Mailman 3 January 2007 - Edu-sig

Python for Halloween
by kirby urner Oct. 21, 2007

Oct. 21, 2007

Something about using 'ghost' in place of 'self' in a Shell class (allusion to anime as well). Maybe I did something like this last year (having deja vu again). But I'm realizing edu-sig is no longer a preferred venue for my curriculum writing. I'd rather huddle with MIT, Bruce Sherwood, Alan Kay and play *against* Arthur's team. Arthur, you make too many enemies too quickly and too easily. Even more, I'm into my Portland Knowledge Lab (PKL) business (gotta pay that rent today) and want to … [View More]

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Interest in Newby lecture at PyCon?
by Michael Tobis Jan. 31, 2007

Jan. 31, 2007

I guess it's a bit late to try to put this together, but is there any interest in putting together a Python for Newbies presentation at PyCon for friends and family? I have a two-hour presentation I've given a few times, so it would not take much prep for me to do this. It has some nice features, in that it gives people the flavor of programming in just one session. best Michael Tobis

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Tkinter window behind IDLE under Mac OS X
by Peter Drake Jan. 31, 2007

Jan. 31, 2007

Forgive me if this isn't the appropriate place to post... I'm trying to write a very simple set of graphics functions for use by my (non-CS-major) students. Playing with Tkinter, I wrote this: from Tkinter import * c = Canvas() c.pack() c.create_line(0, 0, 20, 30) mainloop() It does, as hoped, produce a window with a little diagonal line in it. The problem is that this window pops up BEHIND the IDLE window. Googling around, I've found several other people who have had this problem (… [View More]

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Python for Math Teachers
by kirby urner Jan. 31, 2007

Jan. 31, 2007

I'm continuing with my series of mathcasts, having so far completed: getting started looking ahead classes and subclasses stickworks hypertoons! euclid IX:36 cryptography They tend to build on each other. The cryptography screencast is my longest to date, roughly 8 minutes: http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/rsa.html Requires your browser to handle embedded Flash although these are also all available on Google Video. Kirby

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Exploring visible mathematics with IMAGINE: Building new mathematical cultures with a powerful computational system
by Paul D. Fernhout Jan. 31, 2007

Jan. 31, 2007

Just came across this reference which might be of interest to people here: Ivan Kalas, Andrej Blaho: Exploring visible mathematics with IMAGINE: Building new mathematical cultures with a powerful computational system. Learning in School, Home and Community 2002: 53-64 http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/indices/a-tree/k/Kalas:Ivan.html Link to the first few pages: http://books.google.com/books?id=6smPFdJQy1sC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=exploring… Abstract: "In our paper we … [View More]explore how programmable pictures together with events, parallel independent processes and direct manipulation tools can be used for building powerful interactive elements and provide rich environments for exploring basic mathematical concepts. To visualize the concepts we use IMAGINE turtles, the shapes of which are specified in the Logo language. Thus we achieve high interactivity in the resulting microworlds. Children can easily create such objects, control them, combine, move, group, match, etc. We hope that new features of IMAGINE will inspire math teachers and developers to create new visible educational materials." From the book: _Learning in School, Home and Community: Ict for Early and Elementary Education_ "Schools, homes and communities, including after-care centres, resource centres and libraries, have increased and acquired more technologies, and a wider range of applications are being used. Research shows that students use ICT differently in each setting. School-based technology use is often viewed by students as routine and disconnected from their interests and abilities. Many teachers are hesitant as to how to teach about ICT and, at the same time, integrate ICT into subject-based learning. Parents and the community-at-large have goals that differ from the goals espoused by teachers and students. This volume highlights the concerns of all - students, teachers, parents, policy makers and the general public.Major themes in Learning in School, Home and Community: ICT for Early and Elementary Education include: *Teachers' and researchers' studies of ICT use in school, home and community. *National strategies and policies affecting ICT use in school, home and community. *ICT tools designed to promote learning and the optimal settings to promote learning. *School and community responses to ICT use that promote the integration of ICT for all members of the community. This volume contains the selected proceedings of the Working Conference on Learning with Technologies in School, Home and Community, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held June 30-July 5, 2002 in Manchester, United Kingdom. Contributions from experts around the world, working as teachers, teacher educators, researchers and government officials, make this volume an essential contribution to the development and implementation of ICT policies andprograms for schools, homes and communities." [Note: Personally I do not think computers an apropriate way for kids to spend much of their time before, say, age seven.] Related with online content: "Imagine… a new generation of Logo: programmable pictures" http://www.ifip.org/con2000/iceut2000/iceut12-05.pdf http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:64_IL0jHjlUJ:www.ifip.org/con2000/iceu… "In 2000 we completed the development of a new generation of Logo environments containing a radical combination of the direct manipulation interface and rich interactive programming language." Not open source it seems, and so had dropped by the wayside or become marginalized? --Paul Fernhout [View Less]

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Another Mathcast showing off Python's powers
by kirby urner Jan. 29, 2007

Jan. 29, 2007

Jumping off from The Book of Numbers by Conway and Guy, we explore a proposition of Euclid's, that the Mth triangular number, the Ms being the Mersennes (as we call them today), is also a Perfect Number. The purpose of this clip is to demonstrate how Python might form a useful hybrid with various math topics, providing cross-training in two disciplines: mathematics and computer science. This is an approach I've long recommended, based on field experience as well as intuitive factors. http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/perfectnumbers.html Kirby

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Brother, Can you Paradigm?
by Arthur Jan. 28, 2007

Jan. 28, 2007

The subject line is Eric Raymond's title of an entry at http://armedndangerous.blogspot.com/2003_07_27_armedndangerous_archive.html I don't read a lot of Raymond, and don't consider myself a libertarian of his stripe, but a somwhat out-of-context quote I enjoyed from this article: """ There are some books so bad, but so plausible and influential, that periodically trashing them in public is almost an obligation. The really classic stinkeroos of this kind, like Karl Marx's Das Kapital, … [View More]

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And...
by Arthur Jan. 28, 2007

Jan. 28, 2007

thank you all for listening. Art

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Crunchy 0.8 release
by Andre Roberge Jan. 27, 2007

Jan. 27, 2007

Version 0.8 of Crunchy has been released. It is available on http://code.google.com/p/crunchy/ Crunchy, the Interactive Python Tutorial Maker, is an application that transforms an ordinary html-based Python tutorial into an interactive session within a web browser. Currently, only Firefox is supported. Crunchy is developed and tested on Windows XP and Ubuntu Dapper Drake, but should work on any suitable windows or UNIX system. Three major improvements have been made since version 0.7 had … [View More]

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Python for math teachers (Google videos)
by kirby urner Jan. 27, 2007

Jan. 27, 2007

So here're two simple vids, under 7 mins total, that I'm using to pitch Python to math teachers. Think of it as a new "blend" of ethnicities (more geek mixed in but still recognizably mathematical). http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2007/01/python-for-math-teachers.html Not high budget or anything. I want a typical viewer to think "wait a minute, I could do this too, and probably better than he does." Kirby

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