[Edu-sig] Tracing the Dynabook: A Dissertation

[Bert Freudenberg]

Am Jan 21, 2007 um 15:25  schrieb Arthur:

> Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>>
>> I think making easy and widely available this support for easy  
>> debugging
>> into a function and changing it and restarting all in a still running
>> application would be of great value to anyone learning through  
>> tinkering
>> with a Python-powered application (like an educational  
>> simulation). And it
>> would increase Python programmer productivity when developing  
>> medium to
>> large applications probably by a factor of at least 2X or 3X.
>
> The interest in Python for the Squeak folks seems only that there is a
> larger and more dynamic community of folks devoted to its use and
> continued development.

Actually, Squeak folks do fine. They're not flocking to Python, even  
though Paul (unfortunatly for us) left a few years ago. You may be  
confusing Alan Kay's reaching out to the Python community with what  
the Squeak community does. Two very different pairs of shoes.

> Somehow.
>
> The possibility that you should as a consequence transition, while  
> here,
> to learning mode from teaching mode might, I would think might,  
> occur to
> you.

We all are learners. I actually enjoy reading and learn from many of  
your posts. Likewise, the possibility that what Paul writes from his  
experience might actually be something for you to learn. I know it's  
hard to appreciate the advantages of a fully interactive and  
reflexive system unless you have actually used one. Paul has.

> But you are in a community that accepts the rejection of  
> empiricism, so
> I guess there is some amount of consistency in point-of-view.

Repeating this over and over does not actually make it true. People  
in OLPC have been empirically studying working with kids and  
computers longer than anyone else.

- Bert -