Etoy issues

[John Steinmetz]

In order to get an etoy to do something, you have to put a script 
together. You do this by assembling script components (the tiles), 
not by writing text. One of the central ideas is to make it very easy 
to create etoys, but another central idea is to encourage thought and 
learning--etoy builders have to consider how to make the etoy do what 
they want it to do, and adjust the instructions until they work.

Some very simple etoys don't require creating a script at all. You 
can, for instance, create an object by drawing, and then affect its 
behavior and appearance by modifying the values in its viewer. For 
instance, you can change its color or change its size, or start it 
rotating and change the speed of rotation. All this can be done 
without creating a script. In effect, the viewer is an 
automatically-created script that shows the default state of the 
object. One way to start new users s to create simple etoys for them 
to play with by modifying values in the viewer. (You can even drag 
some of the numbers out onto the screen so users can change numbers 
and see what happens without even opening a viewer.)

I hope that helps a bit!

	John Steinmetz


>I'm  really interested in getting into the etoy environment so that 
>I can determine whether it's something I would introduce into the 
>school I'm currently working with. I want to know how much can be 
>done without doing much if any scripting.
>I've looked at the squeakland etoy tutorial, however, it leaves much 
>uncovered. Any suggestions as to where else to look for 
>documentation or would it be more profitable to post questions as 
>they arise?
>Thanks,
>Phil


--