-----Original Message----- From: edu-sig-bounces@python.org [mailto:edu-sig-bounces@python.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Elkner Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2003 12:28 PM To: Edu-sig Cc: Toby Donaldson Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] re: Python Programming: An Introduction to ComputerScience
I completely agree with Toby on this. I've already managed to make Python the CS1 language at Yorktown High, but it hasn't reached beyond the hard core geek community. If we really want to popularize it to a broader audience, it needs to fill the space taken by VB (at the high school) or what Logo used to do (at the middle school).
I guess I don't see how Logo makes a good case. It never went anywhere much beyond middle school. No Hubble stuff is done in Logo. I guess my question is, what's being used outside the "hard core geek community" that CS1 doesn't reach? VB? Or is it just that programming itself is still not a very widespread activity, using any language? In my view, we need more programming in the mathematics curriculum, which means recognizing that writing programs is likewise a way of writing mathematics. Or, more accurately, I'd say both kinds of writing are similar kinds of symbolic activity which deserve a prime spot in K-12 education. In the math curriculum, the real competition is not some other language, but calculators (I guess the TI programming language might count -- but my impression is more HS math teachers than students actually bother with the programming part). Numeracy, the equivalent of literacy with regard to prose and poetry, involves programming, mathematics, data visualizations, puzzle solving, logic, simulations, and other such. Numeracy and literacy connect at many levels. Kirby