<div dir="ltr">RE: WEB FRAMEWORKS FOR CURRICULUM DELIVERY<br><br>Here's a window into my business world where I'm thinking out loud about web frameworks in education and curriculum writing (I'm a curriculum writer), the subject having come up in my Portland context when McCarty recently suggested I use Moodle again (for a repository), and Tara (a grad from that school) says "Winterhaven is crazy about using Moodle" but in a tone that suggested "over the top" (same tone she uses when saying I'm crazy about Britney Spears). <br>
<br>In thinking about it, I wrote the reply to Anna Roys below (she's running the TECC pilot, still on the drawing boards in a lot of ways).<br><br>Now, having thought about it some more (and this isn't the first time), I want to revise and extend: <br>
<br>SOLUTIONS MAY BE SUBJECT SPECIFIC<br><br>I think it's especially likely that gnu math teachers such as myself will go for a spare, austere, not so web frameworky system, simply because it's our job to teach XHTML, CSS, WSGI and related APIs, so from the point of view of "making it accessible" we like to show how we code up from scratch, like a chef in the kitchen (per Ratatouille -- hi Jody). However, in other subject areas, such as chemistry or home economics, the teacher may not have the time or patience for "hand coding" and said web framework is a godsend.<br>
<br>NOT EITHER/OR<br><br>It's not either/or in other words. Too many so-called "religious wars" begin with either/or as a premise, and it's phony. It's not Ruby or Python, not Java or Jython, not Scheme or LISP, not Smalltalk or J, although in any given special case circumstance, yes, the crew may elect one over the other. And sometimes technologies fade, like SQL is more the industry standard than MUMPS anymore, even in health care (MUMPS named for Massachusettes General).<br>
<br>I think my point is gnu math teachers are training future developers, future geeks. It's in "building one to throw it away", programming for the fun of it, loving it, that you come to discover the true value of frameworks, which is in customizing them for different clients, each with special needs. Rather than have an end user's perspective, our students think in terms of serving people, adding to their happiness and satisfaction (we hope -- we work to not over promise and therefore disillusion). <br>
<br>RE PEDAGOGY<br><br>We're also into XP techniques (e.g. pair programming) in age appropriate ways i.e. take a page from the constructionists in having students develop their team working skills. The career of the solo coder may be glorious and fun, but when they're still young like this, we want to keep doors open to some of those "team only" careers (not every coding solution is accessible to the solo developer, although open source culture already ensures that we're sharing tools and know-how, so the teams may be surprisingly small (one of the lessons I teach @ Saturday Academy)).<br>
<br>CONCLUSION<br><br>Yes, web frameworks are very much needed, included those like Edu2.0, geared specifically to teachers. However, some of the most proficient in Internet technology will choose not to use them, and not because they're luddites, quite the opposite.<br>
<br>Caveat: I've not mentioned environments like Second Life or, in my case, Active Worlds ( <a href="http://www.activeworlds.com/edu/">http://www.activeworlds.com/edu/</a> ), as places to serve curriculum. That's a somewhat different topic, engines like Croquet not being the same animal as webapps like Django or Ruby on Rails.<br>
<br>Kirby Urner<br><a href="http://4dsolutions.net">4dsolutions.net</a><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">kirby urner</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kirby.urner@gmail.com">kirby.urner@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 4:14 PM<br>Subject: Re: Using Edu20 for online Board of Directors Meetings? Maybe not a good idea?<br>To: Anna Roys<br>Cc: [ xxx ]<br><div dir="ltr"><br>I'm not persuaded "one stop shopping frameworks" (e.g. Moodle) are the way to go, am starting with new Python proteges here in Portland and planning to use mostly email, sharing links as I see fit. <br>
<br>Of course tutoring < > classroom teaching (not the same thing), but an old fashioned lesson plans, jazzed up with lots of URLs, and put on-line in the classroom folder, needn't involve any fancy framework, even open source free.<br>
<br>Homespun and simple carries the day, lots of times, plus different teachers have different teaching styles (as much a reality as student learning styles, which I also believe in honoring, though limits apply).<br><br>
Two cents from the lower 48....<br><font color="#888888"><br>Kirby Urner<br><a href="http://4dsolutions.net" target="_blank">4dsolutions.net</a></font><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 3:06 PM, Anna Roys <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:roys.anna@gmail.com" target="_blank">roys.anna@gmail.com</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;"><div dir="ltr">Rachel,<br><br>I am getting no response from edu20 today. Last summer I received almost immediate response each time. I am wondering if this is not such a good place for us to try get our work done. A great vision for free e-learning, but maybe the site is no longer maintained well enough for our use?<br>
<br>Did any of you receive anything from edu20?<br><br>Please remind us what was your suggestion for where to carry on our online meetings and how do we proceed?<br><br>Anna<br><br><br></div>
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