Mailman 3 August 2008 - Edu-sig

Fwd: [crunchy-discuss] Croquant: a set of MoinMoin plugins for an integration with Crunchy
by Andre Roberge Aug. 15, 2008

Aug. 15, 2008

Hi everyone, Florian Birée (see below) has completed parts of his Google Summer of Code project. If you are interested in having a wiki to store python snippets (they could be doctest-based problems) as learning tools and have students use Crunchy to run and modify the code snippets, this is the tool for you. Cheers, André P.S. Croquant is French for Crunchy. :-) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Florian Birée <florian.biree(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 7:33 PM Subject: [crunchy-discuss] Croquant: a set of MoinMoin plugins for an integration with Crunchy To: moin-user(a)lists.sourceforge.net Cc: crunchy-discuss(a)googlegroups.com Hello, I proud to announce the 1.0 release of Croquant <http://code.google.com/p/croquant/>. Croquant is a set of MoinMoin plugins (currently one parser, three macros and one theme) to allow to use a MoinMoin wiki to write tutorials for Crunchy (<http://code.google.com/p/crunchy/>). Crunchy is a software which transform a static html tutorial to learn the python language into a dynamic tutorial with the python interpreter embedded inside. With MoinMoin and Croquant, a tutorial can be written in an easy and collaborative way. This is a part of my Google Summer of Code 2008 for Crunchy. All feedback is welcome! Cheers, -- Thesa ~ Florian Birée e-mail : florian(a)biree.name Messagerie Instantanée Jabber/XMPP/Google Talk : florian.biree(a)jabber.fr Site web : http://florian.biree.name/ Carnet web : http://filyb.info/

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Re: [Edu-sig] IDE for GUI development in Python
by David Boddie Aug. 14, 2008

Aug. 14, 2008

On Tue Aug 12 08:10:16 CEST 2008, Matt K wrote: > *Massimo, QT* - I have the same comment as I gave to Winston, above. Do you > have any sample code from students who have written a relatively simplistic > GUI? In theory, it should be possible for students to grasp the kind of event- based programming you see with GUIs. Something I've wanted to do is to take the content of this talk and make it more tutorial-like: http://indico.cern.ch/contributionDisplay.py?contribId=33&sessionId=41&conf… These days, with a good interactive environment, the code snippets given in the talk are basically usable in the form in which they are presented. (Recent versions of PyQt4 can run the event loop in the interactive Python shell, for example, so the process of creating and showing windows is more or less interactive.) > *David* - I appreciate your comments re: BlackAdder and Qt. And my > reservation with Tk is not the typing... its that the students will not > understand the code that they are typing sufficiently well to be able to > modify it. BlackAdder is very old now, and PyQt users typically prefer Eric3, Eric4 or something like Sandbox: http://www.qtrac.eu/sandbox.html David

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Re: [Edu-sig] Experience with projecting student screens?
by Laura Creighton Aug. 14, 2008

Aug. 14, 2008

In a message of Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:31:56 PDT, "kirby urner" writes: >I wonder if anyone on edu-sig has experience in classrooms that allow >switching any student's screen to become the projected screen, even >dividing up the projected screen among students (as in some Xbox >games). > >I find students don't always like having their privacy disturbed nor >the big brother feel, but understand multi-user game play. <snip> > >Kirby My limited experience with this is that it makes a big difference if this is set up so that students can decide to show their own work on the big classroom screen, rather than having you as the teacher expose them to the whole class in a manner out of their control. I have seen such systems be completely abused by the students and turned into a way for the good students to excessively brag about their accomplishments to the other good students, and ridicule and heap scorn on those having difficulties. 'Welcome to the shark tank', indeed. Of course discipline has to pretty much have gone to hell before such experiments in cruelty become institutionalised, but if you do the 'travelling lecturer' bit, you may be unfortunate enough to run into such situations. Laura

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Storesonline, Ecommerce Software What Are The Things To Look Out For?
by Mister Nice Guy Aug. 13, 2008

Aug. 13, 2008

*Storesonline, Ecommerce Software What Are The Things To Look Out For?* A lot of ecommerce vendors had to scrap the software they were using because later on they found it lacking in important features and benefits. Their feedback detailed here will help those willing to upgrade and those who are starting their ecommerce activity. *Storesonline* never had to scrap any of their software. A fine ecommerce software package should take care of all parts of the interactions with the customer in a seamless manner so that he finds it a pleasure to transact business with you. The ecommerce solution should be easy to navigate and at the same time, give you the required information of his purchases for quick and easy order placement. *Storesonline* software is quick and easy for all. Website navigation is all-important for the customer. Product details should be easy to locate and simple to sort by price as well as other factors. It is also a good practice to offer alternatives to the product being viewed. Another feature to include would be products that are accessories. The ecommerce shopping cart software *Storesonline* is essential to any good shopping website. An efficient shopping cart software should track the items in the shopper's cart and allow him to leave the cart to resume shopping. But it should also permit the shopper to view warranty and return policy, and shipping information at any time during the transaction. Another useful feature is the ability to add items to a "wish list" and to display items previously purchased.

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Easy to read textbook, objects first
by Earl Strassberger Aug. 13, 2008

Aug. 13, 2008

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IDE for GUI development in Python
by Matt K Aug. 12, 2008

Aug. 12, 2008

Hi all, I'm looking at using a GUI IDE for helping my high school students to learn GUI programming. The kind of interface which Visual Basic offers... but in Python. I've found Blackadder so far, but its not free (or finished!) Do any of you have any (ideally free) suggestions? Thanks

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Re: [Edu-sig] IDE for GUI development in Python
by David MacQuigg Aug. 12, 2008

Aug. 12, 2008

At 07:28 PM 8/10/2008 -0700, kirby urner wrote: >Learning GUI programming fundamentals is best accomplished with a >straight text editor IMO (vim, scintilla, whatever). I'll second that. Learn just a few simple widgets in Tk. It's not that much typing. I've also used BlackAdder and Qt (years ago). BlackAdder was a mess. Qt has more polish than Tk, but the detail can be overwhelming for students. Don't forget IDLE, the built-in editor for Python. Superb! The only problem is if your GUI uses an event loop, there will be a conflict when you run it from IDLE, which also uses Tk event loops. Just run your GUI app from a command line instead of the Run command in IDLE, and things should be OK. >Dragging and dropping widgets from a tools palette is convenient, but >not the best way to learn GUI programming, as such IDEs tend to >insulate from the details, not teach them -- why VB in general is not >a good learning environment, a common mistake many schools make. > >John Zelle's book using Tk is a good one. Good choice. -- Dave >2008/8/10 Matt K <matt.kameron(a)gmail.com>: >> Hi all, >> >> I'm looking at using a GUI IDE for helping my high school students to learn >> GUI programming. The kind of interface which Visual Basic offers... but in >> Python. >> >> I've found Blackadder so far, but its not free (or finished!) Do any of you >> have any (ideally free) suggestions? >> >> Thanks >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig(a)python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> >> >_______________________________________________ >Edu-sig mailing list >Edu-sig(a)python.org >http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig

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K12 Open Minds Conference
by Vern Ceder Aug. 6, 2008

Aug. 6, 2008

Hi everyone, I know that this isn't 100% Python related, but I think the topic is close enough to be of interest to many of you, so I thought I'd pass this along. In September in Indianapolis, we will be having the second K12 Open Minds conference, dedicated the use of open source software in K-12 education (e.g. Python in my middle and high school classes, or more compellingly the OLPC's Sugar, and Indiana's use of Linux as the OS for 200,000 computers in high schools across the state). So I've included the full invitation letter from the organizers. Contact me off list if you want to know more, or contact the main organizers, Steve Hargadon and Mike Huffman, directly. And if someone wants to present on using Python in the K12 space, the deadline for proposals is August 15. Cheers, Vern Ceder ----------------------------------------------------------- Dear Educational Leader: Schools around the United States and the world are discovering the benefits of Open-Source Software. In Indiana alone, over 150,000 students use Open-Source Software every day. Not only does Open-Source Software save money, it allows schools to extend essential educational software to students' homes and into after-school programs, providing extended learning opportunities at no cost. Are you looking for ways to provide more technology with less money? Could your teachers benefit from a Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle, Sakai)? Do you want a solution for all of your students to access their school work from home? Is your school community looking for ways to increase student engagement and learning? Have you thought about developing an Open-Source Software strategy to increase technology access while controlling costs? Join us September 25-27, 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana for the K-12 Open Minds Conference! This is an unparalleled opportunity to talk with teachers, administrators and technology staff from around the U.S. and the world. We expect more than 600 attendees, from the US, Europe, Asia and North and South America. Dozens of sessions that address teaching and learning, leadership and technical issues related to open technologies make this conference a "must attend" event. Teaching and Learning sessions will feature experienced teachers from around the world demonstrating successful strategies and techniques. Technology and Infrastructure sessions will feature experts from around the world on issues such as: connecting to your local Windows or Mac authentication server, managing large and small network deployments, and using interactive whiteboards in classrooms in Linux and open-source environments, and more. Additional sessions designed for Leadership and Policy will demonstrate how policy initiatives and effective strategies for using Open-Source Software help to meet your educational objectives. Featured Speakers include: Donna Benjamin - Executive Director of Creative Contingencies and board member of Open Source Industry Australia; Alex Inman -- Director of Technology at Whitfield School, St. Louis, MO - an Essential School using open source; Chris Lehman -- Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA, and; Dr. David Thornburg - Director of Global Operations for the Thornburg Center and author of several books including, When the Best is Free. For more information and to register go to: http://k12openminds.org A special conference hotel rate of $97 is available at the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott through Monday, August 25, 2008. After that, rates may be higher. If you have any questions please contact Mike Huffman at 317.232.6672 or mhuffman(a)doe.in.gov -- This time for sure! -Bullwinkle J. Moose ----------------------------- Vern Ceder, Director of Technology Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804 vceder(a)canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137

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nouns and verbs
by kirby urner Aug. 4, 2008

Aug. 4, 2008

[ repost after delivery failure ] From: kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 8:20 PM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] nouns and verbs To: michel paul <mpaul213(a)gmail.com> Cc: "edu-sig(a)python.org" <edu-sig(a)python.org>, Glenn Stockton <glenn(a)globalmatrix.net> 2008/8/3 michel paul <mpaul213(a)gmail.com>: > In secondary math classes we often say "Math is a language", but we really > don't teach it that way. << SNIP >> > This semester, at a high school level, I do intend to teach math as a > 'language', and I'd like to get really clear about these kinds of things. > > Thanks very much for any feedback, > > Michel Paul Hi Michel, If you haven't already, I seriously recommend you check out the J language from Jsoftware.com, a direct descendant of APL's that is (a) self-consciously an "executable math notation" (this was Iverson's shoptalk) and (b) is very deliberately taught in terms of parts of speech, milks that analogy very creatively and intelligently. Verbs, nouns, adverbs... check it out! http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/Phrases Also, I did a few web pages on J myself at http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/cp4e.html -- Kenneth Iverson himself helped me with typos in 'Jiving in J', though I still think there's one or two left (my responsibility). I see nothing oxymoronic nor even perverse about recommending J on a Python list, as my position all along has been you need at minimum two widely differently languages, preferably more though, to get a sense of the freedoms one has, when being inventive in this lineage. Python and J would be a dynamite combo I've long considered teaching. Someone should try it, report back. As an intro math course, we're not expecting miracle levels of proficiency with either out the other end, however we already know both communities support a rich and relevant mathematics-related literature, complete with lots free / open source code. See Roger Hui's stuff especially, and our own Tim Peters. Kirby

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web2py 1.38
by Massimo Di Pierro Aug. 4, 2008

Aug. 4, 2008

Hello everybody, I posted web2py version 1.38 (www.web2py.com). It is a web framework originally developed at DePaul University as a teaching tool. If you are familiar with Django or Rails than you know what this is about. web2py is very easy to use because you unzip it, click it, and it starts web server, database, and you do everything through the web interface. Python is in the package and has no dependencies. The original idea behind web2py was not that of teaching how to use a web framework but to make the role of the framework so easy and transparent that it can be used as a tool for teaching intro to python programming. Even students without programming experience understand the concept of URL, Input/Output, storage. In web2py a function is called when you visit a url. The output is the resulting web page. They edit the code as they edit a wiki page. Instead of building sample loops over prime numbers, you can as easily loop and build an RSS feed, etc. If you want to use it let me know and I will send you a draft version of the book. Massimo

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