The long-time subscribers to this list may remember RUR-PLE ( https://code.google.com/p/rur-ple/), a Karel-the-robot clone using Python that I wrote. The robot's name in my version is Reeborg, hence the title of this post.
Since the last version was produced in 2009, RUR-PLE had been downloaded more than 11,000 times. Since people that download it do not need to contact me to do so, it is only through serependity that I find out where it is used. I know that it has been used by elementary school children in Austria, by high school children in New Jersey and by university students in the U.S. and Latin America as a tool to introduce Python. Recently, Samsung contacted me and got my permission to produce a book based on RUR-PLE. They distributed free copies of this book yesterday to something like 1000 Korean students. (I will likely post pictures of the book on my blog when I get a copy.) So what you say?.... I am happy to announce that a test-version of "Reeborg's world" is now available online as a tool to learn Python. It is free to use and does not require registration. The first version of Reeborg's world was produced to teach Javascript; it is the default version available from http://reeborg.ca. It includes some 98 lessons and can be found directly at http://reeborg.ca/learn_js.html I'm working on an "improved" version which can be found at http://reeborg.ca/learn_js_dev.html#welcome Following some comments by early adopters, the UI of this version is improved slightly and more changes are planned, including a graphical world builder, new images for the robot, the option to import from file and save to file programs and worlds, etc. The proof-of-concept Python version can be found at http://reeborg.ca/learn_py_test.html It is based on the "improved" version. I do not plan to do more work on it (including adapting the lessons to teach Python instead of Javascript) until I have nailed down the "improved" Javascript version. If you want to quickly try the Python version to see what it can do, I suggest you select (from the drop down menu showing "Alone" by default) the world "Tokens 1" and run the following program: move() take() move() put() move() I welcome any comments & suggestions about Reeborg's world; please feel free to email me directly. This time, I will probably include a page on the site where I will ask teachers that use it to communicate with me to let me know in what context they use it, and keep track of it on a "wall of fame".
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