I'm not advocating the Google CT lessons as the best way to learn Python. Karen, I really like your hacker space idea. Anyone else know of an online environment like that? Another option is maybe a Python IRC channel or a local meetup discussion list. For example, we have a really good Ruby meetup group here in KC that meets once a month. I also know between meetings that I can go to the mail list to get help with my Rails questions.
I am interested more in the Google CT lessons in the Data Analysis and English-Language subjects as entry points into "how to think differently about your work and about this thing you're hunched over for 8 hours a day". Sure, those lessons focus heavily on spreadsheet functions, but that's a familiar way to introduce the concepts. I think it could also be adapted to Ruby, Python, whatever. Jason Jason Stirnaman Digital Projects Librarian A.R. Dykes Library University of Kansas Medical Center 913-588-7319 ________________________________________ From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Karen Coyle [li...@kcoyle.net] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 3:25 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Getting started with Ruby and library-ish data (was RE: [CODE4LIB] You *are* a coder. So what am I?) On 2/18/13 12:53 PM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote: > On 2/18/2013 2:04 PM, Jason Stirnaman wrote: >> I've been thinking alot about how to introduce not only my kids, but >> some of our cataloging/technical staff to thinking "programmatically" >> or "computationally"[1] or whatever you want to call it. > > Do you have an opinion of the google 'computational thinking' > curriculum pieces linked off of that page you cite? For instance, at: > > http://www.google.com/edu/computational-thinking/lessons.html I looked at the "Beginning Python" one[1], and I have to say that any intro to programming that begins with a giant table of mathematical functions is a #FAIL. Wow - how wrong can you get it? On the other hand, I've been going through the Google online python class [2] and have found it very easy to follow (it's youtubed), and the exercises are interesting. What I want next is more exercises, and someone to talk to about any difficulties I run into. I want a hands-on hacker space learning environment that has a live expert (and you wouldn't have to be terribly expert to answer a beginner's questions). It's very hard to learn programming alone because there are always multiple ways to solve a problem, and an infinite number of places to get stuck. kc [1] http://tinyurl.com/bcj894s [2] https://developers.google.com/edu/python/ > > Or at: > > http://www.iste.org/learn/computational-thinking/ct-toolkit -- Karen Coyle kco...@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net ph: 1-510-540-7596 m: 1-510-435-8234 skype: kcoylenet
