This Summer, the Institute for Educational Advancement’s Academy program will be offering a wide variety of classes, including the online class “Electronics for Cosplay.” Cosplay (a portmanteau of costume play, the art of making fun costumes) is a unique opportunity to incorporate knowledge and experiments of electronics. To learn more, we talked with instructor Joan Horvath.

Why cosplay? There’s a lot of ways to learn about electronics, but what is it about the medium of cosplay that makes it ideal for a class?

Cosplay is a great motivator for design because it inherently tells a story. It can be hard for kids to come up with “an electronics project” that they really get into, but if we already know we want to be a blinky unicorn, then it’s easier to break that down and figure out some fun things that can be done with programmable lights, or maybe some servos to make things move or spin around.

Is the class mostly working with those programmable lights and servos, or is there also a lot of cutting/sewing/tailoring fabric involved?

Minimal hand sewing if any, probably some hot glue. Emphasis mostly on storytelling, and designing what the cosplay item is supposed to do. Then the main emphasis will be on figuring out what sensors to use, writing computer code to control the sensors (like an accelerometer to tell that the wearer is moving a certain way) and blinking lights or moving something in response to what is being sensed. So it is mostly a technical class, not a craft one. 

How do you think costumes tell stories?

Kids can imagine themselves as a fantasy character, and the costume or prop (we’ll probably mostly be making props, like a hat or necklace) helps them get into character, just like any other actor. So for instance if you have a necklace that glows green if you move fast enough than can warn your adversaries that you are supercharged and they better get out of the way! I’m also thinking they could make themselves a little “familiar” that moves a tail or an ear if it detects something. But the choices will be up to them. 

What can a student that takes this class do with the skills they’ve learned? How do you imagine their path in electronics continuing?

We will use a basic microprocessor that will teach them to code in a common computer language, or build on skills if they already know that. They will be able to take that for pretty much any future coding projects they want to do. Projects like this that mix hardware and software also are good background for robotics in particular and engineering in general going forward.

“Electronics for Cosplay” is an online Academy class for ages 12 through 14, taught on weekdays from August 1 to August 12. For more information about the class, as well as information about registering for Academy, see our program page here.

This fall, the Institute for Educational Advancement’s Academy program will be offering a wide variety of classes, including “Marvel Comics: The Hero’s Journey.” For students ages 6 through 9, this class uses the popular Marvel Comics superheroes to exercise a child’s creative writing ability. To learn more, we spoke to instructor Cynthia Perez.

This seems like it would be an attractive class for kids. Other than learning a history of these characters, what kinds of lessons are you hoping to convey? How do you use their enthusiasm and turn it toward something academic?

Students are intrigued by superpowers and can talk endlessly about which character has or doesn’t have a certain capabilities. The focus of the class is taking that outstanding history that Marvel is known for and guide a student’s enthusiasm to create a comic of his/her own with their own unique character, by designing and drawing that character and teaching them how and write actual panels for a comic using their thoughtful creativity and plotting a story and series.

In your opinion, what’s the value in learning how to create a comic book story versus creating a short story?

For those who want to plot and plan a longer narrative that is inspired by Marvel, that becomes the basis for fiction fantasy and science fiction writing. One of the most consistent comments that students will share when reading their favorite superhero or fantasy story is that there aren’t enough illustrations. In fact, mainstream fiction and stories have started to publish novels without words. To strengthen students whose strength is writing and who are influenced by Marvel, this can begin a new phase of “chapter books” that are about superheroes and can tap another market of interest among readers.

What do you think genre fiction like science fiction, fantasy and superheroes offers to writing students that maybe “classical” literature does not?

Science fiction, fantasy, and superheroes offer unknown characters who literally can do anything and can explore unknown worlds. “Classical” literature has known patterns and relationships between characters, which can be explored in different patterns and a particular time period, whereas in sci fi and fantasy and with superheroes time is past, present future, or wherever one wishes.

“Marvel Comics: The Hero’s Journey” is an online Academy class for ages 6 through 9, taught on Saturdays from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM. For more information about the class, as well as information about registering for Academy, .

This fall, the Institute for Educational Advancement’s Academy program will be offering a wide variety of classes, including the online class “What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains?” For students ages 9 through 14, this class is based on the New York Times Best Seller “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr. What’s this class all about? To find out, we asked the instructor, Nicholas Brown.

When you first read Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain,” what inspired you to turn it into a class?

One of the initial things the book starts off saying is that it’s not about analyzing the content of the internet, but how we use the internet. Really, it’s an amazing journey into how humanity has used tools over time and how the internet happens to be the most recent tool that is greatly impacting how we live, how we think, and how we function as human beings.

There are lots of discussions we can have about the content of the internet and what gets put up from videos to tweets to – everything’s on the internet – but the book dives into how it’s impacting how our brains work.

What’s an example of this that you would discuss with the class?

One example the book brings up is the fact that our brain really, really, likes to be stimulated. Every single time we scroll down a feed on whatever social media feed or website we might be on, each time we see some new thing our senses are stimulated. It’s almost as though we’re rewarding the brain and our brain craves it more and more. With the ease of being able to see and scroll, the never ending loop that the internet is, the more we do it, the more we crave doing it. There’s a behavior reinforcement behind every single moment we spend on our phones or on the internet.

What should parents expect from this class? What kinds of lessons or themes do you hope to impart?

I don’t think that the students will ever see the use of the internet the same way again. I think reading this book will change the way they see the internet forever. I’ve always allowed my students to come to their own conclusion to things, to not put words in their mouth, but merely bring up questions. For them having the chance to see for the first time what the internet has done, it will be very interesting for them. I’ll give them a chance to decide for themselves if it’s good or bad, or what the next step is.

The amazing thing that occurs when you read this book is that it invites the practice of meta-cognition, which is the process of thinking about your thinking. For a young person, for a teenager or adolescent, it’s a really great primer into meta-cognition. It’s a great opportunity to practice it.

It seems like people would appreciate learning new skills or concepts. What’s the value of meta-cognition to young people?

Thinking is something we’re always doing, you can’t get around it, you may choose to think more or more deeply about things, but everyone is always thinking. For someone to be aware of how their thinking develops or changes or how it can be impacted by the outside environment, I think that’s a powerful tool.

Why should a student want to take a class like this, or study this book?

It’s an amazing journey because the book itself goes beyond talking about the internet and is more of a journey into all the tools that humanity has come across. For example, we used to not use maps. [After we started using maps,] that changed the way we think about our world, and we began to think about our world in a more abstract way.

I think that we’re always practicing using the internet but giving students a chance to read through an entire book and practice using that as a tool to impact their thinking, that’s going to be a fantastic thing as well. They’ll get to compare the practice of using a book and compare it using the internet. That’s not to say one is better than the other, they will just develop how you think in different ways.

Is there anything else about the class you’d like to tell people about?

We will be using Socratic seminar to engage in discussions about the book’s content. I’ve had a lot of students in the past that have been excited about doing that, but it’s not just a fancy term for me, it’s something I build my education practice on. That will be something that, like I’ve said before, I’m not here to give students the conclusions. I’m excited about them coming to their own conclusions, but I’ll be coaching them long as they develop their ability to think about these sorts of things.“What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains?” is an online Academy class for ages 9 through 14, taught on Thursdays from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. For more information about the class, as well as information about registering for Academy,

This fall, the Institute for Educational Advancement’s Academy program will be offering a wide variety of classes, including the return of “Space Academy.” Designed for students ages 6 through 9, this class lays the foundation for a lifelong interest in space, astronomy and physics. What can parents expect from this course? To find out, we talked in-depth with instructor Cynthia Perez.

 The class is for young kids for ages 6 to 9. What are you hoping the students will come away with?

Students will come away with knowledge about the origins and types of spacecraft. What components does a spacecraft need to be successful in space? What tools are required in space? What planets or areas in space would be fit for habitation? For students who have taken this class before, those students will be challenged on understanding and building space colonies that can be either factual or fictional and build on their respective interests. Students will gain a deeper understanding about the challenges, possibilities, and limitations of space travel, whether they are atmospheric or financial or physical.

A class like this can have a big impact on a child’s interests. Why do you think it’s important for kids to establish an understanding of space travel at an early age?

It integrates what all students and children are inquisitive about: what’s out there, how to get there, what’s understood about space and what’s not. It also establishes fact from fiction and an appreciation of the fantastical about space may be the possible. The greatest answers about humankind’s perplexities come from our youngest minds.

You teach multiple classes about space travel, how do you view the way “Space Academy” transitions into your other courses for older students, like “Mission to Mars”?

There’s definitely familiarity and consistency within all the classes I teach. However, when I teach [Mission to Mars, it is] about a specific planet, which is targeted for colonization… The focus here is entirely different than Space Academy, which gives students insight into the history and future of space travel and what components are required for space travel. What are the limitations? The new destinations? The equipment? What will happen without the ISS or International Space Station? What satellites are being launched? What’s the Space Force? For returning students or students who wish to take the class another time, they would build on that knowledge and move forward with their interests.“Space Academy” is an online Academy class for ages 6 through 9, taught on Wednesdays from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. For more information about the class, as well as information about registering for Academy,