Marvin! Yes I am just testing websites. It involves no coding because I am not creating the sites or the applications, I am simply making sure that when they are finished that they do what they are supposed to (i.e. that the login button on the homepage works). For the farm work I will be working on a rooftop garden in an urban area. Thanks!
DeleteThat's cool that the schools try to create computer scientists and engineers to keep up with the changing world. I sometimes wish BASIS would do the same and have more than one computer science teacher! Anyway, looking forward to next week!
ReplyDeleteHey Jackson! I too think implementing some aspects of inner city earth schools (like interactive/hands-on learning) has invaluable worth, especially if it is something student want to pursue. Glad you are looking forward and I appreciate your question.
DeleteVery Interesting! For the slack bot, will you be liscencing it under the GNU GPL or MIT liscence, or leaving it proprietary?
ReplyDeleteBest of luck on your project!
Hey Michael! So the slack bot is only for BlocPower so we are not actually licensing the finished application (proprietary to answer your question). Thanks for the input and look forward to your insight soon.
DeleteHey Kayvon! Thank you for your clarification on what you are actually doing. It's cool that these schools have their own gardens. I wish you the best of luck for the future and look forward to next week's post.
ReplyDeleteHey Kirill. I'm glad the clarification helped and I think inner city schools being dedicated to math and science says a lot about the development of the modern world. Thanks!
DeleteHey Kayon! I appreciate the extra explanation on the bots and BlocPower, as I'm not that great with computers. In regards to the garden, what is the garden doing to help further STEM studies for the children attending the schools? Good luck with your meeting this Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteHey Ravi! Glad the explanation helped, and to answer your question the garden is simply adding a hands-on experience to what would otherwise be students, a teacher, and a white board. Students are engaged with plants by learning the different types and they gain a better understanding and about how/why the presence of a garden is beneficial for the atmosphere. Thanks!
DeleteHi Kayvon! I'm glad your work at BlocPower is going well and thank you for clarifying what you were doing at BlocPower. I hope your meeting on Wednesday will be great!
ReplyDeleteHey Oscar. It's heartening to know the clarification helped and I appreciate your wishing me good luck on my meeting today (*fingers crossed*). Thanks!
DeleteHey Kayvon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the further explanation on what you are actually doing in New York. It is also great to see that you are having the time of your life. Also, your project seems even more interesting in now it is not only working on environment, it is also diving in computer science. Thanks again for sharing your week with us all, and stay safe!
Harrison Miao
Hey Harrison! I too think balancing the hands-on experience of a farm with the computer work at an office is enhancing my perspective on energy efficiency and retrofits. Hope to keep finding critical information about my topic and share my findings with you all!
DeleteSounds cool Kayvon. The idea of practical models for vocational training is a promising idea, and something that I think needs to be used more often in public schools. Good luck for your meeting Kayvon.
ReplyDeleteHey Ahmad. I think these models, although heavily implemented in inner cities, can be influential in larger, more gentrified areas as well. The problem becomes, correcting the disparity in STEM subjects in underserved areas and then using those principles in more privileged areas. Thanks!
DeleteHi Kayvon! The explanations that you included this week really cleared things up. I've been struggling to explain some of the stuff I do in lab, so I admire how concisely you managed to do so. Sounds like you accomplished a lot this week!
ReplyDeleteHey Gillian! Glad the introduction made things more transparent and I appreciate the input. I too hope to learn from your tenacity and paperwork-is-nothing mentality in the coming weeks. Thanks!
DeleteHi Kayvon. My confusion has been lifted with that explanation! I am glad to see that you are enjoying your time in New York. I have to say, I love the gifs, chano for life.
ReplyDeleteHey Frida. Glad your are no longer perplexed by my rather jumbled project. I hope to continue to show my enthusiasm through my work, both in the BlocPower office and within the garden of 5th st. farm. Thanks and I will be sure to keep the gifs coming, because it is no problem, with no problem with me.
DeleteSounds like you've been busy Kayvon, and are reading lots of relevant background information. Have you thought at all about how you will use this information in the final product or, rather, what that final product will be? A video? A presentation?
ReplyDeleteCan you give me some more info about why these urban schools were created. Do you mean you are looking at certain urban schools that were initially built/established with the specific goal of science in mind? The way you phrase it above implies that all urban schools were created for this reason. A good point to keep in mind is that if these schools were created with science in mind, it makes sense that sustainability become an important part of the curriculum because all the scientific evidence points to sustainability's importance to the future health of this planet. I guess I think that if science is such an important part of a school's curriculm, that school should also be invested in doing what is scientifically proven to be of such monumental importance.
Hey Mr. C, so in terms of the urban schools I discussed, the schools were built with a scientific goal in mind. Why I found them to be particularly interesting was that they were not using the sustainable infrastructure of their school as means to show how energy efficiency retrofits can combat climate change. What the schools instead did were use gardens and such as tools to create interactive lessons for classes that emphasized vocational studies for students aspiring to be science researchers, engineers, etc. in inner cities were these professions are not highlighted as much. I think that as you mentioned because science is such an important part of these school's curriculum that these schools invest in ideas supporting these principles, however, not for the environmental effects (although this is a benefit) but rather to further the education of their student body which is not common, even for the rare schools that do have retrofits in inner cities. I think by this Tuesday I should have enough relevant information to decide what that final product will be which I will be sure to communicate to you. Thank you!
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