Hi everyone,

Scott Wallace & Rita Freudenberg pointed me to the recent thread on  
squeak-dev about Squeak, Etoys, and the future.  Quite a good read.    
Even missed a lunch meeting because I was so caught up with it.

For the last six months, I've been helping to create Squeakland  
Foundation, the spin-off from VPRI to champion Etoys and education.   
As a group, we've talked quite a bit about the issues raised in this  
thread.

Who's we?   http://squeakland.org/about/people/

Until now, we've been mostly getting our act together, planning  
Squeakfest Brasil and Squeakfest USA (squeakfest.org), and creating  
new educational materials.   VPRI has been a big part of this process,  
spending considerable time & money helping us become self-sufficient,  
along with helping us retain the spirit that led to the creation of  
Squeak and Etoys.  Our goal is to become much more collaborative in  
our decision-making, with both educators and developers.

So let's start now ... here's the view from Squeakland.  Please  
respond with as much passion and rancor as you like.   We want to hear  
all sides.

In my opinion ...

** Etoys has been extremely successful.  There are many, many examples  
of inspiring work around the world.

I came to VPRI's attention because of my work at Waveplace, where last  
year we trained many teachers and kids in some difficult places, like  
Haiti and Nicaragua.  I've lived and breathed Etoys, teaching adults &  
kids, experiencing first hand what it's like to have a whole room  
hitting the same stumbling block at the same time.  But here's the  
thing ... with the right mentoring they *get through* the stumbling  
blocks and reach the "light bulb" moment when they experience mastery  
and become hooked.

Our first-hand experience has been overwhelmingly positive.  But never  
mind words ... what's missing from this talk are the children  
themselves:

Have a look here:  http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=80 
    (six minutes)

or here:  http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=94   
(thirty seconds)

The look on the girl's face in the longer video (around 5:32) really  
tells the whole story for me.  Transformation.


** Etoys is more than visual programming for kids.   Squeakland's  
focus is to teach *with* Etoys.

Towards that end we've begun work on a full-spectrum course that uses  
Etoys to help teach what teachers already need to teach:  language  
arts, social studies, science, math, etc.  We want to help the whole  
school, not just the computer lab.

More here:  http://confluence.immuexa.com/display/sq/Squeakland+Courseware

and here:  http://www.etoysillinois.org/library.php


** Etoys is very effective for younger children (6 to 12 years old)

Our recent focus has been largely for this age range, as we believe  
Etoys has benefits over Alice and Scratch.  It's also the age when the  
most profound transformations can occur, when creative problem solving  
can be reinforced in ways that last through a child's whole education.


** Squeakland Foundation can help teach both Squeak and Etoys

When choosing the name for the new organization, we purposely kept  
"Squeak" in the name because we believe in the transition from Etoys  
to Squeak, and foresee a future where the efforts of Squeakland will  
help teach & inspire Squeak as well.  We see Squeak as a natural  
extension of Etoys ... many educators and administrators have  
expressed interest in this.   Yes, Alice and Scratch are suited to  
teaching programming to middle schoolers and high schoolers, but so is  
*Squeak*, with the right focus and training materials.  We'd like to  
help paint this picture ... the "what next?" when kids outgrow Etoys.   
Please help us.


** Etoys could use improvement

We're well aware of the stumbling blocks for new users of Etoys.  A  
colleague once described Scratch as "low entry, low ceiling" and Etoys  
as "high entry, high ceiling".   Much of our discussions have centered  
around lowering the barriers to entry, which includes user interface  
fixes, better tutorials, better documentation, etc.

When I first met Alan Kay, I told him Squeakland needed a better  
website.  He quickly responded, "Maybe you could help us with  
that."  (How could I say no?)

Now I put it to you ... "maybe you could help us with Etoys" ... we  
genuinely need your help.   Your work will help inspire children from  
around the world, like the little girl in the Nicaragua movie.

Please let us know you're out there by clicking "contact" on  
squeakland.org.

You can also look over our evolving wiki & issue tracker & newsletter:

http://wiki.squeakland.org

http://tracker.squeakland.org

http://squeakland.org/news/newsletter/


If something seems to be missing, it's because we're waiting for you.

Thank you for your time,
Timothy

--
Timothy Falconer
Squeakland Foundation
http://squeakland.org
610-797-3100