squeakland April 2003

squeakland@lists.squeakfoundation.org

104 participants
293 discussions

A good book on Squeak?
by Brucestro＠aol.com 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Thanks for the suggestions about the books, Kim! I'll read them before our Squeak seminar next month!!! (And by virtue of this posting, encourage others signed up for the seminar to do the same!) Cheers! Bruce Strothenke Teachers College Regarding: Squeak:? Object Oriented Design with Multimedia Applications see this amazon url: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130280283/qid=1048285977/sr=2-2/ref…"> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130280283/qid=1048285977/sr=2-2/ref… 2_2/103-7626248-0503005</A> Mark used this book at a text and intro to Squeak for his first/second year C.S. students at Georgia Tech. Mark and I coedited: Squeak Open Personal computing and MutiMedia, also published by Prentice Hall (and referenced on that same amazon.com page0 This book is more a "history" of how Squeak came to pass with contributions from several of the open source contributors.? There are chapters on porting Squeak, sound and music in Squeak, etc., etc.

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My contribution to recent comments/questions, etc.
by sheine.mankovsky2＠tdsb.on.ca 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

I'd like to add a few comments with respect to the contributions folks have made in the last little while. First, on the matter of a book (text) to "help" teachers use Squeak in the classroom, I would suggest that it's not useful to go that route. The computer is the book. What is a book? According to Neil Postman in Amusing ourselves to Death, "books...are an excellent container for the accumulation, quiet scrutiny and organized analysis of information and ideas. He goes on to say that "it takes time to write a book, and to read one; time to discuss its contents and to make judgments about thier merit, including the form of their presentation. A book is an attempt to make thought permanent and to contribute to the great conversation conducted by the authors of the past". Postman doesn't say anything about books containing knowledge. So, if the book is a container, it seems to me that without abandoning the book, we can switch to another one, just as we did to the book. In conventional classrooms in our public education systems books are used as though they do contain knowledge. And, we use curricula to further define, read limit, the knowledge that we make available to students. It is not a natural process. My concern is that in all of this we shortchange our kids, as we (adults) were shortchanged. You can have a look at what I wrote at on this at http://journals.cms.math.ca/cgi-bin/vault/public/view/Notesv34n8/body/HTML/1 5?template=Notes. After I came back from L.A. last January, I decided that it was important for me to use Squeak to be able to really talk about its potential for our kids in the Toronto District School Board. Seeing the kids use Squeak had made a powerful impression on me. They were having a great time "making" their learning. I also had a great time sitting beside one of B.J.'s students and asking questions about what he was doing, why, etc. As I see now, the experience also left me very angry about some of my own experiences as a student--starting in kindergarten. And it didn't get all that much better when I started playing around with Squeak. Fact is, I just plain couldn't do it. But I believe therefore it is all the more important for me to contribute to changing the learning environments we create for our kids. I think John Steinmetz talked about the need to create a supportive infrastructure. Discussion on change isn't moving very quickly, nor is action. None of us is surprised by that. The discourse continues to focus on education (schooling) rather than learning, and on operational/structural issues. It should focus on creating a new vision for learning in the digital, global age, and on the means that we need to create for supporting the vision. I am finding it a lonely, frustrating, generally emotionally painful road. Not fun. So, if anyone feels a need to vent, curse, etc., I've got lots of time for you. Drop me a line anytime. A few days ago there was some discussion in a Toronto daily about kids' math deficiencies, and, of course, who was to blame. The article by Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail discussed poor math skills http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030318/COWE NT18/TPColumnists/?query=margaret+wente. Several letters ensued. http://globeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/hubsv3/tgamHub?hub=Search&quer y=meinig&go.x=13&go.y=11 and http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030319/WEDLETS-12/ /?query=mendelsohn. I believe that adult products of the "schooling" approach to learning will have great difficulty moving comfortably and productively into environments like Squeak. And if adult folk are going to rely on a book, ie text, for support, I would speculate that the chances are even slimmer. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Sebastian, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you and your kids have worked only on-line. And they aren't fussing too much about whether Squeak is a research environment or a productivity tool. That's adult prattle. They're just doing it, and enjoying their discoveries as they make them. Finally, l agree that we very much need to permit ourselves to carry our childhood with us throughout our lives. Sometimes we should even flaunt our childhood shamelessly. I do from time to time, and love doing it:) Take care, eh! Sheine

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I want to document but I need to learn first!
by Alan.Kay＠squeakland.org 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Thanks Brent -- At 9:44 AM -0500 3/11/03, Brent Vukmer wrote: >Jerry -- > >Could you post your field notes from your eToys demo? Also it would >be great to see what the teachers' questions were. > >You may have already found this on the Web, but Alan Kay did a >fairly detailed tutorial/exploration of eToys-and-Squeak for Tamika >Knox's class problem. See http://www.squeakland.org:8080/super/200 . I hate to say this but I pretty much forgot what I did here -- even that I did it -- and certainly did forget this link (life has been complicated the last 2 years ...). This is actually a pretty good start at some of the things that Jerry wants and needs. I think the reason that I didn't link this up is that I didn't get done with the general stuff and didn't hand it off to anyone else .. then it got forgotten. But, it's on a swiki so it is open to be added to and changed for the better ... Maybe we should link this into the squeakland.org site even in its unfinished state and hope someone (perhaps with the energy of Sebastian's students) will add to it. Cheers, Alan > >I found that link via Google. I suspected that it was on the >Squeakland Swiki, but I couldn't find the link when I navigated >around the Squeakland website -- neither >http://squeakland.org/author/swikis.html nor >http://squeakland.org/author/swikiserver.html points to the Swiki >homepage URL ( http://squeakland.org:8080/super ). > >-----Original Message----- >From: Jerry Balzano [mailto:gjbalzano@ucsd.edu] >Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 9:44 PM >To: squeak-dev(a)lists.squeakfoundation.org >Cc: squeakland(a)squeakland.org >Subject: I want to document but I need to learn first! > >[snip] > >I have some "field notes" from an attempt I made to show etoys to >teachers-to-be in UCSD's Teacher Education Program that I would love >to share with people on this list. Some of the contents border on >painful, but if I could only answer all *their* questions (and >remember, if I am twice-, these teachers are three-times-removed >from Squeak-insiderness), > >[snip] --

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archived webcast: Papert/Kay talks in Toronto
by sheine.mankovsky2＠tdsb.on.ca 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

I have inquired re the archived webcast that I had understood was to have been posted sometime last week. I will let you know when I know. In the meantime, please feel free to investigate... On another note, I read Jerry, John and Alan's postings today. They were very interesting and thought provoking. John, as usual, your comments were both empathetic and lucid. I'd like to add some comments when I have had an opportunity to refine my own thoughts. G'Night, Sheine

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Volunteering for the documentation team
by Alan.Kay＠squeakland.org 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

You just did, and you're "hired". Let's chat more off this list. Cheers, Alan ------ At 4:18 PM -0500 3/11/03, Juntunen, William wrote: > [Juntunen, William] I'm trained as a teacher of English with about >nine years of experience in Michigan. I'm also employed as a programmer with >about six years of experience. How does one apply to work on the >documentation team for eToys? --

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Oops re the reminder for the Kay/Papert talks....
by sheine.mankovsky2＠tdsb.on.ca 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

I checked after the talk re the availability of the archived webcast. It should be available next week But don't worrry, I'm on it..... Sheine > -----Original Message----- > From: Phil Firsenbaum [SMTP:tacmanphil@mac.com] > Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 8:47 AM > To: squeakland(a)squeakland.org > Subject: Re: Oops re the reminder for the Kay/Papert talks.... > > Missed the webcast...hopefully it will be archived. > Please let us know. > Thanks > > > On Tuesday, February 25, 2003, at 10:48 PM, Mankovsky, Sheine wrote: > > > The website for the Kay/Papert talks is http://real.oise.utoronto.ca/. > > You > > will also be able to access the website through the Fields Institute > > website > > at www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/. Start time is 7:00 p.m. (EST). > > There > > will also be an opportunity to e-mail questions following the > > lectures, at > > approximately 9:00 p.m. > > > > And, if all of this works, the webcast will be archived. > > > > Sheine > > > > > > > Phil Firsenbaum

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turtle trails
by karl.ramberg＠chello.se 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

When a turtle walks over a turtle/pen trail there is no way for it to see it. The 'color sees' tile does not work with pen trails nor do the observation tile 'color under'. Anybody have any suggestiones ? Karl

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Dixie Bears
by sheine.mankovsky2＠tdsb.on.ca 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

The file should be available some time this week at http://real.oise.utoronto.ca/feb27.html. Have a great day! Sheine > -----Original Message----- > From: Christopher Sawtell [SMTP:csawtell@paradise.net.nz] > Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 12:16 AM > To: squeakland(a)squeakland.org > Subject: Re: Dixie Bears > > On Tue, 04 Mar 2003 14:50, Darius Clarke wrote: > > Is the "Dixie Bears.004.pr" project that we saw last Thursday available > for > > download? > > I couldn't get a connection for the live talk. Is the RealAudio file > somewhere? > > -- > C. S.

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List problems resolved
by michael＠squeakland.org 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Hi all, apologies for the problems with the Squeakland mailing list. Due to a security advisory we had to upgrade the mailer which, of course, has slightly different properties. By sending this mail I'm also verifying that the mail is functional again. Thank you for your patience Michael

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comments in scripts
by karl.ramberg＠chello.se 18 Apr '03

18 Apr '03

Have anybody made a tile for writing comments to a script ? Karl

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squeakland April 2003