[Edu-sig] re: book: Head First Java

[Arthur]

Kirby writes -

>Probably something as ambitious as a CDROM-based learning tool
>is somewhat distant, at least as far as O'Reilly is concerned

You are probably correct as to O"Reilly.

Nonetheless the conept of a easilier installed CDROM of what I would call a
base distribution of educational tools would, IMO, be a very good thing.

I would envision it to include the generally accepted "infrastructure"
libraries that are useful for educational purposes - Numeric. PyGame,
VPython, wxPython, PyOpenGL  etc.  And not necessarily include more
targetted stuff, for example PyGeo.  Partly to avoid a situation where it
becomes a divisive issue as to why this and not that.

But I think many educational related efforts would benefit from being able
to point to that CD or CD image, and base at least one of their install
options on the assumption that the CD contents are installed.

As it stands, if one is doing something relatively straightforward with say,
wxPython and Numeric and PyOpenGL, it can seem like an awfully long way from
here to there for someone looking to give it a casual whirl.

If we restrain our ambition as to such a CD - keep it, as I say, limited to
generally recognized infrastructure libraries - it might be relatively
straightforward to make it a reality.

The O'Reily book, for exampole, might not include it - but itself might
greatly benefit by being able to go forward with the assumption that it is a
readily available commodity.

Art