[Edu-sig] Joining my first SIG

[Andy Judkis]

Hi Zac (et al),

I teach 10th graders a course called Principles of Computer Technology 
that includes about 4 weeks of programming at the end, using Python.  We 
always start with about 4 days using RUR-PLE, which I think is the cat's 
pajamas, and then go on to using IDLE to do some simple stuff.  This 
year for the first time I did a 'getting to know you' project using 
Scratch, and I'll be interested to see if that exposure helps them grasp 
the basics of Python a little quicker.

Also, last summer I took a seminar on Media Computing with Mark Guzdial 
(amazing guy, if he went into politics I'd vote for him in a heartbeat) 
and am considering introducing some of that material.  For me, the 
tradeoff is that the media computing projects are really cool, but the 
Jython environment is not as friendly and I'm afraid it may be 
discouraging given the short time we have to work with.  Anybody have an 
opinion on this?

Thanks,
Andy