[Edu-sig] PySqueak: PataPata project with code on sourceforge
Paul D. Fernhout
pdfernhout at kurtz-fernhout.com
Sat May 6 19:03:40 CEST 2006
There's no going back now. :-) I just committed some code to SVN on
sourceforge so the "PataPata" project is here to stay.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/patapata/
(You can't easily get sourceforge to remove something once it has code, so
I've held back till now, though I requested the project about ten days ago.)
The sourceforge blurb is: """PataPata brings constructivism to the Python
platform, inspired by Squeak Smalltalk, but going beyond it in a Pythonic
and abstraction-oriented way. PataPata can mean "Python Abstractly
Touchable Applications -- Personalizable And Teachable Anywhere". """
(I'll probably be reworking what the letters mean as an acronym with
community feedback, that's just a first cut. :-)
You can view the first proof of concept code for prototypes here:
http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/patapata/PataPata/proof_of_concept_001.py?view=markup
Essentially it is just a few lines of Python defining a Prototype class
and putting up a prototype widget with a TK widget class as a parent. Even
that has issues, but it is a first step, but I'm trying to follow a
"release early and often" mantra. Likely the project folders will soon get
reorganized as the project grows, but SVN makes that fairly painless to do.
Please note that this PataPata project is intended for the vision of
PySqueak I have been outlining here, focusing on taking *ideas* from
Squeak and Self and moving them to Python, as well as trying to go
*beyond* the ideas in a Pythonic and constructivist way (in a "burn the
disk packs approach"). The guiding theme is intended to be on making tools
compatible with unschooling or "free schooling".
School affiliated people are welcome to participate too, of course, if
they find these constructivist ideas of use in the classroom for education
and want to discuss such ideas. Or even if, sigh, they want a place to put
curriculum materials for the classroom directly related to PataPata. It
seems even Grace Llewellyn is writing a book related to getting the most
out of your time in school: :-)
http://www.edweek.org/tm/news/instruction/2004/03/01/05grace.h15.html
But, in any case, supporting mainstream classroom specific issues (e.g.
grading) is not something I myself will prioritize or encourage.
If anyone wants to set up another PySqueak type project to do more of a
direct port of Squeak and Croquet to Python, as well as to focus more on
any specific schooling-related issues faced by the current Shuttleworth
initiative, then by all means, please do so. And no hard feelings if
someone else gets paid to do that. I might even try to
contribute constructively to such a project occasionally. :-)
While I've been taking advantage of discussions on the edusig list at the
start to get some ideas kicked around (and thank you all for your
forbearance :-), I just created a patapata-discuss list at sourceforge
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/patapata-discuss
(though it will take about a day to show up apparently), so I'll start
posting new stuff to there once the existing threads wind down here.
By the way, "Pata Pata" is means "touch touch", which I think is
appropriate for a project focusing on constructivist and direct
manipulation Self-like and Squeak-like ideas. See:
http://songsforteaching.homestead.com/PWM2PataPata.html
for the South African song by Miriam Makeba that inspired the name.
(There is even a link to a starting snippet of the project theme song
there, from the Putumayo world music CD series we listen to. :-)
--Paul Fernhout
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