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Reading this I get the impression, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you've never taught beginners programming. Of course long term (heck in fact fairly early on) they need to learn these nitty-gritty and sometimes frustrating lessons, but not in a 2 hour intro to programming for total beginners.
And I beg to differ--this field is for everyone, and increasingly moreso every day. Doesn't mean it's easy, but it is and can be for everyone.
Whether this specific proposal is technically feasible in a cross-platform manner with the state of the Python interpreter and import system is another question. But that's a discussion worth having. "Some people aren't cut out for programming" isn't.
When teaching an absolute beginners course, (which I personally have done many times often for people with little or no experience of computers), on of the best approaches that I have found is to run JupyterHub on a local (WiFi) LAN - this has several advantages: - the students can get started on some python programming without having to install anything on their own machines - they just need a browser. - No internet connection needed, (often the case in a corporate environment). - I have complete control over the packages present. - Once they have a taste they are ready, usually keen, to learn how to install python and it's libraries, including Jupyter. -- Steve (Gadget) Barnes Any opinions in this message are my personal opinions and do not reflect those of my employer. --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com