squeakland September 2012

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13 participants
10 discussions

Learnable Programming
by Bert Freudenberg 12 Nov '12

12 Nov '12

Great essay by Bret Victor on "Designing a programming system for understanding programs": http://worrydream.com/LearnableProgramming/ He clearly explains what makes a programming system "learnable". While Etoys does not do all of it, many of its features fit right in, in particular as compared to other widely used programming systems. An Etoys project can be always running, changes have effect immediately, all state is visible (through the readouts in viewers) and most of the state can be changed directly (e.g. by dragging up and down the number arrows), tiles have default arguments so they do something useful immediately, there is an explanation (balloon help) for each tile, etc. And maybe this essay inspires some improvements to Etoys :) - Bert -

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Re: [squeakland] [etoys-dev] Additions to Etoys Reference Manual
by Steve Thomas 19 Sep '12

19 Sep '12

On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 1:24 PM, karl ramberg <karlramberg(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 5:20 PM, Edward Mokurai Cherlin > <mokurai(a)sugarlabs.org> wrote: > > I have completed a first pass over the draft Etoys Reference Manual, > > adding as much information as I could easily find about Object types, > > program tiles, tools, menus, and so on, and adding outlines for a > > chapter on Etoys programming and a Glossary. More information is > > needed. > > > > I am in a strange position, learning Etoys by writing substantial > > portions of its Reference Manual, something that I do not think would > > be possible for any other programming system. I found the early > > tutorials a delight, up to the point where everything else was > > completely opaque to me. After learning a bit of Squeak, and getting > > just a few more hints, I found Etoys starting to make real sense, and > > now I can use a substantial subset of it. When I get through the parts > > of this manual that I can do, I will turn to creating Etoys projects > > to illustrate the issues I found missing, and to take up various > > education topics. Some will be in the manner of my Turtle Art > > tutorials and Tony Forster's, but of course Etoys supports doing far > > more than that. > > > > http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/TurtleArt/Tutorials > > > > Can anybody help with these Etoys objects that either need explanation > > or are simply not present in the versions I have access to? In > > particular, communication between Etoys sessions and users remains > > entirely opaque to me. > > > > Communications > > > > Attachment Adjuster > For connectors. > > > Badge > > Fridge > > NebraskaServer > These are all of a etoys networking experiment. > I do not think they are of much use to students unless they are > enhanced quite a bit > > > > > > Objects not found in Object Catalog--Can we remove these? > > > > Calendar > This is a basic calendar. > It has a few tiles associated with it > > > Dr. Geo http://www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=676.0 > > Dr Geo is a whole book of features. http://www.drgeo.eu/ > > > Flap > > Flaps are a very useful widget that you can use to hold and hide > objects of all sorts. You can have local flaps that hold objects in > just the current project ( viewers are local flaps). You can have > global flaps that you can access in all projects (the help flap and > the 'gold box ' are global flaps). Flaps are basically a PasteUpMorph > that can slide in and out from the edge of another PasteUpMorph. You > can use the same settings for flap panes as for PasteUpMorphs. > Flap tabs can be edited for name and color, edge bevel etc. > To have a "global flap" from the flap menu check "shared by all projects" this can be used to "copy" objects between projects. You need to be careful that whatever objects you copy between projects are "self contained" (ie: do not refer to any other objects, that you do not copy, in any scripts). > > > Graph > > Graphing > > H Number Linecan > Number lines allow you to have an alternate scale for the playfield they are in. For example drag a rectangle into playfield (the world, page in a book, holder or a playfield object) then open its viewer and look at the basic and graphing categories. You will see that "x" and "x on graph" are the same. Next drag in a "Horizontal Number line" (or Verical) and you will see the values for "x on graph change. You can change the "number line" using the number line category in its viewer. The "X-Y plane" in the Graphing category of the Object Catolog provides a pre-gridded playfield (ctually Graph Paper) with X-Y axis. Get the "X-Y plane"s Halo and click on the Eye dropper to adjust the grid sizes. There are some issues when you adjust the grid sizes and move the Number Lines which I wish were "better integrated" and also the playfield's gridding (from the menu ==> playfield options) is not the same as the gridding used for the "graph paper" lines. > Key press > Key press is used to deal with the problem of handling multiple key presses at the same time. This pops up for kids when they are trying to create multi-player games. Try using "last keystroke" from the input category for two or more keys then press both keys at the same time. Only the last one pressed wins. With Key Press you can detect multiple KeyPresses at the same time (limited I believe by the hardware). To change the key simply click in the white area and then "Press new key". Then to use in a script (with a Test block) go the the "Key Press" objects viewer ==> input category and use [key is pressed] tile. You can also detect how long a key is pressed as well (and reset that value to fire a message every n milli-seconds). > > Speech Bubbles > > I do not know much about these objects. > Way cool, you should check Ricardo's demo projects. These are similar to Scratch "Say/Think" tiles with the added benefit that they you can embed objects in them (which can also be scripted and thus have animated Speech and Though bubbles. > > > > > > Other > > > > Arrow Editor > > This is part of connectors. Could probably be hidden. Quite buggy. > > > Image How to substitute another image? > > > > Particles What is Kedama? http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1092381 > > > > Kedama: A GUI-Based Interactive Massively Parallel Particle Programming > System > > http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/VLHCC.2005.49 > > Purchase article: $19 > > > > http://community.ofset.org/index.php/Etoys_and_Kedama > > > > I plan to combine redundant accounts of particular features, move a > > few topics to what seems to me a more logical order, and add some more > > topics. I especially plan to explain how Etoys development tools work, > > and how one accesses Squeak development tools from Etoys. A tutorial > > on either Etoys or Squeak development is, of course, inappropriate for > > this manual, but I do want to demonstrate how one can look inside > > Etoys object definitions using Squeak. This question is somewhat > > confusing, because things may have different names and different > > structures in their Etoys and Squeak manifestations. Has anybody ever > > made a tool for exposing the structure of the Squeak definitions of > > Etoys objects? > > Some experiment have been done. Nothing I know of that is 'student ready'. > > > > > > > Lots more questions to come > > > Sounds great > +1 Thanks for all your efforts. Keep up the good work!!! > > > Karl > > . > > > > -- > > Edward Mokurai (默雷/निशब्दगर्ज/نشبدگرج) Cherlin > > Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. > > The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. > > http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks > > _______________________________________________ > > etoys-dev mailing list > > etoys-dev(a)squeakland.org > > http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/etoys-dev > _______________________________________________ > etoys-dev mailing list > etoys-dev(a)squeakland.org > http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/etoys-dev >

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From Artigas, Uruguay, music with XOs - Desde Artigas, Uruguay, musica con XOs
by Carlos Rabassa 13 Sep '12

13 Sep '12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atsvt-rQJpI Carlos Rabassa Voluntario Red de Apoyo al Plan Ceibal

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Actualizacion / Update: Plan Ceibal
by Carlos Rabassa 13 Sep '12

13 Sep '12

Nuestro informe sobre una charla con las últimas noticias sobre el Plan Ceibal: Versión en Español Carlos Rabassa Voluntario Red de Apoyo al Plan Ceibal Montevideo, Uruguay Our report on a talk with the latest news from Plan Ceibal: English Version Carlos Rabassa Volunteer Plan Ceibal Support Network Montevideo, Uruguay

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World menu
by mokurai＠earthtreasury.org 12 Sep '12

12 Sep '12

I have discovered by trying many combinations that alt-shift-w brings up the World menu in Etoys on Ubuntu. I have added that and some other information to http://booki.flossmanuals.net/etoys-reference-manual/_edit/ and I am about to add the keyboard shortcuts for the XO. (I have two of them, which I have named Thing1 and Thing2.)...First pass, done now. Apparently I now know how to apply all that I know of Squeak (not a lot, but increasing) within Etoys, by bringing up menus that allow me to bring up everything else. Is there a design document for Etoys explaining what its intention is? Am I right in thinking that it is meant to provide a greatly restricted programming environment on the surface, where only a few Squeak/Smalltalk objects and methods are available without going behind the scenes, chosen for younger children? -- Edward Mokurai (默雷/निशब्दगर्ज/نشبدگرج) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks

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[Squeakland News] Squeakfest Argentina 2012 Day 1
by Rita 10 Sep '12

10 Sep '12

Spam detection software, running on the system "europa.mgmt.inetu.net", has identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn't spam) or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see the administrator of that system for details. Content preview: The first day was the day of presentations, starting with myself in the morning and ending with Randy's at the evening. I cannot thank Sebastian, Ricardo and Matias from the Physical Etoys team enough for all their help with the translation! Gabriela Arevalo did an awesome job preparing everything for the conference, including simultaneous translation of the talks. With the help of Matias, this worked really well! Between the two presentations we had workshops. Stephen directed another Dr. Tecnico / Etoys workshop through videoconference with me as the local robot. It worked very well, the participants were very engaged and created different solutions for the given problem of steering a robot to a certain goal. All material from Squeakfest Argentina can be found at http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira/ [...] Content analysis details: (5.9 points, 5.0 required) pts rule name description ---- ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- 3.5 BAYES_99 BODY: Bayes spam probability is 99 to 100% [score: 0.9992] 0.0 FREEMAIL_FROM Sender email is commonly abused enduser mail provider (ritafreudenberg[at]googlemail.com) 1.6 HTML_IMAGE_ONLY_24 BODY: HTML: images with 2000-2400 bytes of words 0.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message 0.8 RDNS_NONE Delivered to internal network by a host with no rDNS 0.0 T_REMOTE_IMAGE Message contains an external image The original message was not completely plain text, and may be unsafe to open with some email clients; in particular, it may contain a virus, or confirm that your address can receive spam. If you wish to view it, it may be safer to save it to a file and open it with an editor.

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Learning Squeak and Etoys
by mokurai＠earthtreasury.org 07 Sep '12

07 Sep '12

I have been trying to learn Etoys, Squeak, and Smalltalk, and finding it heavy going. After considerable exploration, I have found Squeak by Example, Programming in GNU Smalltalk, OLPCEtoys, and the Etoys Reference Manual (FLOSS Manuals). So now I have seen, but not fully understood, how to create objects and methods; various development tools, viewers, inspectors, and so on; and some of the structure of various Smalltalk-based systems, particularly Morphic. With what I know now, plus my knowledge of other programming languages, I can see a path to understanding most of command-line Smalltalk and graphical Squeak development. But so far, I do not see how to do Etoys development. Bert Freudenberg clarified several questions for me yesterday: Many Etoys projects were built in Squeak, not in Etoys at all. Fine. So then what makes a Squeak construct suitable to be made into an Etoys project, and how do you put it into the library? Smalltalk was meant to be taught by experienced teachers, not discovered by students. Fine. But how do the teachers learn it? I found out about the keyboard shortcuts in Etoys by reading the incomplete draft Etoys Reference Manual at http://en.flossmanuals.net/etoys-reference-manual/ They are in the User Interface Chapter. So now I know how to open a System Browser and a Workspace from Etoys, and how to get at everything that is on various menus. Unfortunately, this draft manual does not give the shortcuts for Linux, just for Mac and Windows. Also, there appear to be serious errors and omissions in the tables and lists. I have not found out how to open a World Menu. Also, every time I try to open an Event Theater in Etoys on Ubuntu, Etoys crashes. (Etoys for Sugar on Ubuntu won't even open properly. I'll have to try Fedora in VirtualBox.) I will have many more questions in coming days. -- Edward Mokurai (默雷/निशब्दगर्ज/نشبدگرج) Cherlin Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks

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Congreso Educacion en Salto, Uruguay - Dr. Alan Kay
by Carlos Rabassa 07 Sep '12

07 Sep '12

TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL MÁS ABAJO I wish to call your attention to the III National Congressl: Education and the 21st Century "Decoding the future: keys to transform education" It will take place in the City of Salto, Uruguay, on October 23 and 24, 2012. May I point out, within the congress´s website, the Videoconferencias tab, where you will find: Dialogue with Dr. Alan Kay Being the translator of this dialogue into Spanish, I have the honor of reading it as it happens. I can tell you it is very valuable, not only for teachers who I´m certain know the influence of Dr. Kay in the subject of computers and education, but for all uruguayans who wish to see the greatest success of Plan Ceibal. Also to those overseas, who look at our Plan Ceibal as an example to follow. Among what I learned, translating Dr. Kay, I wish to point out one of his remarks to teachers who want to become updated, which is valid for all of us: Our experience over the last 40+ years indicates that most teachers are much better set up for incremental learning each day rather than trying to cram for two or three weeks in the summer.. The Dialogue format, naturally divided into the messages Dr. Kay sends periodically, is ideal to enjoy them in depth, in installments. Stay in touch, Carlos Rabassa Volunteer Plan Ceibal Support Network Montevideo, Uruguay Rap Ceibal TEXTO EN ESPAÑOL Deseo llamarles la atención sobre el III Congreso Nacional: Educación y Siglo XXI "Decodificar el futuro: claves para transformar la educación" que tendrá lugar en la Ciudad de Salto, 23 y 24 de Octubre de 2012. Dentro del sitio del congreso deseo destacar la pestaña Videoconferencias, donde encontrarán: Diálogo con el Dr. Alan Kay Como traductor al Español de este diálogo, tengo el honor de irlo leyendo a medida que se genera. Puedo decirles que vale mucho la pena, no solo para los maestros que seguramente conocen la influencia del Dr. Kay en el tema de computadoras y enseñanza, sino para todos los uruguayos que deseamos ver el mayor éxito del Plan Ceibal. También para aquellos en el extranjero que miran a nuestro Plan Ceibal como ejemplo a seguir. Entre las cosas que aprendí, traduciendo al Dr. Kay, deseo destacar una de sus observaciones para los maestros que deseen actualizarse, pero que vale para todos nosotros: Nuestra experiencia de los últimos 40+ años, indica que la mayoría de los maestros están mucho mejor preparados para aprendizaje incremental cada día que para aprendizaje apretujado en dos o tres semanas durante el verano. El formato del Diálogo, naturalmente dividido en los mensajes que el Dr. Kay envía periódicamente, es ideal para disfrutarlos a fondo en entregas. Hasta pronto, Carlos Rabassa Voluntario Red de Apoyo al Plan Ceibal Montevideo, Uruguay Rap Ceibal

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Antikythera Mechanism in Etoys
by Luis Galindo 05 Sep '12

05 Sep '12

Hey guys! I received in my <http://goog_2065993431> Blog<http://worldinventor.wordpress.com> a proposal to modify an Antikythera Mechanism eToys project to add user input for date time and to display date time with start / stop/ fast forward/ fast reverse. Anyone interested in contributing to this project? Project URL: http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/sw/ameso/Antikythera.045.pr Source: http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/sw/ameso/ Have a nice weekend :-) Luis

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Join my network on LinkedIn
by Luis Galindo via LinkedIn 01 Sep '12

01 Sep '12

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squeakland September 2012