When I first start a Python class, e.g. for Saturday Academy, we go to the configure IDLE screen. I often do this while projecting, as I'm also blowing up the projected font to something more pedagogically large (suitable for reading from the back row).
Understandably, once students see they're free to choose a different font, many of them do so. I tend to make noises about how some are more readable than others, am definitely a proponent of fixed width, although I'm willing to bow to personal preferences. When I move around from one computer to another, helping students with bugs, I'm often confronted with an assortment of different typefaces. I'm thinking next time to go in the other direction and encourage experimenting with some truly different looking fonts -- but not so different that the code becomes unreadable (not ding bats). I think we're all somewhat attuned to the psychological attributes of different fonts, e.g. Comic Sans has a different "atmosphere" than New York Times or Courier New. Before I show off what I consider to be a fun and useful IDLE font, suitable for future classes, I'd like to poll other subscribers as to whether they do anything unusual in the fonts department, either for the benefit of new students, or for themselves. I'll follow up on Monday. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
