[squeak-dev] Squeakers & Etoys
Timothy Falconer
timothy at squeakland.org
Fri Jul 3 20:33:03 UTC 2009
Hi everyone,
Scott Wallace & Rita Freudenberg pointed me to the recent thread on
squeak-dev about Squeak, Etoys, and the future. Quite a good read.
Even missed a lunch meeting because I was so caught up with it.
For the last six months, I've been helping to create Squeakland
Foundation, the spin-off from VPRI to champion Etoys and education.
As a group, we've talked quite a bit about the issues raised in this
thread.
Who's we? http://squeakland.org/about/people/
Until now, we've been mostly getting our act together, planning
Squeakfest Brasil and Squeakfest USA (squeakfest.org), and creating
new educational materials. VPRI has been a big part of this process,
spending considerable time & money helping us become self-sufficient,
along with helping us retain the spirit that led to the creation of
Squeak and Etoys. Our goal is to become much more collaborative in
our decision-making, with both educators and developers.
So let's start now ... here's the view from Squeakland. Please
respond with as much passion and rancor as you like. We want to hear
all sides.
In my opinion ...
** Etoys has been extremely successful. There are many, many examples
of inspiring work around the world.
I came to VPRI's attention because of my work at Waveplace, where last
year we trained many teachers and kids in some difficult places, like
Haiti and Nicaragua. I've lived and breathed Etoys, teaching adults &
kids, experiencing first hand what it's like to have a whole room
hitting the same stumbling block at the same time. But here's the
thing ... with the right mentoring they *get through* the stumbling
blocks and reach the "light bulb" moment when they experience mastery
and become hooked.
Our first-hand experience has been overwhelmingly positive. But never
mind words ... what's missing from this talk are the children
themselves:
Have a look here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=80
(six minutes)
or here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=94
(thirty seconds)
The look on the girl's face in the longer video (around 5:32) really
tells the whole story for me. Transformation.
** Etoys is more than visual programming for kids. Squeakland's
focus is to teach *with* Etoys.
Towards that end we've begun work on a full-spectrum course that uses
Etoys to help teach what teachers already need to teach: language
arts, social studies, science, math, etc. We want to help the whole
school, not just the computer lab.
More here: http://confluence.immuexa.com/display/sq/Squeakland+Courseware
and here: http://www.etoysillinois.org/library.php
** Etoys is very effective for younger children (6 to 12 years old)
Our recent focus has been largely for this age range, as we believe
Etoys has benefits over Alice and Scratch. It's also the age when the
most profound transformations can occur, when creative problem solving
can be reinforced in ways that last through a child's whole education.
** Squeakland Foundation can help teach both Squeak and Etoys
When choosing the name for the new organization, we purposely kept
"Squeak" in the name because we believe in the transition from Etoys
to Squeak, and foresee a future where the efforts of Squeakland will
help teach & inspire Squeak as well. We see Squeak as a natural
extension of Etoys ... many educators and administrators have
expressed interest in this. Yes, Alice and Scratch are suited to
teaching programming to middle schoolers and high schoolers, but so is
*Squeak*, with the right focus and training materials. We'd like to
help paint this picture ... the "what next?" when kids outgrow Etoys.
Please help us.
** Etoys could use improvement
We're well aware of the stumbling blocks for new users of Etoys. A
colleague once described Scratch as "low entry, low ceiling" and Etoys
as "high entry, high ceiling". Much of our discussions have centered
around lowering the barriers to entry, which includes user interface
fixes, better tutorials, better documentation, etc.
When I first met Alan Kay, I told him Squeakland needed a better
website. He quickly responded, "Maybe you could help us with
that." (How could I say no?)
Now I put it to you ... "maybe you could help us with Etoys" ... we
genuinely need your help. Your work will help inspire children from
around the world, like the little girl in the Nicaragua movie.
Please let us know you're out there by clicking "contact" on
squeakland.org.
You can also look over our evolving wiki & issue tracker & newsletter:
http://wiki.squeakland.org
http://tracker.squeakland.org
http://squeakland.org/news/newsletter/
If something seems to be missing, it's because we're waiting for you.
Thank you for your time,
Timothy
--
Timothy Falconer
Squeakland Foundation
http://squeakland.org
610-797-3100
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