[Edu-sig] Django or Web2Py for PyWhip

[David MacQuigg]

kirby urner wrote:
> At issue is whether try-over-the-web is a way you need to go, granted
> other language communities are trying it.
>
> You've got Python out of the box if you're a Linux user, and so the
> question is, if you're not a Linux user, do you even matter?  When it
> comes to server side architectures, probably not.
>   

The big difference between doing it "in the cloud" and doing it with a 
downloadable app on the student's computer is teacher interaction.  
Sure, you could do even that with the right kind of networking, but we 
will still need a central server if we want instructors to have a "wide 
and deep" view of the students work in progress, not just a clipping 
sent in an email.  The immediate problem might be difficulties with 
recursion, but if the teacher drills down into the lesson on for-loops 
and sees some misunderstanding there, she might suggest that the student 
do a few more problems in that area first.

Here's another scenario.  Imagine a diverse set of students, with an 
equally diverse collection of laptops, desktops, OS's, whatever.  When a 
student has some difficulty with his homework, he presses the HELP 
button, and within minutes a "black belt" PyKata instructor is looking 
at the student's work, and offering advice.  These instructors could be 
former students making a little money as tutors, or just doing it as a 
favor for their younger classmates, or maybe helping the sophomore team 
get ready for a competition.

I'm not seeing much downside to doing this as a web app, so I haven't 
given much thought to making it a self-contained downloadable app.

-- Dave

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