Mailman 3 January 2006 - Edu-sig

[ANN] rur-ple: pre-release of new lessons.
by Andre Roberge 02 Feb '06

02 Feb '06

Hi everyone, I just uploaded (I had to do it twice to get it right) a new set of lessons for rur-ple on sourceforge.net. They are in a file named "html.zip". There are about a dozen new additional lessons. [rur-ple is a learning environment for Python, inspired by Karel the Robot, and Guido van Robot ... but it allows so much more!] I would describe the new lessons as a "beta" release. They can't properly be viewed through the browser included in rur-ple, because of my use of style files. This won't change in the future. The "index" file (rur.htm) has not been fully updated. However, if you use it to take you to the first lesson, you should be able to navigate from one lesson to the next. I have made a small change in the robot language [facing_North() has been changed to facing_north()]; the current version of rur-ple on sourceforge uses the old notation. Future lesson numbering will be of the form 0.n where n= number of lessons included, until I have enough to call it a "complete" introduction to Python. I will need to make a new release soon of rur-ple, so that it will work properly on MacOs. Also, I'm *really* excited about a significant change I have made to the last notebook page (the simple Python editor) for the app. I am waiting to have lessons written for it (I just need two or three more I think) and then I'll do a new rur-ple release. Now, how's that for a teaser ;-) *Please*, don't be shy to give me some feedback (good *and* bad). André

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Re: [Edu-sig] Python/Gecode - was "The study of fixed points has been at the foundation of algorithms"
by Laura Creighton 31 Jan '06

31 Jan '06

There is also Gustavo Niemeyer's python-constraint package, which is also very preliminary. http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-announce-list/2005-July/004153.html Laura In a message of Tue, 31 Jan 2006 10:39:13 +0100, Grégoire Dooms writes: >Mark Engelberg a écrit : > >>>An other area where I've been exposed ot fixed points is concurrent >>>constraint programming where constraint propagators are applied to a >>>computation space until a fixed point is reached (see for instance >>>http://www.gecode.org/ for a Open source implementation). >>> >>> >> >>Does anyone know if Python bindings for the gecode library is in >>development? I could really use this on a project I'm working on. >> >> >I know this request is shared by several (current and potential) users >of gecode. >I don't have the time to develop one before summer but I am (and will >be) trying to convince others to do it before. >It might be easy to do by starting from the SWIG generated JAVA wrapper >which is currently under development. >On the other hand Logilab.fr provides a Python-only constraint >programming lib based on the Mozart/Gecode idea of computation spaces >and cloning. But beware it is very preliminary: the only propagator >available is a generic, enumeration based, forward checking algo. > >HTH, >-- >Grégoire > >_______________________________________________ >Edu-sig mailing list >Edu-sig(a)python.org >http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig

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Python/Gecode - was "The study of fixed points has been at the foundation of algorithms"
by Mark Engelberg 31 Jan '06

31 Jan '06

> An other area where I've been exposed ot fixed points is concurrent > constraint programming where constraint propagators are applied to a > computation space until a fixed point is reached (see for instance > http://www.gecode.org/ for a Open source implementation). Does anyone know if Python bindings for the gecode library is in development? I could really use this on a project I'm working on. Thanks, Mark

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ANN: Rur-ple 0.95 has been released
by Andre Roberge 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

RUR-PLE 0.95 has been released. A link to the download page can be found at http://rur-ple.sourceforge.net (The site is slightly out of date, and there is no plan to update it in the future as it provides an excellent idea of what RUR-PLE is about.) This new version contains a few bug fixes and it should now work properly on MacOS. wxPython 2.6+ is strongly recommmended. There has been a few minor changes in the robot instructions, and the lessons has undergone some major changes. RUR-PLE stands for Roberge's Used Robot: a Python Learning Environment. This learning environment contains four main elements: 1. A simple html browser to look at the documentation and, potentially, the lessons. However, the new lessons use cascading style sheets which cannot be interpreted correctly by the browser. Usage of an external browser (Firefox :-) is strongly recommended. 2. A "robot world" with a robot that can accomplish tasks through Python programs. 3. A built-in interpreter which can be used to play with Python 4. A built-in file editor which can be used for futher Python explorations. The interface is available in English, French and Spanish. Translations are welcome! Version 0.95 contains 36 complete lessons (English version only). The lessons are also available as a separate download. Version 1.0, which will aim to be a "complete" Python tutorial for people that have never programmed before, should have approximately 50 lessons. A few "bonus" lessons have been included. In particular, it is suggested that you have a look at "A Robotic Fairy Tale". ===== In 1981, Richard Pattis introduced "Karel the Robot" as a tool to teach computer programming. Reeborg is a robot built on the 1981 Pattis' model... and it is starting to show its age. It has an oil leak, which allows us to follow its trail. Its compass is broken; it only knows if it is facing north or not, unlike Karel who could determine its orientation with respect to all four cardinal points. Pattis' Karel the Robot was named after the author Karel Capek, who popularized the word robot in his play Rossum's Universal Robots (RUR). While RUR-PLE shares the basic RUR acronym, in this case it stands for Roberge's Used Robot. However, through the magic of Guido van Rossum's Python, you can learn how to fix it and design a better one, worthy of the name Rossum's Universal Robot. ==== If you've read this far... Version 0.95 contains a new feature, which has been made available as a separate download: lightning.py This is a cross between a Python editor and a Python interpreter. Just enter a script in the Editor window, press "run", and you get the result in the output window. It handles input() and raw_input() through dialogs. I like it so much, that I submitted a simplified version to the online Python cookbook.

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Moodling right along...
by kirby urner 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

I've implemented Brad Miller's suggestion of linking back to the source from within the moodle itself. In both courses, I've got an Update Me! resource with a date stamp for the current version and a link to my server. Any Moodle manager should now be able to compare dates and restore an update (or not per whatever policies). I added a "Yak Shack" (Wiki) to both courses as well (another thing Brad suggested). http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/moodles/ Now that these pieces are in place, I don't expect to publish updates all that often. Once a month maybe? We shall see. Kirby

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Raw moodle content for Moodle testing now available
by kirby urner 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

OK, I uploaded two Python courses I'm working on for Portland Public Schools, via the Winterhaven facility. Neither is complete, i.e. I'm actively adding to both. These are snapshots. They're basically XML (moodle.xml) within zips. In once case, I've also got two picture files. Per my recent post, the teacher section normally contains username and encrypted password. I've removed the password, leaving an empty <PASSWORD> tag. The username is still kurner. The files: Geonumeracy (very sketchy, just started today, but is closer to what I've actually been teaching) http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/winterhaven/backup-cs100-20060129-2054.zip (Python with Algebra, definitely a prototype) http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/winterhaven/backup-cs201-20060129-2052.zip If anyone gets one or both of these hosted in a Moodle and can provide a guest account, I have a group in South Africa I'd like to share the guest login with. Then I won't need to wait for Winterhaven. I'm curious to see the outcome of this experiment. Kirby

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Re: [Edu-sig] Python-Only Moodle?
by kirby urner 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

I don't see it as either / or. I'm going ahead with Moodle simply because that's what my school district uses. But that doesn't predispose me to think other solutions are inferior. On the contrary, I think Moodle is just the beginning. Kirby On 1/30/06, Peter Bowyer <peter(a)mapledesign.co.uk> wrote: > > At 04:12 28/01/2006, kirby urner wrote: > >Here's an idea. Given a lot of us teach Python, plan to, or have > >ideas for doing so, if we had shared access to a Python Moodle > >someplace, we could develop open source courseware, either as > >individuals or in teams. > > A central site would be great. However I'm wondering if Moodle is > the right tool? I've played with it through their online demo, and > did not find it easy to navigate or use the course material. There > did not seem to be a way to author structured and interlinked course > material. > > Might not a wiki such as MoinMoin be a better option (as Scipy are > using for their new site)? > > Peter > > -- > Maple Design - quality web design and programming > http://www.mapledesign.co.uk > >

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ANN: Rur-ple lessons 0.36
by Andre Roberge 29 Jan '06

29 Jan '06

Announcing RUR-PLE lessons 0.36 RUR-PLE stands for Roberge's Used Robot: a Python Learning Environment. This is the first official release of the lessons, separately from the application. The lessons are intended as a somewhat non-typical introduction to programming using Python, that has been used for other languages (just google "Karel Robot" for some examples). The version number (0.36) indicates that 36 complete lessons (plus a few more incomplete ones) are included. The complete introduction to Python (version 1.0) will probably include 50 lessons in total. This version contains more than 50% more material than what is included in the latest rur-ple release on sourceforge. A link to the download page can be found at http://rur-ple.sourceforge.net ===== In 1981, Richard Pattis introduced "Karel the Robot" as a tool to teach computer programming. Reeborg is a robot built on the 1981 Pattis' model... and it is starting to show its age. It has an oil leak, which allows us to follow its trail. Its compass is broken; it only knows if it is facing north or not, unlike Karel who could determine its orientation with respect to all four cardinal points. Pattis' Karel the Robot was named after the author Karel Capek, who popularized the word robot in his play Rossum's Universal Robots (RUR). While RUR-PLE shares the basic RUR acronym, in this case it stands for Roberge's Used Robot. However, through the magic of Guido van Rossum's Python, you can learn how to fix it and design a better one, worthy of the name Rossum's Universal Robot.

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Re: [Edu-sig] [ANN] rur-ple: pre-release of new lessons.
by Arthur 29 Jan '06

29 Jan '06

From: kirby urner [mailto:kirby.urner@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 2:06 PM >I routinely rope in commercial products for their educational value, including but not limited to computer games and >simulations. It's important for our family that we have access to toyz. I actively stimulate the imaginations of toy >makes with descriptions of what we'd likely buy, and charge on our Platinum Amazon Visa, which I just signed for while >buying Tara a new robot dog with her own money (the 16+% variable APR is pretty outrageous -- thinking mainly of the >promotional discount, which turned out not to apply, as this was a pass through from Toys R Us, and therefore apparently >not qualified). Good American ;) Forgive me my relentlessly adversarial stance. But I was a misunderstood child, you see. My father was the poor boy, who was able to provide me with some advantages. Like nice toys. Would drive him crazy that I wouldn't "take better care of them". The evidence was certainly there - the toy in pieces. But the toys actually sucked - and the only interest I had in them was taking them apart, to see how they worked, and for scrap parts to build some whozeewhatsit (that never quite worked). The spirit isn't dead. Last month instead of showing up to the extended family holiday party with gifts, I offered to take the kids shopping the following morning. A cousin is a glassblower living a pretty Spartan/ low tech existence out in the country. His youngest insisted he wanted to shop at a hardware store - where he went through the isles picking out odd pieces of this and that - whozeewhatsit components, quite enviously. Not an electronic component among them. PyGeo is, I guess, by current whozeewhatsit. The fact that it happens to rely on some electronic underpinning being mostly happenstance. Art

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moodle thread outcomes (4D Studios)
by kirby urner 29 Jan '06

29 Jan '06

This link to Math Forum @ Drexel shows how this Moodle thread has been a good experience for me: http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=4229415&tstart=0 I now have a good model for courseware distribution: create a host, subscribe to teacher feeds (your choices will reflect your values in some way), then add yourself as a teacher on your own faculty, when you feel ready. Invite subscribers. And so on. Kirby

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