gb wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: John Hinsley <jhinsley at telinco.co.uk>
> To: <squeak at cs.uiuc.edu>
> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 11:28 PM
> Subject: Re: Squeak substitute for Dialog warn:
> 
> > I like the idea of the OU using Squeak (it has a combination of
> > cuteness, power and openess which I find difficult to resist) and it'd
> > be nice to present them with something which could simply be filed in to
> > a Squeak on any platform which students happened to have.
> >
> > I also think that there is much better material out there than the OU
> > stuff, but that's a matter for their consciences!
> 
> Well, I think I have to come to the defence of the OU, because a)it is an
> introductory course in computing when other Universities' Smalltalk modules
> are higher level 

Yes, but (for example) compare the OU's material with (say) Ivan Tomek's
book. Granted Ivan doesn't cover the absolute newbie ground or the full
M206 syllabus, but I'd argue that it's completely useable by newbies and
covers much the same ground with greater clarity. 

> b) we're lucky that there are still some Universities that
> have the common sense not to abandon Smalltalk and jump on the Java
> bandwagon, and the OU is one of them. 

Yes, but this doesn't mean that we should just hold our noses and
swallow the medicine. It's great that there is a course, but it could be
better. I find the lack of any clear feedback path for M206 rather
disturbing, as that would be a way to improve it generally, as well as
deal with silly typos.

c) I originally only registered with
> the OU because of Smalltalk, all other local Universities use C++, Java and
> C, which is what I didn't want.

Me too!

> 
> I'll get with you by email about Squeakbooks.

Please. I may also need some help on gridding!

Cheers

John


-- 
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Marx: "Why do Anarchists only drink herbal tea?"
Proudhon: "Because all proper tea is theft."
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