[Edu-sig] Python in education - looking forward

[kirby urner]

My initial take on this is it'll lead to PSF discussions of how to
'monetize floorspace' as those Hyatts cost dough, not counting rooming
costs, so every inch of an exhibit area is regarded as 'sponsoring'.
This year we had Oracle, a bunch of others.  However, OSCONs etc. have
always had floorspace for nonprofits, NGOs, the Geek Peace Corps
(whatever the real name) and publishers such as O'Reilly, the Zelle
one in Wilsonville, come in as quasi-academic and/or para-academic, so
we could think of the "university space" as real estate paid for by
publishers, looking to showcase their star academics ("come write for
us, you too could be a star").  In other words, I think "monetizing
every inch" is still easily done, but here we're opening it up to
participants with no money who might not even come to Pycon and/or
OSCON.  And yet their work is featured.  Sarah Flannery comes to mind
('In Code') i.e. these kids might get prizes, even as the same
publishers pays for the privilege of exhibiting their work.  It's the
same thing as Nike or Kellogg's buying a stake in a star athlete.  You
expect some degree of exclusivity, but on the other hand some stars
flit around (free agency).  Does this mean Princeton wouldn't pay for
floorspace, independently of its press?  I don't see why it'd be
either/or i.e. universities could sponsor stars, just as easily as
publishers.  User groups, especially in the sponsoring city, could
have discounted or free space maybe, seen as a PSF expense (PSF covers
Python.org mostly, an umbrella for user groups, but not university
departments per se, at least not today).

Just wanted to strike while the iron is hot.

On another topic, I've been negotiating with David Feinstein, a
WYSIWYG genius math guy, about working for HP on the "classroom of
tomorrow" project, which PPS is already starting to unveil, think I
posted the video (will go fetch it in a sec), and his input is all
about the kinesthetics of real chalk, how you lose something vital in
going to a keyboard, plus his math symbols, though Unicode, aren't
that accessible by keyboard either, i.e. it's all drag and drop from a
palette, which isn't the kind of inspired doodling you get from the
real deal.  I suggested coupling an OCR between the white board and
MathCad (Maple under the hood), which I'm sure many have thought of
doing.  But I gather he's more interested in designing an expressive
"doodle language" from scratch, one that does a better job of meeting
the engine half way (Mathematica bends over backwards to satisfy users
of traditional typography, but I get the feeling David is more
flexible than most Mathematica customers, maybe Shomar's influence).
OK, let's find that video....

This is from before Pycon:

--- In wwwanderers at yahoogroups.com, kirby urner <kirby.urner at ...> wrote:

Heads Up:

PPS is unveiling the new technology configuration, planned for many
classrooms, especially pre high school.

Elements:  laptop for teacher, data projector, smart board, clickers,
document camera, mike for teacher.

Clickers provide somewhat minimal interactivity.  The rhetoric is very
much towards bolstering the teacher's power, which is important to
parents, as they want controlled classrooms, not chaos.

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts/communications/techsurvey/PPS21st_Century_Classroom_Technology_Video.html

A lot of these equipment upgrades are somewhat orthogonal to my
advocacy programs (Oregon Curriculum Network etc.) i.e. I've premised
most of my thinking on such tools becoming available.  I also think
vendors will compete for optimal configurations and the toyz shown in
the above video won't be the only ones available (vendor lock in is
what parents might worry about, if wanting maximum efficiency for
those tax dollars).

In my view, once you have capable computers and colorful projectors in
math class, you're pretty much bound to start showing off polyhedra in
their full glory i.e. sticking to "flat stuff" is just not what it's
about.  I realize you can't invest in polyhedra on the stock market as
Platonic forms are not for sale, but the next best thing is "polyhedra
TV" i.e. computer-aware math content that gets you "beyond flatland"
(per ISEPP Summit, 1995 **).

Some of you are wondering about digital cameras (different from the
document cam), may have heard about the big equipment donation.
There's also not much talk about the LEP High model:  school server
with scattered terminals, Edubuntu etc.  Indeed, the software lineup
looks pretty weak.

Clearly there will be a few schools with a critical mass of geek
parents where more beefy FOSS solutions will supplant the wimpy stuff.
 Not all schools will be cut from precisely the same cloth, if
diversity is in any way still a goal.

Kirby

** http://www.grunch.net/synergetics/mathsummit.html

--- End forwarded message ---


On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Vern Ceder <vceder at canterburyschool.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> As Kirby mentioned a couple of days ago (sorry about the late follow-up), he
> and I have been kicking around some ideas with Steve Holden. In his PyCon
> talk as the head of the PSF, Steve mentioned that he felt outreach to the
> education community was key for Python's long-term development, and he is
> willing put the support of the PSF (monetary and otherwise) behind the idea.
>
> So this past week we talked over the need to carry forward the momentum we
> always feel after meeting at PyCon, as well as the need to break down the
> isolation that some of feel, and include those who can't make it to PyCon.
>
> Steve's idea was to have a poster session at PyCon to spotlight Python in
> Education over the previous year, and I agreed to do what I could to move
> this forward. As we thought about it, we saw it being a display area at
> PyCon where we could share success stories, whether they were posters, slide
> shows, software demos, whatever. Submissions would be invited (and welcomed)
> whether the submitter could actually attend PyCon or not.
>
> To my mind this has several benefits: first, all of us can keep this venue
> in the back of our minds as we go about what we do, and save the best bits
> for sharing with the whole Python community; secondly, having those success
> stories and projects before the whole community would raise the profile of
> education and probably gain us not only support, but helpers with good
> ideas; finally, the dialog that emerges could help guide the PSF as it
> considers supporting and encouraging projects relating to education.
>
> We might also submit a "The Year in Python Education" summary talk for
> presentation in the regular PyCon program as a way to tie things together,
> in addition to encouraging PyCon talks and lightning talks.
>
> So if you've made it this far (sorry for the length of this) I'd be
> interested any reactions before I start pestering the python-org list about
> it.
>
> Any thoughts? Any support? Any questions? Any objections?
>
> Cheers,
> Vern
>
> --
> This time for sure!
>   -Bullwinkle J. Moose
> -----------------------------
> Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
> Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
> vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137
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