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Campus Review
May 7, 2013
Page 4
Jere Boudell Accepted into
UMass Computer Science Workshop
Eco Hackathon “A Complete Success,” Says Boudell
by John Shiffert, University Relations
In addition to being a riverine ecologist,
Clayton State University Associate
Professor of Biology Dr. Jere Boudell
admits to being a tech devotee, in part as
indicated by the recent Eco Hackathon
she organized at the University, an event
that featured MIT’s App Inventor.
Now, it turns out that Boudell has been
recognized as being more than just a
devotee of computer science, come June
she’ll be a participant in the
“Computational Thinking through Mobile
Computing” workshop at University of
Massachusetts-Lowell; a special event
designed for undergraduate computer sci-
ence professors and led by the famed MIT
professor Hal Abelson, creator of many
computer science programs, including
MIT’s App Inventor. Also leading the
workshop will be teaching pioneers in
computer science from University of
Massachusetts-Lowell and the University
of San Francisco, among others.
Naturally, Boudell can hardly wait for the
June workshop to begin.
“I was so excited about MIT’s App
Inventor that I applied to attend a work-
shop run by the developers at U Mass-
Lowell. The workshop was designed for
computer science professors, but I applied
anyway and described how I could imple-
ment MIT App Inventor in some of my
courses and Clayton State SEEDS out-
reach activities,” she explains. “They
want me to attend the workshop, and I
will receive some funding to attend. I
can’t believe it!
“So, I’m very excited about the upcoming
workshop in June where I will learn about
MIT App Inventor, how to implement app
development in the classroom, and how to
assess computational thinking skills.”
As an extra bonus, Boudell notes, attendees
will be visiting the MIT Media Lab as well.
Boudell says that her introduction to
MIT’s App Inventor was a key step in her
professional development.
“I quickly became excited by the idea of
an engaging way to introduce program-
ming and more importantly, critical think-
ing skills through app development. It’s
absolutely revolutionary for people to
think of programming as simply a skill
that is available to anyone who wants to
learn,” she says. “The MIT App Inventor
`democratizes’ programming by imple-
menting a visual blocks-based approach
to app develop-
ment.
“The
Eco
Hackathon was
proof of the con-
cept. Most of the
participants had
no
experience
with MIT App
Inventor or pro-
gramming skills,
yet many developed useable apps for use
in fieldwork and outreach activities… in
seven hours. That’s democratizing pro-
gramming. That’s fun. And, that’s revolu-
tionary.”
Once Boudell became familiar with MIT
App Inventor, she knew it had to be part
of last week’s Eco Hackathon, where par-
ticipants explored and built apps that can
be used to promote awareness of stream
and watershed issues and for use in field-
work. Of particular note, George Tang,
director of quality at BetterCloud, a com-
pany that writes software for Google, led
an introductory workshop on app building
using App Inventor, thus allowing partici-
pants to better understand the powerful
So what exactly is an “Eco Hackathon?”
“A complete success,” says Clayton State
University Associate Professor of Biology
Dr. Jere Boudell. The Apr. 20 event at
Clayton State was designed by Boudell to
explore and develop approaches to
improve urban stream restoration in the
Georgia Piedmont.
Sponsored by Better Cloud and Clayton
State’s SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology
Education, Diversity, and Sustainability)
chapter, a chapter of the Ecological
Society of America SEEDS program, the
University’s first Eco Hackathon was held
in The LAB (Laboratory Annex Building)
on Saturday, Apr. 20.
An Eco Hackathon is a hybrid of tradi-
tional scientific approaches to problem
solving (i.e., research) and a tech or hack-
ers approach that promotes synergistic
and open thinking. Although still a new
phenomenon, previous Eco Hackathons
have received publicity on several tech
sites such as TechCrunch.
Key to Clayton State’s Eco Hackathon
were participants exploring and building
apps that can be used to promote aware-
ness of stream and watershed issues and
for use in fieldwork. In particular, George
Tang, director of quality at BetterCloud, a
company that writes software for Google,
led an introductory workshop on app build-
ing using MIT’s App Inventor, thus allowing
participants to better understand the power-
ful computers they hold in their hands and
allow them to construct simple apps.
“The Eco Hackathon was a complete suc-
cess,” says Boudell. “What was stunning
about this Hackathon is that participants
had no experience with MIT App
Inventor, in fact, almost all participants
had no programming experience whatso-
ever. Yet, they produced working apps
which would traditionally take an impres-
sive amount of programming skills to pro-
duce. Hackathon participants created
ecology apps for use in field work and in
education and outreach.
Dr. Jere Boudell
UMass Workshop, cont’d. p. 9
Eco Hackathon, cont’d. p. 9