ESP Biography



MICHELLE NG, Promoter of Technology and Innovation in Education




Major: Electrical &Computer Engineering

College/Employer: Friend

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of Michelle Ng

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I plan to teach one Splash course this year. I sincerely hope that all my students will find their passion in learning and apply their creativity and talents in whichever career they may pursue.

College Access Workshop

A quick workshop to explore process of college application. I will present an overview of public available resources such as those found in CollegeBoard and Common Application. Students will use these tools to determine what type of colleges/programs they may wish to explore. This program is intended for 9th and 10th graders who are looking to start preparing for the college application process early.

Other classes I had taught in previous years:

Alice - 3D Computer Animation

My favorite summer job was when I served as a teaching assistant for a Pre-College program at Carnegie Mellon University, teaching Introduction to Programming in Java. The class began with an applet of Karel the Robot. And that was the first time I saw the power of animation in motivating students to learn how to solve problems with different interactive tools and techniques.

During that same summer, I learned about Alice, a 3D animation software developed by CMU to encourage students to approach computer programming in a more innovative manner. I had since wanted to do something with Alice. Fast forward a few years, I had been occupied with plenty of other things. A friend sent me a link to Professor Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture". I was inspired by his lecture and decided that my time to work with Alice had finally come.

I attended the Alice Institute to become an instructor. Previously, I taught a Citizen Schools apprenticeship using Alice at Urban Assembly Academy of Arts and Letters in Brooklyn of New York City. My students enjoyed a journey in learning about storyboard, adding characters (objects), actions (methods) and other elements to create their own animation programs. I also taught this course during Splash! in previous years. For more information about Alice, please visit http://www.alice.org

Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference?

I had done a great deal of volunteering in different sectors. The question that I get asked most often is "How do I get involved?" And my answer is: "Pick an issue, any issue, and learn about it. Then do something to make it better as much as you can, and as often as you can."

In that spirit, I would like to pass on some wisdom and advice that I had the fortune to gain from various social innovators and host an interactive discussion on a number of social issues we face today. A great deal of innovation is in progress to address issues in health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment, etc. Many young people want to make a difference in our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

X8874: College Access Workshop in Splash 2014 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2014)
A quick workshop to explore process of college application. I will present an overview of public available resources such as those found in CollegeBoard and Common Application. Students will use these tools to determine what type of colleges/programs they may wish to explore. This program is intended for 9th and 10th graders who are looking to start preparing for the college application process early.


Z8017: Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference? in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Social innovation and volunteerism is on the rise among young people. We all want to make a difference. The question is… how? This course will begin with a 1.5 hour lecture on various topics related to social issues we face today (e.g., health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment). The lecture will be followed by a 1.5 hour interactive discussion to engage students on different ways to examine these issues and potential solutions. Plenty of young people want to make a difference to our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.


C8020: Alice - 3D Computer Animation in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. For this course, we will be using Alice as a learning tool for introductory computer programming. The 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to learn and facilitate a more engaging experience for students with no programming background. We will begin with the navigation of the Alice tool and the basic steps in creating an animation - storyboard, character (objects), actions (methods). We will also learn about fundamental programming concepts such as class, object, parameter, if/else, loop, etc. The final hour of the course will be devoted for an “animation-hour” to encourage students to apply their new skills to create their own animation programs using Alice. The Alice software is developed by Carnegie Mellon University and can be downloaded for free (http://www.alice.org).


X8036: College Access Workshop in Splash! 2013 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2013)
A quick workshop to explore process of college application. I will present an overview of public available resources such as those found in CollegeBoard and Common Application. Students will use these tools to determine what type of colleges/programs they may wish to explore. This program is intended for 9th and 10th graders who are looking to start preparing for the college application process early.


C6125: Alice - 3D Computer Animation in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. For this course, we will be using Alice as a learning tool for introductory computer programming. The 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to learn and facilitate a more engaging experience for students with no programming background. We will begin with the navigation of the Alice tool and the basic steps in creating an animation - storyboard, character (objects), actions (methods). We will also learn about fundamental programming concepts such as class, object, parameter, if/else, loop, etc. The final hour of the course will be devoted for an “animation-hour” to encourage students to apply their new skills to create their own animation programs using Alice. The Alice software is developed by Carnegie Mellon University and can be downloaded for free (http://www.alice.org).


H6126: Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference? in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Social innovation and volunteerism is on the rise among young people. We all want to make a difference. The question is… how? This course will begin with a 1.5 hour lecture on various topics related to social issues we face today (e.g., health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment). The lecture will be followed by a 1.5 hour interactive discussion to engage students on different ways to examine these issues and potential solutions. Plenty of young people want to make a difference to our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.


H6127: Information Security - What's the big deal? in Splash! 2012 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2012)
Internet usage is essential to education, entertainment and many aspects of our daily life for all ages. This is a course intended for students who would like to learn more about the various ways information is shared / used in popular Internet applications including but not limited to Facebook, MySpace, iTunes, Twitter, IM, Google Chat, Wikipedia. The course is designed to increase awareness of best practices and precautions in using the Internet at a time where social networking and media play an important role for virtually everyone. Users of all experience levels and opinions are welcome for a respectful and lively discussion.


S4165: Information Security - What's the Big Deal? in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Internet usage is essential to education, entertainment and many aspects of our daily life for all ages. This is a course intended for students who would like to learn more about the various ways information is shared / used in popular Internet applications including but not limited to Facebook, MySpace, iTunes, Twitter, IM, Google Chat, Wikipedia. The course is designed to increase awareness of best practices and precautions in using the Internet at a time where social networking and media play an important role for virtually everyone. Users of all experience levels and opinions are welcome for a respectful and lively discussion.


H4166: Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference? in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Social innovation and volunteerism is on the rise among young people. We all want to make a difference. The question is… how? This course will begin with a 1-hour lecture on various topics related to social issues we face today (e.g., health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment). The lecture will be followed by a 1-hour interactive discussion to engage students on different ways to examine these issues and potential solutions. Plenty of young people want to make a difference to our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.


C4427: Alice - 3D Computer Animation in Splash! 2010 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2010)
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. For this course, we will be using Alice as a learning tool for introductory computer programming. The 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to learn and facilitate a more engaging experience for students with no programming background. We will begin with the navigation of the Alice tool and the basic steps in creating an animation - storyboard, character (objects), actions (methods). We will also learn about fundamental programming concepts such as class, object, parameter, if/else, loop, etc. The final hour of the course will be devoted for an “animation-hour” to encourage students to apply their new skills to create their own animation programs using Alice. The Alice software is developed by Carnegie Mellon University and can be downloaded for free (http://www.alice.org).


H3105: Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference? in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
Social innovation and volunteerism is on the rise among young people. We all want to make a difference. The question is… how? This course will begin with a 1-hour lecture on various topics related to social issues we face today (e.g., health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment). The lecture will be followed by a 1-hour interactive discussion to engage students on different ways to examine these issues and potential solutions. Plenty of young people want to make a difference to our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.


C3106: Information Security - What's the Big Deal? in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
Internet usage is essential to education, entertainment and many aspects of our daily life for all ages. This is a course intended for students who would like to learn more about the various ways information is shared / used in popular Internet applications including but not limited to Facebook, MySpace, iTunes, Twitter, IM, Google Chat, Wikipedia. The course is designed to increase awareness of best practices and precautions in using the Internet at a time where social networking and media play an important role for virtually everyone. Users of all experience levels and opinions are welcome for a respectful and lively discussion.


C1867: Alice - 3D Computer Animation in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. For this course, we will be using Alice as a learning tool for introductory computer programming. The 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to learn and facilitate a more engaging experience for students with no programming background. We will begin with the navigation of the Alice tool and the basic steps in creating an animation - storyboard, character (objects), actions (methods). We will also learn about fundamental programming concepts such as class, object, parameter, if/else, loop, etc. The final hour of the course will be devoted for an "animation-hour" to encourage students to apply their new skills to create their own animation programs using Alice. The Alice software is developed by Carnegie Mellon University and can be downloaded for free (http://www.alice.org).


S1906: Social Innovation and Volunteerism - How to Make a Difference? in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
Social innovation and volunteerism is on the rise among young people. We all want to make a difference. The question is... how? This course will begin with a 1-hour lecture on various topics related to social issues we face today (e.g., health care, poverty, hunger, education, environment). The lecture will be followed by a 1-hour interactive discussion to engage students on different ways to examine these issues and potential solutions. Plenty of young people want to make a difference to our world. The intent of the course is to broaden their horizon and encourage them to seek ways to make their impact.