[Edu-sig] Would a simplified Python UI for MiddleSchool students be worth the effort?

[BJ MacNevin]

Heck,

I AM a teacher. Heh heh. And I'm thinkin' of going the Python route next
year... perhaps the year after when I'll have a LOT more experience. Think
it's MSW Logo until then. BUT! I was so pleased to get the Tkinter Turtle
routines running! Sure, there are some kids that can abstract things and get
all excited about rearranging letters and numbers, etc. But a lot of people
in general like the visual pleasure of seeing things work. *sigh*

My own self-imposed project (long way off from where I am right now... I
think) is to create a programme that starts up like MSWLogo or Microworld
Logo, but uses Python as its core. In the time I've spend on Python so far,
I've been REALLY impressed with how natural the expressions are; perhap
seven moreso than Logo.

And that kids can take this MUCH farther than I show them in a limited
amount of time is very clear to me. Talk about easy induction and no
ceiling. Of course, the absolute basics necessary for turtle graphics leave
me torn.

On the one hand, such an easy programme would be awesome to use and teach
from; but to what extent would it obscure the objectofied beauty of the
language? Hmmm. I'm clueless as yet.

BJ MacNevin

http://www.macnevin.net/mrmac

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Cunliffe" <jason.cunliffe@verizon.net>
To: <edu-sig@python.org>
Cc: "John Zelle" <john.zelle@wartburg.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] PEPTALK: path sanity and newbie mental health --
please help


> > Under Windows, the easiest way to do this is to place a shortcut for
> > Python, IDLE or whatever in the directory where you are working. Just
> > make sure that the "Start in:" entry of the shortcut is blank, and the
> > program will fire up using the directory it's currently in as the
> > default working directory. Since Python will load modules from the
> > current directory, this is a quick and easy way to work on your programs
> > without doing any path futzing at all.
>
> John
>
> Thanks -- this is an great little tip.
> Navigating directories has been also another rather obscure and tedious
> aspect of using Python.
> An unnecessary one too I feel.   mkdir chdir etc take some sleuthing.
> My google research tells me others have been quite perplexed by these
simple
> tasks.
> ...more broken beer bottles and tire shreds on the on-ramp of the Python
> Super Highway...
>
> I suspect I've been dangerously corrupted by using Rebol's "simple tasks
> should be simple" philosophy.
> And also by myriad sophisticated multimedia apps - which all recognize
users
> need for strong configuration and customization access.
>
> I am not proposing to dumb python down -- rather to smarten it up.
> >From a marketing perspective it would be something like -- so ask users
> especially  teachers and newbies what are ten major obstacles they
remember
> when getting up to speed on Python. Then see if there is are sensible
> improvements which address some of those experiences.
>
> This is not about modifying the language - it is about acknowledging valid
> needs, workflow and assumptions, especially for beginners.
> Python is awesome and worth every effort as lifetime skill I feel.
>
> Jason
>
>
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