On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 12:56:56PM -0700, Sarah Allen wrote: > Then with the help of my two assistent we demostrated color mixing, > It was way cool.
Lovely idea, really cool. > I think there must be an easier workflow than what we've been doing: > write app in notepad++, save to desktop, double-click shoes, click > "open an app" -- does anyone have a workflow where you can run Shoes > directly from the editor? it would be nice if the shoes window with > the errors had a "Reload" button and keystroke, likewise with the > Shoes window. There's a plugin called NppExec you can use to launch Shoes from Notepad++. I think you wind up with a hotkey to press or somethin. I've also been thinking of using the .shu extension for Shoes scripts, so we can have the scripts run when you click on them. You can also try the newest Hackety Hack which is built on top of Shoes and has an editor with simple Save and Run buttons: <http://signup.hacketyhack.net/> However, that build has a lot of bugs and I've been consumed with developing a new version based on Shoes 3. > At the end of the class I asked them to raise hands to answer: who > thought it was fun? (about 2/3s of the class) who thought it was > frustrating? (maybe 40%) who thought it was fun even though it was > frustrating (about 1/3). This sounds really good, actually! Shoes is still so primitive by comparison with what these kids could have, if there was a larger movement to improve programming education. (For example, I hope we can do away with syntax errors at some point -- as HTML did.) But I don't know, all technology is ultimately imperfect and unnatural, even if only to some. I wonder how the rest of the class would respond to Scratch. I have a feeling some kids would enjoy visual programming while others will like text. > I think I'll change it next week to add some interactivity, unless I > veer in a different direction, since my RAD dorkboard arrived and I > may switch to making an LED blink! Yeah, switch around examples a lot. My classes have always worked better when I don't spend the whole time on one demo. Program a song, then a drawing, then a little video player, knowledge can be shallow at first because you're working on just getting the kids familiar. Of course, you may find the opposite is true. Good to hear your continued reports, Sarah. _why
