thanks Gregor, this is very good to know! I plan to get into using turtle graphics down the road, as I like it so much. I'll definitely plan to work with the version to be released with 2.6
--Jeremy On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 5:37 PM, Gregor Lingl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jeremy Gray schrieb: > >> 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. >> > Hi Jeremy, > > I just wanted to point out that Python also has a turtle graphics module: > turtle.py > While turtle.py in Python 2.5 did a good job, it has somewhat limited > capabilities. It will be replaced by an enhanced one from Python 2.6 on. > This enhanced module (fomerly known to some of us as xturtle.py) is already > part of Python 2.6 beta2 and I'll do a more elaborated posting on it as soon > as beta3 is out, which should happen these days. > > The new turtle module has - as one of it's new features - enhanced > animation which is intended to serve as a visual feedback facility for young > programmers. (Moreover they can - if they wish - choose the shape for their > turtles, for instance they can use turtle-shaped turtles or design their own > shapes ...) > > The new module will also run unaltered - as is - under Python 2.5 > > You can download it from here: > > http://svn.python.org/view/python/trunk/Lib/lib-tk/ > > The docs can be found here: > > http://docs.python.org/dev/library/turtle.html#module-turtle > > Regards, > Gregor > > 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] <mailto:[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/ >> -------------------------------------------------------------*/ >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig@python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> > >
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