Jeremy, I've skimmed the site, and it looks good. I'll pitch in some effort to it in the future.
I'd like to also recommend a book I wrote (and released for free under a Creative Commons license), entitled Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python. It is available here: http://pythonbook.coffeeghost.net It is a book designed for kids and non-programmers (though I left out cute pictures and "kiddie" elements.) The method of teaching I used is to demonstrate complete source code for games (which use simple console IO) and then teach programming principles from the examples. I based it off of a similar book I learned BASIC programming when I was a kid. I've tried to keep the book as terse and simple as possible. Each chapter goes through the same formula: describe the game, show the game source code, explain what each line in the source code does while explaining concepts those lines use. Although it is complete, I am still putting some editing effort into it. I'd appreciate any feedback you have. Also, the complete PDF is not as up to date as the individual web pages. I hope you find it useful! -Al Sweigart On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 3:00 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi all, > > This is my first post to edu-sig, and its sort of long. In a nutshell: > a) I have developed and posted a few new material for kids getting started > with programming, e.g., for an after-school club, at > http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/ Its free (no advertising ever, > open-source recommended), and will be so forever. > b) I am interested in collaborating with or sharing notes with others, to > make it even better. > > Being new to this interesting forum, I'll introduce myself briefly. I'm a > dad (two kids, age 11 and 5), and have always been a geek at heart. I do > science for a living (human brain imaging and psychology, using computers > for everything), and have interests in education (including National > Science > Foundation grants related to education research). I'm not an elementary-age > educator, although have family members who are educators. So it seems > inevitable that I'd end up lurking on python edu-sig :o) I've seen some > fairly long posts, so I'll take the plunge with a longish one myself. > Apologies if that's frowned on. > > Basically, I want to teach my 6th grader how to program this coming year. > We've fooled around with logo / turtle graphics and like it, and are ready > for a real language. I was quickly sold on python as the way to go, despite > never having used it myself (or any OO language ... or maybe in part > because > of that--I want to learn something too!). I looked around for existing > materials, and am really impressed by how much is out there for python (one > of several selling points). yet I did not find anything I was that > completely happy with. I looked carefully at the following, and learned a > lot, and like a great many things about them: > - Snake Wrangling for Kids > - LiveWires summer program > - other resources linked on Beginner's Guide to Python for non-programmers > - A byte of python > - J. Miller's 2004 PhD dissertation. his analysis of posts on what the > community thinks about desirable features in using python in education is > really helpful. one point that caught my eye was the dearth of intro > curriculum materials. > > So, I took the plunge and have started to write something up myself. Its > well underway, but is a work in progress, at > http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/ > My goal is to have it be an experience in learning how a computer can > enhance your mind, using a real language, aimed at a young audience without > talking down to them. (Young but able to read, type using a text editor, > and > do some elementary-school math). I tried to follow Miller's guidelines on > desirable features, but have not followed them all (not yet at least, > graphics is a glaring example). > > The key thing that motivated me to put effort into > yet-another-free-resource > for learning python was to try to focus on problem solving as enhanced by a > computer, for this age group. Plus sneaking in some geek tidbits here and > there, like a few linux command-line tools (e.g., top), so that they are > not > seen as exotic or weird or hard. A few of the activities are basically > cognitive science, and a few are more or less math. > > I'm posting for two main reasons. > 1. The first is just to say: Hi, there is a little bit more curriculum > "raw > material" out there, I hope someone else can use it too. Who might be > interested? My guess is that it will be most appropriate for a > self-selected > audience, rather than cp4e. I envision it being used in an after-school > group (hence the name), probably at the middle-school level but maybe some > things would work for advanced elementary (I'm not an educator, just > guessing). Maybe some could be rewritten for an older audience. > > Some of the activities are tried and true ("hello world!"), and some are > ones I thought up, like counting to a million to give kids a gut sense for > how fast computers are, described as turning yourself into a cyborg, > counting to a million in one second, and then changing back. I want kids to > see themselves as the agent that makes things happen, not the computer. At > first its a little freaky that way, but I hope its ultimately more > empowering as well. And I think it better reflects reality: a computer is a > tool, a prosthesis for thinking. Like a bicycle is for transportation. > > I describe it as currently in "beta", meaning that, while there are some > rough edges, the ideas and activities might be useful to others even so. > Feedback would be very useful to have now to make it better. Again, it will > never have advertising. > > Its currently set up as a wiki, under a Creative Commons > Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License 2.0, which I used because _A > byte of python_ used it. I have it as wiki to emphasize that I'd love to > include others as hands-on contributors (see #2). > > 2. The second reason for this post is to say: I know it can be way better. > I think its good enough that I can wing it through the fall, but it would > be > cool to partner with a) people who have elementary & middle-school > education > experience with programming (esp python), and b) know OO and good projects > for introducing it. I know the website is currently just the start of what > it could be. It currently reads like notes for either self-guided > exploration by kids, but given various gaps in the description (hopefully > filled soon) its probably best thought of as structured notes for an > informed adult to use when leading a small group of kids. Its not complete > yet, and I will be revising after seeing how kids interact with it. Its not > lesson plans, although I could see some of the material being used in that > way, with more work. > > - feedback of any kind would be terrific, don't hold back just to be > polite. > (As a scientist, all my day-job work gets peer reviewed, at times > "tersely", > shall we say. it took some getting used to but now I love getting frank > feedback because ultimately it makes for a better product.) So if anything > moves you one way or another, I'd love to know and won't be offended. This > is not to say I'll change things to reflect every comment, of course, but I > definitely promise to read and consider them all closely. More importantly, > if you have a lot to add, I'd love to have collaborators as well. > > - I've set it up as a wiki with the idea that eventually there may be > several editors, developers, and caretakers (a few, not the whole world). > Please email me to talk about possibilities. For example, currently, > there's > nothing that uses graphics, which of course are very engaging, especially > for this age group. currently, there's nothing that uses or explains OO, > despite python being strongly OO. getting to games would be good. And I'm > not convinced that being hosted on pbwiki is best, either. So there's room > to grow as well. > > to comment on anything, you can either email me personally ( > [EMAIL PROTECTED], > which is the same email for the wiki owner) or just leave a comment at the > end of a particular wiki page (I think they make you sign up for an account > an login to leave a comment). > > Anyway, its nice to be joining this community. > > best regards, > > --Jeremy > > > /*------------------------------------------------------------- > Jeremy R. Gray, PhD > Assistant Professor, Yale University > Dept. of Psychology & Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program > web http://www.yale.edu/scan/ > -------------------------------------------------------------*/ >
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