[Tux4kids-discuss] GSoC Proposal/Questions

[Arya Ghodsi]

To whom it may concern,

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Arya Ghodsi, 24 soon to be 25, and I am a masters software Engineering student at the University of Ghent, Belgium. I recently stumbled upon the Tux4kids on the Google Summer of Code page. I will be as honest with you guys as I can be (throughout my communication) concerning what I have to tell. I will not try to tell you the stuff you want to hear because that what would get me though to the next round, it ’s what I personally believe in.

I have heard of Tux4kids, but..it has been a long time, I came across the apps of Tux4kids when I first came in touch with Linux when I was 12 (Ahh, Ark Linux, I loved that distro)) but until now I have not contributed to any open source program. Given the opportunities provided by GSoC I want to bring a change in that. Why? Because I honestly love linux and opensource and I am an advocate of educating our younger generation because - how cliche this may sound - they are the future.

This is why I am sending my proposal to this list (and I won’t deny it, the opportunity is great). After reading the ideas on https://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code-2015-tux4kids/wiki/IdeasList <https://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code-2015-tux4kids/wiki/IdeasList> there was not much that gave me that “WOW”-feeling until I read the last bullet:
Develop Mobile applications for Tux4kids This "Idea" has a great deal of flexibility. The main goal is to extend our project beyond installed desktop software into such areas as web-based applets and educational games for mobile platforms (Android and iOS).

And that ’s where I ‘d like to enter the play. So what do I have to sell? Honestly, my passion. The program I follow at my university (Master of Computer Science: Software Engineering, full program disclosed here http://studiegids.ugent.be/2014/EN/FACULTY/E/MABA/EMCOMT/EMCOMT.html <http://studiegids.ugent.be/2014/EN/FACULTY/E/MABA/EMCOMT/EMCOMT.html>) doesn’t include anything mobile and that ’s a pity, because I also personally believe that mobile is the future. The uprise of the smartphone market is a vital sign of that. So I started learning on myself, I learned how to program for Windows Phone, Android and iOS (through elective courses, an internship and a lot of Googling). However the program has given me an expert level knowledge of Java and Software Engineering principles such as design patterns etc.

I am proposing to build a mobile app/game (given the restriction of Windows Phone and  iOS) in Android that introduces something totally new to the Tux4kids platform. I am suggesting to build an application that allows them to learn coding. IT is one of the most important field that enables our society to run as we know it and we know that there is a shortage of IT people, so why not already tickle their curiosity or give them some coding skills. I am of course not talking about teaching them full-fledged coding skills and drawing up UML cases (Hm, maybe they can use Tux Paint to make UML diagrams..Just kidding). I am talking about learning them the basic concepts of variables (e.g. why not explain them using a closet analogy where they can store stuff) and based on their age we can approach with more “difficult” concepts such as if/else clauses and loops (Telling them a tale, where the character has two main paths where he has to chose can be a way of introducing if/else clauses or explaining to buy a cookie they need to save money by putting a coin in piggy bank every day can be used to explain loops).

The game would be something they can play in a narrative kind of way, just like levels they unlock they get new concepts. As I said before, I want to be as honest with you as I can be, so here we go, I have had almost no exposure to programming full graphical games, but I am willing to work hard and learn as well as contribute to Tux4kids. 

This is my initial idea, I am tossing it here to see whether there is interest coming from the Tux4kids project in such an idea for GSoC, if so I will make detailled report of this idea and fill in the application form on http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org2/google/gsoc2015/tux4kids <http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org2/google/gsoc2015/tux4kids>.

Thank you very much for you time and consideration,
Kind regards,

Arya Ghodsi
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