Fill in the Blank

[Edwin Pilobello]

I have a 2-hour, 3-session class called "Getting Ready for Computers".
It's one of the least expensive classes that Saturday Academy offers.
It's also the earliest Visual Basic intro course that a 4th grader can
access.  Hardly able to type, these young students delight at their
first "Hello World" or "Smiley on a button" program.  This quickly
dispatches the first session, then what?

I've tweaked this class for over three years.  I think it's time for a
new approach.  As stated, I want to create a class on tech literacy
targetted at the same novice market.  This time, I'm going to use
Squeak.

Fee-based VB experiences are limited to class time.  To encourage home
study, I've used freeware MSW Logo. It's a tricky switch defended by
"It's free, it's simple, it's for kids, etc."  The turtle gives
immediate feedback, the syntax is easy and that's pretty much where it
ends.  There are versions of Logo (i.e. Microworlds, Terrapin, Imagine)
that support drag&drop story-boarding and prototyping).  Unfortunately,
site licenses do not extend to the homes.

Rik Smoody is going to teach the very first Squeak class offered by
Saturday Academy.  He entitled it "Games Programming".  It's full and
probably has a waiting list.  His target is 6th to 8th grade students.
I want to target the 4th to 6th graders in the Fall.  Same inexpensive
format which would probably sell a few of Mark Guzdial's books.

Before I re-invent the wheel, does anyone have a class outline to share?
If not, I figure within a year, I'd will have taught 8 to 10 of these
classes.  I'll debrief you folks are I go.

Cheers,
Edwin



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-squeakland at squeakland.org
[mailto:owner-squeakland at squeakland.org] On Behalf Of Alan Kay
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 12:56 PM
To: squeakland at squeakland.org
Subject: Re: Fill in the Blank


By the way, one of the ways that I characterized the Dynabook years ago,
was:

      "An instrument whose music is ideas"

Cheers,

Alan

------

At 2:19 PM -0400 6/5/02, Anindita wrote:
>There's also the "standardized test way" of approaching an analogy by 
>rephrasing it:
>
>A piano is an instrument (or tool) with which one makes music. A 
>computer is an instrument (or tool) with which one makes. . .?
>
>I don't have something easy to fill in the blank since there are so 
>many things which can fill that blank (music, art, applications), but 
>it's another way of looking at it.  Music isn't in the tool, it's 
>something that you can express or create with that tool.  Is there a 
>word to summarize everything that can be expressed or created with a 
>computer?
>
>Could one invent a word to encompass all of that?
>
>Anindita
>
>>         At 3:42 PM -0700 6/4/02, Edwin Pilobello wrote:
>>  >I'm writing up a new course description for the Fall term.  I need 
>> your  >opinion on what fills the blank :  >
>>  >"Music is not in the piano" as "(blank) is not in the computer"
>>  >
>>  >Should it be knowledge, learning, wisdom, whatever?
>>  >
>>  >For a course title, I've considered "Pre-Dynabook Lab" or something
to
>>  >that effect.  I could use suggestions on the course title as well.
>>  >
>>  >Cheers,
>>  >Edwin Pilobello
>>  >Instructor, Saturday Academy
>>  >www.saturdayacademy.org
>>
>>
>>  --
>>


--