Thanks all .. Scratch also has me curious .. almost GameMaker with training wheels that can even off a USB key. I might give it a tryout with my students. :-)<br><br>Over the January break, one of my students attended a summer school at
NSW University. She was really motivated by the use of Python and her team built from scratch, an Internet search engine. Python has a good future in our classrooms (esp <a href="http://vpython.org">vpython</a>). <br><ul>
<li>A <a href="http://www.pythonchallenge.com/">Python programming competition</a> on the Internet.</li><li>A <a href="http://www.partiallydisassembled.net/nelly/">physics-based puzzle game</a> written in Python for PyWeek 2. Features over 15 levels, a "free-play" mode and an integrated level editor.
</li><li>A <a href="http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2259.asp">game programming exercise and challenge</a>, this chap created a role playing game from scratch in 40 hours using python and a suite of free software.
</li><li>A <a href="http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/upcerg/Publications/proceedingsKoliCalling2006/research2.pdf">research paper that compares eleven programming languages</a>
which are currently used in introductory courses. The comparison
suggests that Python is one of the most suitable languages to be
considered for use in the classroom.</li></ul><font>We live in interesting times :-)<br><br>Regards Roland<br></font><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 15/05/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Peter Ruwoldt</b> <<a href="mailto:ruwoldtp@gmail.com">
ruwoldtp@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><br><br><div><span class="q"><span class="gmail_quote">
On 14/05/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Paul Sijpkes</b> <<a href="mailto:paul.sijpkes@aanet.com.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">paul.sijpkes@aanet.com.au</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Good evening list,<br><br>I am in the process of developing a curriculum for a Year 10 elective in<br>programming. I have done some initial research and found that there is an<br>enormous range of options from the more popular products eg. Gamemaker and
<br>Visual Basic to Python, Ruby, BlueJ, Robocode (very cool!) to just scratch<br>the surface.</blockquote></span><div><br>Great idea. Use 'Scratch'. Absoutely perfect. <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://scratch.mit.edu/
</a><br></div><span class="q"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I believe that a good grounding in Java or a C based language is probably
<br>
beneficial but I don't want to overwhelm the students with an overly<br>technical approach. </blockquote></span><div><br>You're right. Scratch could be the fun way to provide an excellent grounding. It is also freely available.
<br><a href="http://waraku.blogspot.com/2007/03/scratch-mobile-phones-and-podmo.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://waraku.blogspot.com/2007/03/scratch-mobile-phones-and-podmo.html
</a><br><br>Here are some other links relating to Scratch<br><a href="http://del.icio.us/search/?fr=del_icio_us&p=scratch&type=user" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://del.icio.us/search/?fr=del_icio_us&p=scratch&type=user</a> <br></div><span class="q"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Then again, I don't want them to be purely based in
<br>Microsoft products and GUI development.<br><br>Could anyone else share their ideas and experiences in what works and what<br>doesn't? Your wisdom and feedback is much appreciated!<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Paul Sijpkes
<br>The Knox School<br><br></blockquote></span></div><br>-- <br>Free and Open education for all<br><br>Peter Ruwoldt<br>Grant High School<br>Hosking Avenue<br>MOUNT GAMBIER SA 5290<br><br>P. 08 87263107 (Do not leave voice mail)
<br>F. 08 87250173<br><br><a href="mailto:ruwoldtp@granths.sa.edu.au" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">ruwoldtp@granths.sa.edu.au</a><br><a href="http://www.watiwara.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.watiwara.com/</a>
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