[Edu-sig] Pycon 2008

Fri Dec 21 15:57:20 CET 2007

I also have some HS students who might be able to attend for a day or 
two, but again, I'm not willing to pay (or ask their parents to pay) for 
a 3 day registration for them. OTOH, I'm sure they would consume their 
fair share of food, etc on the day(s) they do attend.

And Earl, if you need any assistance let me know off list - I'm in Ft 
Wayne, IN and may be able to help out in one way or another.

Cheers,
Vern

Earl Strassberger wrote:
> Thank you Jeff for your thoughtful reply.  Below is my information.
> I am starting a computer programming sequence at an inner city public 
> high school in Chicago.  Last year was the first year.  I started with 
> Java however, the book I picked and the language itself were much too 
> difficult.  Note that I am an old procedural programmer (started with 
> Fortran in the 60s and COBOL in 1979).  I was learning OOP and Java just 
> ahead of my students.
> 
> After one semester I discovered ALICE from Carneige Mellon University. 
>  My students are doing very well with it.  It teaches the concepts of 
> OOP through animation.  Syntax is not a problem because you drag tiles. 
>  It is free and it is good.  I use a book by Wanda Dann.
> 
> This year 4 of those students are studying Python, pretty much on their 
> own.  They are mixed in my other classes, so I don't have much time to 
> help them.  We are using Michael Dawson's book.  It is working well for 
> them.  Again, I am learning it just ahead of my students!  
> 
> These four students have been in my various computer classes for four 
> years.  My plan was to take them on a field trip on one of the 
> conference days.  So a weekday is fine.  I did not see the cost of the 
> conference.  Since it would come out of my pocket I'm starting to get 
> concerned.  Of more concern is appropriate sessions, I only saw a few. 
>  As someone said, "beginner" means new to a topic but with experience in 
> Python.
> 
> I would sure like some real beginner courses.  Dawson starts off with 
> procedural concepts.  We may not even get to objects by the time of the 
> conference and certainly not GUI material.  A session on creating simple 
> programs involving GUI would be great and probably catch their interest. 
>  Especially if there were some handouts showing them what they could 
> quickly do when they got back to school or home.
> 
> So, I would bring myself and 4 senior high school students.  I am 
> willing to pay something for each, hopefully it would be a reduced price 
> (free is always acceptable :-) ).  We are all beginners. We can miss one 
> day of school.  If the conference continues on the weekend could that 
> day(s) be free for them?  We could register in advance if the schedule 
> is published.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Earl Strassberger
> Senn High School
> 
> *Jeff Rush <jeff at taupro.com <mailto:jeff at taupro.com>> writes:
> *Andrew Harrington wrote:
>>  Earl, I have already asked about taking my students.
>>
>>  There are likely to be a number of beginner tutorials on Thursday, but
>>  they cost a substantial amount of money.
>>
>>  There are a number of talks classified as "beginner", but that
>>  generally means beginner at some module, not total beginner at Python.
>>
>>  On Dec 18, 2007 9:31 AM, Earl Strassberger <EJStrassberger at cps.edu 
> <mailto:EJStrassberger at cps.edu>> wrote:
>> >
>> >  I looked over the conference schedule for Pycon 2008 in Chicago.  I am
>> > considering taking my few high school students to the conference but 
> I did
>> > not see many sessions appropriate for people new to Python.  Can I expect
>> > more sessions to be added?  Also, I did not see the cost and I wonder 
> what
>> > it is.
> 
> Let's not drop this matter.  In my involvement with PyCon over the years,
> there has been a wish to involve students but the approach has not been 
> clear,
> so no one tackles it.  Each year there is a bit of discussion -- are 
> students
> welcome?  should we offer total beginner talks?  if we did would enough 
> people
> come to justify it?  enough didn't come last year so why offer them now? 
>  what
> if we offer them and just 3 people show up?
> 
> Generally the PyCon organizers don't get a lot of involvement in 
> planning from
> those who have the necessary contacts with the public and university school
> systems, so we don't know -how- to attract that student audience.  Just
> offering novice classes doesn't cause them to attend.  That audience has
> special needs re scheduling (can they attend weekdays?), money (can they
> afford a 3-day ticket?) and topics (are they totally new to Python or 
> just at
> a novice level?)
> 
>> From the educators here, please give us more information about your needs.
> 
> 1. What audience are you representing ('students' may mean K-12, 9-12 or
> university) each with their own issues.
> 
> 2. In your opinion, can your students attend on weekends or weekdays?
> 
> 3. Are your students able to afford any amount whatsoever?  Must it be free?
> 
> 4. Are you wanting to bring your more advanced students or trying to get
> non-programmers interested in how cool Python is?  The former can attend
> existing talks but may need financial support, while the latter need custom
> presentation content not normally at PyCon.
> 
> 5. How many students (min and expected#) do you think you can motivate 
> to attend?
> 
> 6. Will students register in advance or must we play it loose and let those
> who walk in the door attend?
> 
> 
> And to those qualified to -teach- total non-Python programmers, would you be
> willing to prepare a free class?  How about if the PSF paid for your 
> class on
> behalf of the students?  Would you be willing to put forth serious 
> effort and
> come up with a professional course, with handouts and exercises?  And freely
> share your materials with other teachers afterward so it can be replicated
> worldwide?  Would it be a half-day, full-day or series of mini topics?  For
> what age groups?
> 
> 
> Personally I'd really like to see more students at PyCon.  But I don't have
> kids nor am I affiliated with a university in any way so I lack the contacts
> to make it happen.  We need one or more leaders to come forward and 
> represent
> the interests of the students, and I believe such would be welcomed with 
> open
> arms by the PyCon and PSF staff.
> 
> -Jeff
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-- 
This time for sure!
    -Bullwinkle J. Moose
-----------------------------
Vern Ceder, Director of Technology
Canterbury School, 3210 Smith Road, Ft Wayne, IN 46804
vceder at canterburyschool.org; 260-436-0746; FAX: 260-436-5137