<div dir="ltr">Jeremy,<br><br>I've skimmed the site, and it looks good. I'll pitch in some effort to it in the future.<br><br>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:<br>
<br><a href="http://pythonbook.coffeeghost.net">http://pythonbook.coffeeghost.net</a><br><br>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.<br>
<br>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.<br>
<br>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.<br><br>I hope you find it useful!<br>
<br>-Al Sweigart<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 3:00 AM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:edu-sig-request@python.org">edu-sig-request@python.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Hi all,<br>
<br>
This is my first post to edu-sig, and its sort of long. In a nutshell:<br>
a) I have developed and posted a few new material for kids getting started<br>
with programming, e.g., for an after-school club, at<br>
<a href="http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/" target="_blank">http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/</a> Its free (no advertising ever,<br>
open-source recommended), and will be so forever.<br>
b) I am interested in collaborating with or sharing notes with others, to<br>
make it even better.<br>
<br>
Being new to this interesting forum, I'll introduce myself briefly. I'm a<br>
dad (two kids, age 11 and 5), and have always been a geek at heart. I do<br>
science for a living (human brain imaging and psychology, using computers<br>
for everything), and have interests in education (including National Science<br>
Foundation grants related to education research). I'm not an elementary-age<br>
educator, although have family members who are educators. So it seems<br>
inevitable that I'd end up lurking on python edu-sig :o) I've seen some<br>
fairly long posts, so I'll take the plunge with a longish one myself.<br>
Apologies if that's frowned on.<br>
<br>
Basically, I want to teach my 6th grader how to program this coming year.<br>
We've fooled around with logo / turtle graphics and like it, and are ready<br>
for a real language. I was quickly sold on python as the way to go, despite<br>
never having used it myself (or any OO language ... or maybe in part because<br>
of that--I want to learn something too!). I looked around for existing<br>
materials, and am really impressed by how much is out there for python (one<br>
of several selling points). yet I did not find anything I was that<br>
completely happy with. I looked carefully at the following, and learned a<br>
lot, and like a great many things about them:<br>
- Snake Wrangling for Kids<br>
- LiveWires summer program<br>
- other resources linked on Beginner's Guide to Python for non-programmers<br>
- A byte of python<br>
- J. Miller's 2004 PhD dissertation. his analysis of posts on what the<br>
community thinks about desirable features in using python in education is<br>
really helpful. one point that caught my eye was the dearth of intro<br>
curriculum materials.<br>
<br>
So, I took the plunge and have started to write something up myself. Its<br>
well underway, but is a work in progress, at<br>
<a href="http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/" target="_blank">http://afterschoolpython.pbwiki.com/</a><br>
My goal is to have it be an experience in learning how a computer can<br>
enhance your mind, using a real language, aimed at a young audience without<br>
talking down to them. (Young but able to read, type using a text editor, and<br>
do some elementary-school math). I tried to follow Miller's guidelines on<br>
desirable features, but have not followed them all (not yet at least,<br>
graphics is a glaring example).<br>
<br>
The key thing that motivated me to put effort into yet-another-free-resource<br>
for learning python was to try to focus on problem solving as enhanced by a<br>
computer, for this age group. Plus sneaking in some geek tidbits here and<br>
there, like a few linux command-line tools (e.g., top), so that they are not<br>
seen as exotic or weird or hard. A few of the activities are basically<br>
cognitive science, and a few are more or less math.<br>
<br>
I'm posting for two main reasons.<br>
1. The first is just to say: Hi, there is a little bit more curriculum "raw<br>
material" out there, I hope someone else can use it too. Who might be<br>
interested? My guess is that it will be most appropriate for a self-selected<br>
audience, rather than cp4e. I envision it being used in an after-school<br>
group (hence the name), probably at the middle-school level but maybe some<br>
things would work for advanced elementary (I'm not an educator, just<br>
guessing). Maybe some could be rewritten for an older audience.<br>
<br>
Some of the activities are tried and true ("hello world!"), and some are<br>
ones I thought up, like counting to a million to give kids a gut sense for<br>
how fast computers are, described as turning yourself into a cyborg,<br>
counting to a million in one second, and then changing back. I want kids to<br>
see themselves as the agent that makes things happen, not the computer. At<br>
first its a little freaky that way, but I hope its ultimately more<br>
empowering as well. And I think it better reflects reality: a computer is a<br>
tool, a prosthesis for thinking. Like a bicycle is for transportation.<br>
<br>
I describe it as currently in "beta", meaning that, while there are some<br>
rough edges, the ideas and activities might be useful to others even so.<br>
Feedback would be very useful to have now to make it better. Again, it will<br>
never have advertising.<br>
<br>
Its currently set up as a wiki, under a Creative Commons<br>
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License 2.0, which I used because _A<br>
byte of python_ used it. I have it as wiki to emphasize that I'd love to<br>
include others as hands-on contributors (see #2).<br>
<br>
2. The second reason for this post is to say: I know it can be way better.<br>
I think its good enough that I can wing it through the fall, but it would be<br>
cool to partner with a) people who have elementary & middle-school education<br>
experience with programming (esp python), and b) know OO and good projects<br>
for introducing it. I know the website is currently just the start of what<br>
it could be. It currently reads like notes for either self-guided<br>
exploration by kids, but given various gaps in the description (hopefully<br>
filled soon) its probably best thought of as structured notes for an<br>
informed adult to use when leading a small group of kids. Its not complete<br>
yet, and I will be revising after seeing how kids interact with it. Its not<br>
lesson plans, although I could see some of the material being used in that<br>
way, with more work.<br>
<br>
- feedback of any kind would be terrific, don't hold back just to be polite.<br>
(As a scientist, all my day-job work gets peer reviewed, at times "tersely",<br>
shall we say. it took some getting used to but now I love getting frank<br>
feedback because ultimately it makes for a better product.) So if anything<br>
moves you one way or another, I'd love to know and won't be offended. This<br>
is not to say I'll change things to reflect every comment, of course, but I<br>
definitely promise to read and consider them all closely. More importantly,<br>
if you have a lot to add, I'd love to have collaborators as well.<br>
<br>
- I've set it up as a wiki with the idea that eventually there may be<br>
several editors, developers, and caretakers (a few, not the whole world).<br>
Please email me to talk about possibilities. For example, currently, there's<br>
nothing that uses graphics, which of course are very engaging, especially<br>
for this age group. currently, there's nothing that uses or explains OO,<br>
despite python being strongly OO. getting to games would be good. And I'm<br>
not convinced that being hosted on pbwiki is best, either. So there's room<br>
to grow as well.<br>
<br>
to comment on anything, you can either email me personally (<a href="mailto:jrgray@gmail.com">jrgray@gmail.com</a>,<br>
which is the same email for the wiki owner) or just leave a comment at the<br>
end of a particular wiki page (I think they make you sign up for an account<br>
an login to leave a comment).<br>
<br>
Anyway, its nice to be joining this community.<br>
<br>
best regards,<br>
<br>
--Jeremy<br>
<br>
<br>
/*-------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Jeremy R. Gray, PhD<br>
Assistant Professor, Yale University<br>
Dept. of Psychology & Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program<br>
web <a href="http://www.yale.edu/scan/" target="_blank">http://www.yale.edu/scan/</a><br>
-------------------------------------------------------------*/<br></blockquote></div><br></div>