Mailman 3 August 2006 - Edu-sig

Re: [Edu-sig] Excited about Crunchy Frog
by ajsiegel＠optonline.net Aug. 2, 2006

Aug. 2, 2006

From: kirby urnerDate: Wednesday, August 2, 2006 12:26 pmSubject: Re: Re: [Edu-sig] Excited about Crunchy FrogTo: ArthurCc: John Zelle , edu-sig(a)python.org> We're fighting different battlesAbsolutely no doubt about it. Its a shame really. I think that much of what you are proposing to proposecould find acceptance more readily if you were willing understand whereyour ideas fit *within* the main stream, rather than insisting that theytranscend it. I emphasize the Fuller stuff only because it is an example of you refusing to doyour homework, and sticking to your guns at the expense of good sense. Your friend Snelson tells the story of having met Fuller atBlack Mountain and being inspired by him. But also the frustration of the math faculty at Black Mountain at Fuller presenting certain ideas as his own, or as revolutionary, when they were established mathematical ideas. Allavailable in the library. In my opinion, by taking those ideas out of theirhistorical context, and by de-academizing them, by Fullerizing them, you are making them less, not moreWe're fighting different battles - to be sure.> He's militantly anti-technologyI am not.> I read this, but it seemed mostly arguing against some straw man> "technophile" who wants to destroy the university as we know it, and> put professors out of business."""In examining the role of information technology in higher education, I have found it necessary to proceed in two steps: first deprogramming the millennialism that shapes our thinking about technology and institutions, and then examining the values that can and should inform our educational institutions. """I am militantly anti-millennialist, so recognize a kindred spirit here.And "de-programming" is, IMO, not a bad characterization of what we needto be up to.Technology has disrupted much - including a sense of history, and good sense itself.Art

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Crunchy name
by Andre Roberge Aug. 1, 2006

Aug. 1, 2006

Hi everyone, seeing that the name "Crunchy Frog" originated on this list (thanks Dethe), I thought I should point those interested in a potential name change to this discussion: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/42943 We now resume our regularly scheduled program. André

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Re: [Edu-sig] A python teaching success
by james＠dis-dot-dat.net Aug. 1, 2006

Aug. 1, 2006

On Mon, 31 Jul, 2006 at 11:04PM +0100, Michael spake thus: > Hi James, > > I'd like to second the request to see what your syllabus looks like. This is > partly because whilst I work in BBC R&D, I'm currently looking to build a > collaboration with Manchester University (I went to university there, and by > chance they're doing work that meshes with my research area), and there's > been questions of Python's accessibility. > > If you're willing to share more details about your course, lesson plan and > notes, I'm sure there's other places that would be really interested... Sorry. I did try, and messed it up. I assumed the list did reply-to munging, stupidly, when it doesn't. So, the parent post got a private reply which I'm copy/pasting here, with some more info. %These first two lectures use the turtle from the interpreter. We %start setting the scene for later ideas, such as functions and loops, %by pointing out the limitations of typing out all of the commands to %draw a spiral, say. \item [Lecture 1] Getting Started. \item [Lecture 2] Python Basics. \item [Lecture 3] Boolean Algebra. \item [Lecture 4] Choice. \item [Lectures 5-6] Repetition: Recursion. %By now, they're drawing koch and dragon curves \item [Lecture 7] Repetition: Iteration. \item [Lecture 8] State. \item [Lectures 9-10] Compound Types. \item [Lecture 11-12] Searching and Sorting. %They have seen functions already, but they were introduced without %fuss, so they never felt threatened by them. Now they hear a lot more \item [Lecture 13-14] Functions and Modules. \item [Lecture 15] Input / Output. \item [Lectures 16-18] Object Oriented Python. \item [Lectures 19-20] Python Extensions. % And by now, they're writing games. Frogger, space invaders, % allsorts. The number of students that have become engrossed with % programming at this point is unheard of at Coventry. Whole clusters % of people appreciating each others' code. %% Plus two extra lectures on language transfer Sorry it's in LaTeX markup, but it made it clear where comments end and lecture topics begin. > Best Regards (and congrats on the review!) Thanks! James > Michael. > > On Monday 31 July 2006 13:42, james(a)dis-dot-dat.net wrote: > > Hi all. > > > > This last academic year, we used Python for the first time in our > > introductory programming modules. > > > > This is in place of Java (horrible first language, IMNSHO). > > > > It went VERY well. We've just had our external examiner's report > > and I got so excited, I blogged it and then ran here to yell about > > it. > > > > http://blog.dis-dot-dat.net/2006/07/we-officially-rock.html > > > > :) > > > > James > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Edu-sig mailing list > > Edu-sig(a)python.org > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >

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Seymour Papert's address notes
by Daniel Ajoy Aug. 1, 2006

Aug. 1, 2006

From: "Bob Irving" <irvingb(a)e-lcds.org> Subject: Re: [Squeakland] squeakfest conclusions Cc: squeakland(a)squeakland.org I'm sorry to hear that Seymour Papert's address didn't come out so well on video and audio. I took some very sketchy notes of his address and posted them on my blog, Shiftin' Paradigm Blues; the URL is in my sig below. It was truly an inspiring address; I hope you can get some sense of it from my notes. Bob Irving Middle School Technology Facilitator Lancaster Country Day School Lancaster, PA Blog: http://cougar.e-lcds.org/wordpress/ "Change is not death; fear of change is death."

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