On Monday 21 May 2007 8:24 am, Marta Voelcker wrote:
We are thinking about to start with a group of age around 10 and another group around 15. We would choose one telecenter and plan to work there ( instead of train their staff).
Wonderful. I have seen children as young as six enjoy the discovery process so integral to learning. Squeak has very few distractions in its UI and allows one to devote more time to 'thinking' and 'doing'. Some of the morphs (like color) are too fine for small hands and the mouse is a terrible input device for drawing fine curves but it is still a great 'place' to learn.
But what would we teach? Should we keep thinking in project-based learning? When we use other software we frequently start working with identity construction, and after some exploration of the software, the group starts a project...
Training may be required in basic skills like pointing, clicking, dragging and combining them with shift/ctrl/alt keys (think of them like driving controls in a car). A good glossary is helpful because Squeak's terminology is geeky (in English atleast). I hope the Portugese terminology is easier on common folks. Beyond these basic skills and terminology, It is best to let learners experiment and discover than to 'teach' them a particular way of doing things. Different strokes for different folks.
But to understand the basis of squeak, the "drive a car " project seems so important!!!
There are lots of nice projects in Squeakland that learners can take apart and study on their own. Etoys version comes with many tutorials built right into it.
Ideas, experiences and suggestions are welcome!
For me, picking the right image was the most difficult part, since many images on Squeak web site target expert programmers. Squeakland site has some good, stable ones for beginners.
Images are like 'little schools' that can be carried along on flash memory or portable hard disks and used anytime on any computer to stimulate thinking and learning. Unfortunately, Squeak is not self-correcting like Montessori toys :-(. So encourage your learners to make copies of their images to preserve their work and give them pet names :-).
Learning Squeak is like learning swimming. Real learning happens only when you get into the pool with a few other swimmers, not when reading about swimming in books or listening to lectures. Working in small groups of 3 to 7 is a good way to come upto speed.
Happy Learning .. Subbu