Read the article a couple times last night. It poses two difficult questions: one concerning the role of programming in education (re: math texts) and the other is the gradual transformation of the PC from toolset to appliance.
For the first case, I think it unreasonable to try to recreate the experience of programming BASIC on a C64 (like Brin) or an Apple // (like me.) But what can we learn from it? Can we abstract the curiosity, and challenge/reward systems of that earlier experience to help us create contemporary situations of similar value? The loss of an easily accessible programming environment on every PC is truly sad. However, I found Brin's swipe at the Media Lab unfair. The oft-derided OLPC project proposes a platform designed for exploration and experimentation; a far cry from the Dell PCs in my classroom - seemingly designed for little more than "content-delivery." The most intriguing of Brin's questions must be that of the ubiquitous programming language. Is Python the rightful heir? Kevin On 9/15/06, kirby urner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 9/14/06, Tom Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I'm not sure what David Brin or Salon have to gain by trolling > > language geeks, but this article seems precisely tailored to drive > > Python, Logo, Squeak, etc. advocates completely up the wall. > > > > --Tom > > > On the contrary, CP4E is going strong. > > Kirby > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
