On 15/06/2011, at 5:33 AM, BGB wrote: > personally, the textual nature of code was not such an issue, but I do > remember at the time having a little confusion over the whole "order of > operations" thing (I think I was left to wonder some why some operations > would bind more tightly than others, they did not mention it in classes). at > the time, it was mostly QBasic and DOS... > > much younger, and it is doubtful people can do much of anything useful. > can you teach programming to a kindergartner?... > maybe not such a good idea, so, it is an issue for what a good lower-limit is > for where to try. > > ultimately, maybe the whole topic is beyond the reach of many people (like, > maybe ability to program is more of an inherent ability, rather than a > learned skill?...). in this case, one can just make things available, and see > who catches on... > > > I don't necessarily think graphics are the answer though. people learn to > read and write either way, and using graphics seems a bit much like a vain > attempt at trying to water down the topic.
Ponder this: What is the difference between using a computer and programming a computer? Then this: What is playing a computer game? Is it using a computer? What if the parameters of the game were such that the objectives of the game were creating content of some kind? ... and by ponder, I mean hold the open question without trying to "arrive at" an answer for a while (ie don't "recover" from QUEST-ion straight away), but just considering it... holding your attention on it for a while... see what arises... Graphics, when used properly in their own right and not moulded to the confines imposed by other systems,, can be an equally powerful method of interaction than text. Consider watching a film and reading a book... also consider what happened to the synthesizer when people stopped trying to make it behave like other instruments and allowed it to be just what it was, exactly... Julian. _______________________________________________ fonc mailing list fonc@vpri.org http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc
