etoys-dev August 2007

etoys-dev@lists.squeakfoundation.org

20 participants
49 discussions

Re: [Etoys] some comments
by Alan Kay 28 Aug '07

28 Aug '07

Scratch, besides being a very neat "other system for kids" in Squeak, also has really fabulous documentation, website, etc. They have done so many things so well! Mitchel and I talked a lot about this in the offsite that our two groups have each year (held last week). We also discussed the big differences between having great documentation and having great curriculum materials. There are also important differences between a productively environment (Scratch is aimed at productivity) and an educational one (EToys is more aimed in this direction). Kathleen Harness from U of Illinois is a teacher who has done lots of great documentation for Etoys and is currently doing a large amount of stuff for the OLPC version. One thing that could help from this list is for people to submit scenarios of how they think the out of the box experience should take place. Cheers, Alan At 09:43 PM 8/26/2007, Mel Chua wrote: >Adam Hyde from FLOSSmanuals.net has offered >FLOSSmanual's services (and manpower) for making >documentation for OLPC software - wants to do >highly-graphical, minimally-verbal (and >therefore easy to internationalize) manuals for >XO stuff. I suggested Etoys as a good first >start, largely because of this and similar >mailing list threads; there's a lot of >information out there but no starter walkthrough >to get people comfortable playing with everything on their own. > >Is anyone on this list interested in putting >their notes & materials into such a "quickstart >manual"? Any suggestions for people to ping? > >-Mel > >On 8/27/07, Paulo Drummond ><<mailto:ptdrumm@terra.com.br>ptdrumm(a)terra.com.br> wrote: > >On Aug 26, 2007, at 10:07 PM, Bill Kerr wrote: > >>On 8/25/07, carla gomez monroy >><<mailto:carla@laptop.org> carla(a)laptop.org> wrote: >> >>However, for some people it can be quite >>intimidating to get a blank screen when they click on "Make A New Project." >> >> >>I'm wondering why the first step is always to >>make a painting - and then when you keep the >>painting you have an object and can then do >>more powerful things at that point. > >Imho, the first step is to understand a little >of this environment and what was the idea behind >Etoys. Depending on the age/grade, the deepness >varies. However, the teacher has a crucial role >here: to understand it first. The book "Powerful >Ideas in the Classroom" is of enormous value. > >The next expected step for a child (in this >environment) is to create an object. Children >usually like to pictorially represent their >world. They need to express it as they need to >situate themselves in the surrounding society. Contextualize. > >They can also use other predefined objects like >ellipses/circles, rectangles/squares etc to >complement their painting, or give a more >"realistic" display of their object-symbols. >Conversely, they may use the paint palete to >"personalize" some geometrical primitives they've place in their world. > >It has been demonstrated >(<http://www.squeakcmi.org>http://www.squeakcmi.org) >that kids at initial grades can use Etoys as a >starting point to understand it and to express >their ideas, paving the way to more advanced >representations using the very same environment. > >>A naive user might think it is just a paint >>program. Also some people don't like painting >>or are not good at it, eg. me. Also it's hard to paint well with a mouse. > >Children can use Etoys as a mapping tool. >Actually they don't give a penny about accuracy, >just because they don't need to. Adults >generally do, even not knowing a bit of its usefulness. > >>Why not have prepackaged sprites which can be >>loaded immediately (as well as the painting >>option)? Then the user is one step closer to >>the more powerful stuff. It also sends a >>message that it is not just a paint program - >>there has to be more to it than just loading a sprite >> >>LogoWriter, MicroWorlds and GameMaker all have prepackaged sprites > >Then Squeak Etoys would be another thing. When >not-so-young kids need a more sophisticated >expression-driven, more in the realm of >productivity authoring tools with many of the >programmatic aspects of Etoys, they may go to another great tool: Scratch. > >>I have given to the teachers in printed form >> * powerful ideas in the classroom >> >> >>I think *all* of the book, Powerful ideas in >>the classroom, should be available on the web. >>The car tutorial on squeakland is great but >>it's not enough. There are some good pdfs on >>squeakland too but the site is poorly organised > >Afaik, a new squeakland website is in the works. > >>and it took me ages to find them. I wrote a >>blog about the frustrating but eventually >>successful search for etoy resources here: >><http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/04/frustrating-but-eventually-successful…>http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/04/frustrating-but-eventually-successful… >> >> >>It would be good to have a comprehensive help >>manual in one place. Pop up help is good but >>sometimes more detail is needed. Such a manual >>would probably be used more by teachers than by >>students but that is still useful. > >I could not agree more. Etoys documentation is >really very scarce and sparse. With the help of >the Squeakland community worldwide, these things >are starting to show up here and there. It has >been posted in <http://laptop.org>laptop.org's >[Community-news] that the Etoys dev team has >started a discussion about this issue. > > paulo > >>-- >>Bill Kerr >><http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/>http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/ >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Etoys mailing list >><mailto:Etoys@lists.laptop.org>Etoys(a)lists.laptop.org >>http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/etoys > > >_______________________________________________ >Etoys mailing list ><mailto:Etoys@lists.laptop.org>Etoys(a)lists.laptop.org >http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/etoys > > >_______________________________________________ >Etoys mailing list >Etoys(a)lists.laptop.org >http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/etoys

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[Etoys] Small usability improvement sugestion
by Eduardo Silva 27 Aug '07

27 Aug '07

Currently, there is no visual separation on the title of a script between the object name and the script name. Car script1 So, if someone wants to drag a script, he has to make sure to click "Car", because if he clicks on "script1", it edits the text. This is one of those small things which make Etoys that little hard to learn in the beginning (eventually you learn to allways use the objects name as the draggin spot, and that next to it is to edit the scripts name). I don't know what to suggest. Having a box around "Car" or "script1" might make it seem they are blocks of code. But maybe having "script1" inside a box _with_ a grey background, just like the Search text entry box in the Viewer window has. It could work, since it will resemble that other Text entry box.

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[Etoys] small usability sugestion
by Eduardo Silva 27 Aug '07

27 Aug '07

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[Etoys] Inserting Image on Build 406
by Juliano Bittencourt 26 Aug '07

26 Aug '07

Hello, Someone know how can I insert a image from a file in the eToys version that is running in OLPC build 406? I'm part of the team that is working in the trial school of Porto Alegre - Brazil and we have a lot of B2s that are running build 406. I know that in build 542 is very easy to do this by copy&pasting the image, but in build 406 I was unable to figure out how to do this. The students are very interested in using the images they grab from the camera and the Internet into their etoys projects. Best, Juliano

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[Etoys] #2947 HIGH Untriag: EToys should not ask if the user wants to quit
by Zarro Boogs per Child 26 Aug '07

26 Aug '07

#2947: EToys should not ask if the user wants to quit ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Reporter: J5 | Owner: etoys Type: defect | Status: new Priority: high | Milestone: Untriaged Component: etoys-activity | Version: Keywords: | Verified: 0 ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- EToys is the only application which asks the user if they really want to quit. This breaks the idea that users don't really quit apps they just stop them and can return to them at any later date. Asking a user if they want to quit comes from the fact that legacy application would lose data if you quit when you didn't want to, so it was a "dangerous" operation which needed confirmation. The model in sugar is if you mistakenly quit you can always start it from the journal where you left off. -- Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2947> One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>

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[Etoys] [BUG] TransformationMorph changes border behavior
by karl 25 Aug '07

25 Aug '07

When for example a RectangleMorph is rotated its border behavior changes from a unrotated RectangleMorph. To see this, set the border of a RectangleMorph to 20 pixels. Scale it with the halo; border width is not scaled. Rotate the morph and try scaling again; border width is scaled. Also when unrotated the scaling handle stops when the morph is at it's smallest, a rotated morph scales down and up again when the mouse goes past the top left corner of the morph. Karl

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[Etoys] #2939 NORM Untriag: Etoys should use zero CPU when unmapped
by Zarro Boogs per Child 24 Aug '07

24 Aug '07

#2939: Etoys should use zero CPU when unmapped ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Reporter: bert | Owner: etoys Type: defect | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Untriaged Component: etoys-activity | Version: Keywords: | Verified: 0 ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Make sure we use -lazy VM option which will cause the VM to suspend while unmapped. Also verify the window manager actually unmaps our window. -- Ticket URL: <https://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2939> One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>

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[Etoys] #2653 NORM Trial-3: Sugar should recognize audio and video files as such
by Zarro Boogs per Child 20 Aug '07

20 Aug '07

#2653: Sugar should recognize audio and video files as such -------------------------+-------------------------------------------------- Reporter: tomeu | Owner: tomeu Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Trial-3 Component: sugar | Version: Keywords: | Verified: 0 -------------------------+-------------------------------------------------- Erik, which mime types are you using in Record? Justin, which mime types support Watch & Listen? Etoys people, which audio or video formats can accept Etoys as drops? Eben, 'Audio' and 'Video' sound right as names in english for these two categories of data types? -- Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2653> One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>

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Re: [Etoys] #2653 NORM Trial-3: Sugar should recognize audio and video files as such
by Zarro Boogs per Child 18 Aug '07

18 Aug '07

#2653: Sugar should recognize audio and video files as such --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Reporter: tomeu | Owner: Eben Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Trial-3 Component: sugar | Version: Resolution: | Keywords: Verified: 0 | --------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Changes (by tomeu): * owner: tomeu => Eben Comment: Eben, can you attach the icons for representing audio and video objects? -- Ticket URL: <https://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2653#comment:2> One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>

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[Etoys] #2806 NORM Trial-3: Rethink the use of Komika font
by Zarro Boogs per Child 18 Aug '07

18 Aug '07

#2806: Rethink the use of Komika font ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Reporter: ohshima | Owner: etoys Type: enhancement | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Trial-3 Component: etoys-activity | Version: Keywords: | Verified: 0 ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- For readability (1 vs. l, etc.) sake, and for the overall feel, the default font for Etoys should be vera sans. -- Ticket URL: <https://dev.laptop.org/ticket/2806> One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>

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etoys-dev August 2007