A few quick points to address points made in the earlier thread:

* As Bert said, we'd love to decouple Etoys from base Squeak, but  
other things keep coming before this task, such as improving ease of  
use or supporting OLPC.

* Yes, we'd love to bring all Squeakland improvements in the last two  
years back into the newest Squeak and benefit from the newest Squeak  
work.  Our fork was of necessity (OLPC scramble), not philosophy.

* We are actively seeking funds for both education and development.   
One day we hope Squeak will benefit from our fundraising.

* Yes, yes, yes to a facelift for Squeak ... simplify menus, make the  
visuals fresh, improve usability so that newcomers won't bounce.   
You'll get no argument from me on this.  Someone need only claim the  
task and gather support.

* Yes, unit tests throughout, yes refactoring, but my philosophy is  
"if you're praying for potatoes, do it with a hoe in your hand."     
The best commentary is adding some unit tests yourself.

And last, I'd like to underline Rita's point ....

* We'd love to have you all attend this year's Squeakfest (Aug  
10,11,12 at UCLA).   You'll get to see educators, hear great  
experiences, and see a class of children being taught.  We're also  
holding a technical track for Squeak developers.

More than this, we'd gladly make room for a roundtable or two about  
the very issues discussed here in squeak-dev.   Squeakfest is a great  
place to get together and talk about Squeak, particularly since it's  
being held near VPRI and will have many of the Squeak pioneers in  
attendance.  Come help us make (new) history.

Registration and other information can be found here:

http://squeakfest.org/usa/

Take care,
Tim

--
Timothy Falconer
Squeakland Foundation
http://squeakland.org
610-797-3100




On Jul 3, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Timothy Falconer wrote:

> 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://wiki.squeakland.org/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
>
>
>
>
>