[Edu-sig] Learning software for 10-13 year olds

[Jason Cunliffe]

Greetings

> > My older son just turned 13, and the younger is 10.  I find my own
> > computer skills so inadequate for my needs, because of this I want
> > my kids to come be very computer literate.

I have an unusual but serious suggestion for your friends..

1. POSER 5
http://www.curiouslabs.com/go/poser5?df=1
$319
[or buy Poser 4 for $99 and upgrade later if it is a success.]

Poser is a remarkable 3-D character animation software.
Programmable digital puppet and animation  environment.

I was fascinated by puppets and scale models at that age.
Kids now are surrounded by computer games, Playstation and films like the Matrix
etc. Poser goes behind the scenes to let you make your own.

You can learn so much about essential computer skills like experimentation,
trial and error, naming things well, import/export, format and filetypes,
component re-user, planning and story/script/program development. It develops
interface and resource management skills they will need for the rest of their
lives if they work with computers..

But that sounds heavy. It's not,. Poser offers immediate hands-on fun while
teaching one to build things in a modern digital environment. Great tool for
kids together to share using and the creative building experience. I imagine
parental encouragement and the kids own sense of play will guide them very well
to develop key skills.

Under the hood is lots of math and cool engineering. Poser's Python scripting
provides access to that, but they will have to grow into that.

http://www.curiouslabs.com/

Pros:
- Lots of Fun, young kids will be able to immediately get results, but this is a
sophisticated software they can grow into for a long time.

- Teaches about management of resources, input/output, libraries etc.

- Community
download and import characters, accessories, objects, motions and more from the
web

- Very object-oriented, hands-on inheritance, behaviors, nested attributes,
building and re-use of objects, etc

- Encourages both experimentation, variations and advance planning

- Python API allows incredible script control of Poser.
"Python Script Support: The customized Poser Python object-oriented scripting
language lets you perform and automate advanced Poser functions. Manipulate
scene objects and export data for your own use. "


Cons:
- Not directly oriented for building websites, but great for  making content for
them:
"Web Enabled: Use Viewpoint Experience Technology to export Web-deployable
characters and animated 3D content for your Web pages. Export 2D Macromedia's
Flash Web animations directly from Poser scenes."

- Python Scripting is an powerful feature, but requires learning to program
Python elsewhere first.


best wishes
Jason