Squeak ideas for a classroom/clubhouse

[John Steinmetz]

>1) How does one act as a facilitator in such an open setting with Squeak,
>so as to allow diverse views of what each wants to do, but still make sure
>that there is some learning (and not just air guitaring) going on? There is
>so much you can do with Squeak (no ceiling), but how does one try to nudge
>it along lines that will lead to good learning -- or is that a
contradiction in terms?

Think of a good question or a good project, preferably one with 
multiple good solutions. In the early stages this might be fairly 
tightly constrained ("Draw a car and steering wheel, and use the 
wheel to drive the car.") Later projects, when users have more 
experience and know the tools available, can be more open-ended.

To make sure learning happens, the project contains a challenge: some 
particular thing must be accomplished. It must be easy for students 
to know if they have met the challenge ("My car isn't obeying my 
steering wheel!"), even though they may take different paths to the 
solution. They don't have to invent the means to meet the challenge; 
they can help each other and learn from each other.

Another way to check on the learning is to give a followup project, 
to see if students are able to use what they supposedly learned in 
the first project.

Facilitation mostly consists of asking questions (What causes that 
turning? What would make it turn more slowly? what's another way to 
do the same thing?) Sometimes, of course, one needs to demonstrate 
how the user interface works or how a particular tile works. It's 
best when the coach doesn't provide answers, but helps students solve 
problems for themselves.
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