From kirby.urner at gmail.com Thu Aug 2 16:31:35 2012 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 07:31:35 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] teaching in a classroom again... Message-ID: I've again been teaching teens, no my usual practice these days, but a fun variation on the theme. Saturday Academy kids are self selected and tend not to have ego problems around whether they're "smart enough" or whatever it takes. The all believe they have the "right stuff" ultimately. The classroom is probably the best I've had, in terms of being able to project content on the big screen. I have a button to lower the blinds. I used to think Hewlett-Packard would go into the classroom design business as there's more one could do. Once could have a button to project each student's console to the front, for example, perhaps under the teacher's control. That takes software, not just hardware. You'd need to work it out from the ground up. Ideally, the school is build like a theater or holodeck, to accommodate all sorts of classroom configurations. Of course we don't really have such schools today, unless you count Universal Studios. I've uploaded some pix to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirbyurner/7680435316/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirbyurner/7680433664/in/photostream/ (etc. to the left and right of those) These are middle school aged, so like averaging 14 or so years old. What I do is intersperse mini-talks on Python with hands on play with showings of Youtubes. Yesterday we zoomed in on Mandelbrot sets before lunch, then switched to Mandelbulb fly-throughs after lunch. I have them for two hours, with a lunch break in between of under an hour. The title of the course is 'Martian Math and Programming in Python'. The Martian part is rather subtle in that I just plant some ideas. I bring a large tetrahedron to the room, plus carry it through the halls, turning heads. In other versions of this course I might dwell on a particular storyboard / story problem wherein Earthlings and ETs are working together on a big dam (hydro-electric) but measure concrete in different units (cube vs tetrahedron respectively). Here's some code I'll be taking on memory stick today, reviewing some of what we've been doing. We're using Python 2.7 + VPython on Win7. === """sa1.py""" from visual import * import math def ballmatrix( ): for x in range(-10, 10): for y in range(-10, 10): sphere(radius=.5, pos=(x,y,0)) def hidef( ): for x in range(-100, 100): for y in range(-100, 100): sphere(radius=.5, pos=(x,y,0)) def mandelbrot( ): for r in range(-40, 10): for i in range(-20, 20): c = complex(r/10.0, i/10.0) z = 0 for times in range(10): z = z*z + c if abs(z) < 1: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.black) else: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.red) def mandelbrot2( ): for r in range(-40, 10): for i in range(-20, 20): c = complex(r/10.0, i/10.0) z = 0 for times in range(10): z = z*z + c thelength = abs(z) if thelength < 1: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.black) elif 2 >= thelength >= 1: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.red) elif 5 >= thelength >= 2: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.orange) elif 20 >= thelength >= 5: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.green) else: sphere(radius=.5, pos=(r,i,0), color = color.blue) mandelbrot2() === """ sa2.py """ from visual import * import math """ color = (r, g, b) where r,g,b are between 0 and 1. red green blue """ def colorchange(): g, b = 0, 0 for r in range(0, 100): # increase red from 0 to 1 ball = sphere(radius=10, color=(r/100.0, g, b)) rate(50) ball.visible = False del ball r, b = 1, 0 for g in range(0, 100): # increase green from 0 to 1 ball = sphere(radius=10, color=(r, g/100., b)) rate(50) ball.visible = False del ball g, b = 1, 1 for b in range(0, 100): # increase blue from 0 to 1 ball = sphere(radius=10, color=(r, g, b/100.)) rate(50) ball.visible = False del ball ball = sphere(radius=10, color=(1,1,1)) # white colorchange() === """ sa3.py """ from visual import * import math from random import randint def say_something(): """ Get something from the user to display """ saywhat = raw_input("What shall I print? ") text(text=saywhat, align='center', depth=-0.3, color=color.green) def rand_color(): """ pick three random numbers between 0 and 1, e.g. 0.5 or 0.3 """ r = randint(0,100)/100. g = randint(0,100)/100. b = randint(0,100)/100. return (r,g,b) def say_alphabet(): x = -25 # offset to the left for c in "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWZYZ": # jump through each letter text(text=c, pos=(x,0,0), align='center', depth=-0.3, color=rand_color()) x = x + 1.5 # to the the right a bit say_alphabet() # change this to point to different functions at runtime Kirby From kirby.urner at gmail.com Mon Aug 6 19:13:25 2012 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 10:13:25 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] teaching in a classroom again... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 7:31 AM, kirby urner wrote: > I've again been teaching teens, no my usual practice these days, but a > fun variation on the theme. > OK, I finished this one week gig. Here's a write-up, though mixed with the flotsam and jetsam of life: http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-teaching-and-driving.html Back to regularly scheduled programming (for me that is), Kirby From henrique at bastos.net Mon Aug 6 20:10:05 2012 From: henrique at bastos.net (Henrique Bastos) Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 15:10:05 -0300 Subject: [Edu-sig] teaching in a classroom again... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7717F642-0C3D-4F87-B317-AFB238E722B1@bastos.net> Hello, Kirby! I really liked your use of VPython to teach. I didn't knew this tool. I'm already organizing a learning activity with a friend who is a physics teacher to see how the students feel about this visualization tool. Thank you very much for sharing. []'s, -- Henrique Bastos +55 21 9618-6180 http://henriquebastos.net Twitter: henriquebastos Gtalk: henrique at bastos.net Skype: henriquebastos.net On 06/08/2012, at 14:13, kirby urner wrote: > On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 7:31 AM, kirby urner wrote: >> I've again been teaching teens, no my usual practice these days, but a >> fun variation on the theme. >> > > OK, I finished this one week gig. Here's a write-up, though mixed > with the flotsam and jetsam of life: > > http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-teaching-and-driving.html > > Back to regularly scheduled programming (for me that is), > > Kirby > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig From kirby.urner at gmail.com Mon Aug 6 20:32:27 2012 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2012 11:32:27 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] teaching in a classroom again... In-Reply-To: <7717F642-0C3D-4F87-B317-AFB238E722B1@bastos.net> References: <7717F642-0C3D-4F87-B317-AFB238E722B1@bastos.net> Message-ID: On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 11:10 AM, Henrique Bastos wrote: > Hello, Kirby! > > I really liked your use of VPython to teach. I didn't knew this tool. > Yes VPython is such a fantastic tool. We've had a proponent argue vehemently it should be considered part of Python's standard library, if it hopes to stay relevant... A counter-argument is "standard library" is not about "most important" or "most critical" just more a matter of jurisdiction in that the PSF takes explicit responsibility for upkeep of the former. Visual Python is developed / maintained independently of any PSF work to assemble the various Python distros via python.org Anyway, like Numpy, the VPython option could be mission critical to some schools (such as mine, for that week anyway). > I'm already organizing a learning activity with a friend who is a physics teacher to see how the students feel about this visualization tool. > It takes only two lines of code to make something pop up that's visual: >>> from visual import * >>> sphere(radius = 1, pos=(0,0,0), color=color.red) and that's already more arguments than really necessary. However, to get things moving, which is what physics is usually wanting, you have to keep updating pos in a loop, but then you don't want things to go too fast, so there's controlling the frame rate. In other words, to get things to actually move in screen takes more doing. My movingballs2.py provides an example. > Thank you very much for sharing. > Best wishes with your experiments. I've seen some really amazing talks showing off Python's capabilities talking directly to OpenGL. Like this guy's: http://blip.tv/pycon-us-videos-2009-2010-2011/pycon-2011-algorithmic-generation-of-opengl-geometry-4900884 In other words, VPython is not by itself Python's only grip on 3D visualizations. However, it's one of the sleekest with one of the fastest learning curves. Definitely worth a close look. Kirby > []'s, > -- > Henrique Bastos > +55 21 9618-6180 > http://henriquebastos.net > Twitter: henriquebastos > Gtalk: henrique at bastos.net > Skype: henriquebastos.net > > On 06/08/2012, at 14:13, kirby urner wrote: > >> On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 7:31 AM, kirby urner wrote: >>> I've again been teaching teens, no my usual practice these days, but a >>> fun variation on the theme. >>> >> >> OK, I finished this one week gig. Here's a write-up, though mixed >> with the flotsam and jetsam of life: >> >> http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-teaching-and-driving.html >> >> Back to regularly scheduled programming (for me that is), >> >> Kirby >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig From missive at hotmail.com Wed Aug 15 23:08:25 2012 From: missive at hotmail.com (Lee Harr) Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:38:25 +0430 Subject: [Edu-sig] [ANNC] pybotwar-0.8 Message-ID: pybotwar is a fun and educational game where players write computer programs to control simulated robots. http://pybotwar.googlecode.com/ The focus of this release is making all functionality available from the PyQt interface and making PyQt the default interface. pybotwar uses pybox2d for the physical simulation. It can be run in text-only mode -- useful for longer tournaments -- or use pyqt or pygame for a graphical interface and visualization of the action. pybotwar is released under GPLv3. Changes in pybotwar-0.8: ??? - pybox2d-2.0.2b2 is now the required version ??? API ??? - Robot.turret() now takes turret speed instead of angle ??? - PING sensor now differentiates own bullets from enemy bullets ??? - PING differentiates dead robots when remove_dead_robots=False ??? - made internal Robot state variables less likely to conflict with user code ??? Settings ??? - added "robots dir" setting to make it easier to run pybotwar ??????? from an installed copy, rather than from the unpacked folder ??????? - logs, lineups, and db all go in robots dir ??????? - robot modules are now loaded by full path ??? - If using Qt settings, remembers most recently used set of robots ??? PyQt4 Interface ??? - PyQt4 view mode is now the default ??????? - (text mode and pygame/pygsear still available) ??? - all settings are available from PyQt interface ??? - remembers most recently used set of robots ??? - added debug window showing sensor values, commands, and logs ??? - can now start tournaments (and multiple battles) from pyqt ??? - can also start tournaments to run in background ??? - editor automatically adds .py to robot filename if needed ??? Other changes ??? - made template.py a valid robot program ??? - single battles are now run as 1-battle tournaments ??? - renamed kill stat to outlasted ??? - started tracking kills as dealing final damage to other robot ??? - commandline can now take a list of robots to load ??? - added "Super Tournaments" ??????? - runs tournaments with all possible combinations of robots ??? Fixes: ??? - made POSition sensor scale same as PING sensor ??? - fixed editor backspace between left edge and start of text ??? - fixed inability to re-open file once its window was closed ??? - fixed crash when cancelling file-open dialog ??? - limited motor speed on turret ??? - log messages in testmode when using qt4 view ??? - fall back to :memory: database if unable to open db file From breamoreboy at yahoo.co.uk Thu Aug 16 17:30:58 2012 From: breamoreboy at yahoo.co.uk (Mark Lawrence) Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:30:58 +0100 Subject: [Edu-sig] [ANNC] pybotwar-0.8 In-Reply-To: References: <502CBD87.8030704@sequans.com> Message-ID: and "bottom" reads better than "top" On 16/08/2012 15:37, Ramchandra Apte wrote: > nah.. "war" sounds better than "contest" > > On 16 August 2012 14:59, Jean-Michel Pichavant wrote: > >> Lee Harr wrote: >> >>> pybotwar is a fun and educational game where players >>> write computer programs to control simulated robots. >>> >>> http://pybotwar.googlecode.**com/ >>> >>> >>> The focus of this release is making all functionality >>> available from the PyQt interface and making PyQt >>> the default interface. >>> >>> pybotwar uses pybox2d for the physical simulation. >>> It can be run in text-only mode -- useful for longer >>> tournaments -- or use pyqt or pygame for a graphical >>> interface and visualization of the action. >>> >>> pybotwar is released under GPLv3. >>> >>> >>> Changes in pybotwar-0.8: >>> - pybox2d-2.0.2b2 is now the required version >>> >>> API >>> - Robot.turret() now takes turret speed instead of angle >>> - PING sensor now differentiates own bullets from enemy bullets >>> - PING differentiates dead robots when remove_dead_robots=False >>> - made internal Robot state variables less likely to conflict with >>> user code >>> >>> Settings >>> - added "robots dir" setting to make it easier to run pybotwar >>> from an installed copy, rather than from the unpacked folder >>> - logs, lineups, and db all go in robots dir >>> - robot modules are now loaded by full path >>> - If using Qt settings, remembers most recently used set of robots >>> >>> PyQt4 Interface >>> - PyQt4 view mode is now the default >>> - (text mode and pygame/pygsear still available) >>> - all settings are available from PyQt interface >>> - remembers most recently used set of robots >>> - added debug window showing sensor values, commands, and logs >>> - can now start tournaments (and multiple battles) from pyqt >>> - can also start tournaments to run in background >>> - editor automatically adds .py to robot filename if needed >>> >>> Other changes >>> - made template.py a valid robot program >>> - single battles are now run as 1-battle tournaments >>> - renamed kill stat to outlasted >>> - started tracking kills as dealing final damage to other robot >>> - commandline can now take a list of robots to load >>> - added "Super Tournaments" >>> - runs tournaments with all possible combinations of robots >>> >>> Fixes: >>> - made POSition sensor scale same as PING sensor >>> - fixed editor backspace between left edge and start of text >>> - fixed inability to re-open file once its window was closed >>> - fixed crash when cancelling file-open dialog >>> - limited motor speed on turret >>> - log messages in testmode when using qt4 view >>> - fall back to :memory: database if unable to open db file >>> >>> >>> >> I have some suggestions: >> >> - rename pybotwar into pybotcontest >> - replace "bullet" by "missile of passion" >> - replace "dead" by "overflood with love" >> - "PING sensor" into "pheromone sensor" >> ... and so on :p >> >> JM >> >> -- >> http://mail.python.org/**mailman/listinfo/python-list >> > > > -- Cheers. Mark Lawrence. From tjreedy at udel.edu Thu Aug 16 23:20:29 2012 From: tjreedy at udel.edu (Terry Reedy) Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:20:29 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] [ANNC] pybotwar-0.8 In-Reply-To: References: <502CBD87.8030704@sequans.com> Message-ID: On 8/16/2012 11:40 AM, Ramchandra Apte wrote: > Look you are the only person complaining about top-posting. No he is not. Recheck all the the responses. > GMail uses top-posting by default. It only works if everyone does it. > I can't help it if you feel irritated by it. Your out-of-context comments are harder to understand. I mostly do not read them. -- Terry Jan Reedy From calcpage at aol.com Mon Aug 20 00:29:08 2012 From: calcpage at aol.com (A. Jorge Garcia) Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:29:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Edu-sig] Do you have what it takes to be a PAEMST winner? In-Reply-To: <8CF3BF67340C1B4-1340-3560C@webmail-m035.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CF3BF67340C1B4-1340-3560C@webmail-m035.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CF4C712F1A1C41-1F0-A52AB@webmail-d131.sysops.aol.com> Ever hear of PAEMST? Take a look at this blog post where I research past and present winners of PAEMST: http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2012/08/paemst-nobel-prize-for-stem-teachers.html HTH, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math and CompSci http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 From vceder at gmail.com Wed Aug 22 17:06:41 2012 From: vceder at gmail.com (Vern Ceder) Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:06:41 -0500 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update Message-ID: Hi everyone, I just wanted to bring you uptodate on where we're at with the Education Summit at the upcoming PyCon. This will be a "by invitation only" event, so if you are interested (and I haven't contacted you already) or know of someone who would be really good for and interested in this event, please let me know about that interest off list. One of our reasons for going with invitations is that we want to be sure that we get a fair balance between the various education constituencies in space available, so I can't guarantee that absolutely everyone who wants to come will be invited.... But I'll try. Also we're looking for a keynote and panelists for the topics below, so if you know of anyone that you think would be good, please email me off list. Also if you have any other suggestions or questions, please let me know. There is also a google group for announcements about the summit, so if you're interested, you should join that group - https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/pycon-education-summit First of all, the summit blurb is the following: "In 2013, for the first time ever, PyCon will be holding a Python Education Summit. This summit will be a gathering of teachers and educators from the many venues that support the teaching of programming in Python - schools, colleges and universities, community based workshops, online programs and government. These constituencies differ widely in resources and constraints, in methods, and in goals and aspirations, yet are all working to address the same issue - a lack of coding literacy - with the same belief - that teaching programming is needed and that Python is an excellent way to do that. The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders from those diverse constituencies to learn more about each other's efforts and gain useful insight from them, to form connections that might foster future collaboration, to identify common issues and begin discussing ways to attack them, and to create an enhanced sense of unity, purpose and community among teachers of Python, wherever they might be. It is also our hope that the summit will serve as catalyst for the rest of PyCon to encourage even more interaction - hallway discussions, open spaces, lightning talks, and sprints. Anyone attending this conference will gain a broader understanding of approaches and issues in teaching Python, will have the opportunity to contribute to their discussion, and will make contacts with other teachers of Python from across the community. A high school teacher might make contacts that allow her to enlist the support of a community based program while a community volunteer might gain useful guidance on curriculum design. In addition to active involvement in the process of teaching Python, the only requirement of attendees is engagement. The morning sessions will include panel discussions that encourage participation and the afternoon will consist of unconference style breakout sessions that demand it. So please come willing to learn, to teach, and to participate." Also, I've developed a basic statement of the topics we'll be covering: "As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact Python education today: engagement, curriculum and teaching. So I'm proposing that we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - attracting learners and letting them know why they should be eager to learn Python, recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with the skills needed to facilitate that learning, and then keeping everyone involved in the community. You could also call this "outreach" or even "marketing". Whatever you call it, we need to attract people who want to learn Python and the people and the people to help satisfy that need. Topics: How are the various education communities attracting people to their programs? What things can each learn from other programs, particularly in terms of increasing interest and involvement in the Python language and community? Curriculum - The need for uptodate, accessible and appropriate curriculum is felt in all aspects of Python education. Community programs need free and flexible lesson plans and teaching materials, schools are often reluctant to offer a program without an established curriculum, and teachers in all areas are often desperate for curricula that can be leveraged with minimal time and effort. Topics: What curriculum materials are currently freely available for teaching Python? What means can be used to increase their quality, coverage and availablity? Teaching - Again, teaching is a universal issue. Schools often have experienced teachers, but ones who don't know Python. Community programs can find Python experts, but they frequently have little teaching experience or knowledge. Topics: what best practices might community programs follow to help volunteer teachers do a better job? Are there any teaching guildes or hints available now? What strategies might help schools qualify their current experienced teachers to teach Python? How might we increase the number of qualified teachers generally? Underlying themes: The two underlying and unifying themes for the summit are communication and collaboration." Thanks! Vern -- Vern Ceder vceder at gmail.com, vceder at dogsinmotion.com The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirby.urner at gmail.com Wed Aug 22 21:26:53 2012 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:26:53 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 8:06 AM, Vern Ceder wrote: << snip >> > Also, I've developed a basic statement of the topics we'll be covering: > > "As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact Python > education today: engagement, curriculum and teaching. So I'm proposing that > we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. > > Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - attracting > learners and letting them know why they should be eager to learn Python, > recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with the skills needed to > facilitate that learning, and then keeping everyone involved in the > community. You could also call this "outreach" or even "marketing". Whatever > you call it, we need to attract people who want to learn Python and the > people and the people to help satisfy that need. > Wow Vern, you've come a long way with this, good to see it's evolving into an event with a definite shape, size still unknown. I hope we might have a similar summit at OSCON with all interactive languages (those with an REPL) invited (if already in the OSCON subset which I'm well aware is Open Source only e.g. no Mathematica). The way I articulate my own position these days is that to learn mathematics the way it's needed in STEM, you need at least one computer language.** That computer language may well be Python but I'm in no way expecting or wanting some convergence to a single choice, as I think diversity is the only healthy response to complexity and "one language fits all" is of course a distopian ideology that must be countered wherever it surfaces. That being said, Python seems to be in high demand at my school and that's without much direct advertising or recruitment. Our logo (a Red Leaf) was nowhere at OSCON (somewhat ironically). Kirby From kirby.urner at gmail.com Wed Aug 22 21:34:06 2012 From: kirby.urner at gmail.com (kirby urner) Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:34:06 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: > The way I articulate my own position these days is that to learn > mathematics the way it's needed in STEM, you need at least one > computer language.** > Oops, forgot my little footnote: http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7872776 Kirby From profjeremybruce at me.com Thu Aug 23 18:35:25 2012 From: profjeremybruce at me.com (Jeremy Bruce) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:35:25 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Python Installation with PyLab? References: Message-ID: <6D7CAAC7-FA08-44DD-A03B-82063A936BD9@me.com> Hi Edu, I'm hoping to start bringing python into my math teaching in stages over the next year. I've been trying out different installations and setups, and wondering if anyone could offer any guidance. Ideally, I'd have a setup that included numpy/scipy/matplotlib, but that stuff seems to be difficult to install by itself, or necessarily come along with a heavy duty installation of other things in the various distributions I've seen (SAGE, and EPD). Plus, anyone wanting to use an iPad is stuck. So, installing EPD is option 1, but has those limitations. Thoughts? Option 2 is just not using pylab-y stuff, and just going plain installation. Macs, PCs, and iPads could all join, and we could just use a simple text editor (I like Sublime Text 2), and the terminal. Option 3 is an idea from Fraser Speirs. Set up a Linux server on Amazon cloud services and have students SSH in to one installation. This also has the benefit of giving iPad users an option. Would love to hear the setups you all use, and any ideas you may have. Thanks! Prof. Bruce -- gmail: profjbruce twitter: profjbruce skype: profjbruce web: gostudious.com From mpaul213 at gmail.com Thu Aug 23 21:03:02 2012 From: mpaul213 at gmail.com (michel paul) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:03:02 -0700 Subject: [Edu-sig] Python Installation with PyLab? In-Reply-To: <6D7CAAC7-FA08-44DD-A03B-82063A936BD9@me.com> References: <6D7CAAC7-FA08-44DD-A03B-82063A936BD9@me.com> Message-ID: I've settled on using Visual Python, Sage, and GeoGebra. It's not yet there, but I know a future version of GeoGebra will support Python scripting. I'm looking forward to that. Visual Python is very nice for creating 3d graphics, plus it has nice 2d functional graphing. Since it IS Python, simply with a visual library added, you can also still access things like turtle. Visual also includes things like numpy built in. Installing Sage on a network can be a hassle, but the online notebooks are great. Plus you can access them with a tablet. Anyone with a browser can use Sage, and you can use it even if you only know a little Python. I've found this setup to be pretty versatile. - Michel On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 9:35 AM, Jeremy Bruce wrote: > Hi Edu, > > I'm hoping to start bringing python into my math teaching in stages over > the next year. > I've been trying out different installations and setups, and wondering if > anyone could offer any guidance. > > Ideally, I'd have a setup that included numpy/scipy/matplotlib, but that > stuff seems to be difficult to install by itself, or necessarily come along > with a heavy duty installation of other things in the various distributions > I've seen (SAGE, and EPD). Plus, anyone wanting to use an iPad is stuck. > So, installing EPD is option 1, but has those limitations. Thoughts? > > Option 2 is just not using pylab-y stuff, and just going plain > installation. Macs, PCs, and iPads could all join, and we could just use a > simple text editor (I like Sublime Text 2), and the terminal. > > Option 3 is an idea from Fraser Speirs. Set up a Linux server on Amazon > cloud services and have students SSH in to one installation. This also has > the benefit of giving iPad users an option. > > Would love to hear the setups you all use, and any ideas you may have. > > Thanks! > > Prof. Bruce > > -- > gmail: profjbruce > twitter: profjbruce > skype: profjbruce > web: gostudious.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- ================================== "What I cannot create, I do not understand." - Richard Feynman ================================== "Computer science is the new mathematics." - Dr. Christos Papadimitriou ================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From profjeremybruce at me.com Fri Aug 24 03:50:30 2012 From: profjeremybruce at me.com (Jeremy Bruce) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:50:30 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Python Installation with PyLab? In-Reply-To: References: <6D7CAAC7-FA08-44DD-A03B-82063A936BD9@me.com> Message-ID: <4DA5C903-C210-4FA1-88E0-AB8F91AEB2F9@me.com> So, I have iPython installed on my machine, because I did the EPD install. The notebook worked fine in Chrome...so am I to understand that it's using my local machine as an iPython server and just using the browser as the interface? How would this work with a classroom of students? Would they still all have to install EPD, or could they all run off of my server? Thanks On 2012-08-23, at 17:19 , Marc Keller wrote: > Try the IPython Notebook, it's easier to set and use than SAGE > > http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/dev/interactive/htmlnotebook.html > > On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 6:35 PM, Jeremy Bruce wrote: > Hi Edu, > > I'm hoping to start bringing python into my math teaching in stages over the next year. > I've been trying out different installations and setups, and wondering if anyone could offer any guidance. > > Ideally, I'd have a setup that included numpy/scipy/matplotlib, but that stuff seems to be difficult to install by itself, or necessarily come along with a heavy duty installation of other things in the various distributions I've seen (SAGE, and EPD). Plus, anyone wanting to use an iPad is stuck. So, installing EPD is option 1, but has those limitations. Thoughts? > > Option 2 is just not using pylab-y stuff, and just going plain installation. Macs, PCs, and iPads could all join, and we could just use a simple text editor (I like Sublime Text 2), and the terminal. > > Option 3 is an idea from Fraser Speirs. Set up a Linux server on Amazon cloud services and have students SSH in to one installation. This also has the benefit of giving iPad users an option. > > Would love to hear the setups you all use, and any ideas you may have. > > Thanks! > > Prof. Bruce > > -- > gmail: profjbruce > twitter: profjbruce > skype: profjbruce > web: gostudious.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > From enbody at cse.msu.edu Fri Aug 24 14:55:37 2012 From: enbody at cse.msu.edu (Richard Enbody) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:55:37 -0400 Subject: [Edu-sig] Python Installation with PyLab? In-Reply-To: <4DA5C903-C210-4FA1-88E0-AB8F91AEB2F9@me.com> References: <6D7CAAC7-FA08-44DD-A03B-82063A936BD9@me.com> <4DA5C903-C210-4FA1-88E0-AB8F91AEB2F9@me.com> Message-ID: <503779C9.9040805@cse.msu.edu> On 8/23/12 9:50 PM, Jeremy Bruce wrote: > So, I have iPython installed on my machine, because I did the EPD install. > The notebook worked fine in Chrome...so am I to understand that it's using my local machine as an iPython server and just using the browser as the interface? Yes > > How would this work with a classroom of students? Would they still all have to install EPD, or could they all run off of my server? They would have to install iPython. > > Thanks > > On 2012-08-23, at 17:19 , Marc Keller wrote: > >> Try the IPython Notebook, it's easier to set and use than SAGE >> >> http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/dev/interactive/htmlnotebook.html >> >> On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 6:35 PM, Jeremy Bruce wrote: >> Hi Edu, >> >> I'm hoping to start bringing python into my math teaching in stages over the next year. >> I've been trying out different installations and setups, and wondering if anyone could offer any guidance. >> >> Ideally, I'd have a setup that included numpy/scipy/matplotlib, but that stuff seems to be difficult to install by itself, or necessarily come along with a heavy duty installation of other things in the various distributions I've seen (SAGE, and EPD). Plus, anyone wanting to use an iPad is stuck. So, installing EPD is option 1, but has those limitations. Thoughts? >> >> Option 2 is just not using pylab-y stuff, and just going plain installation. Macs, PCs, and iPads could all join, and we could just use a simple text editor (I like Sublime Text 2), and the terminal. >> >> Option 3 is an idea from Fraser Speirs. Set up a Linux server on Amazon cloud services and have students SSH in to one installation. This also has the benefit of giving iPad users an option. >> >> Would love to hear the setups you all use, and any ideas you may have. >> >> Thanks! >> >> Prof. Bruce >> >> -- >> gmail: profjbruce >> twitter: profjbruce >> skype: profjbruce >> web: gostudious.com >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Edu-sig mailing list >> Edu-sig at python.org >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig >> > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig From ntoll at ntoll.org Thu Aug 30 12:53:29 2012 From: ntoll at ntoll.org (Nicholas H.Tollervey) Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:53:29 +0100 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <503F4629.6010705@ntoll.org> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi, This sounds exactly like what we're doing at PyconUK (http://pyconuk.org) in a few weeks time: we have an "education" track full of talks, tutorials, discussion and even an "educational resources sprint" taking place on the Sunday. Our aim is simple: we expect interesting things to happen when we bring teachers and developers together in an event that is open to all. We're having a Google hangout next Tuesday evening (UK time) at which we'll be discussing / planning what's going to happen. My co-organiser Alan 'teknoteacher' O'Donohoe gives details here: http://teachcomputing.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/pyconuk-whats-in-it-for-me/ - From my point of view it is vital that we *don't* work in isolation and that good education-related stuff happening at the various Pycons around the world is shared far and wide. We, as a Python community, are an international bunch and I don't see why sharing educational resources and experience shouldn't be an international effort either (speaking from experience as a teacher in the UK, too often matters educational are only placed in a local [national] context - an attitude that needs challenging IMHO). As always, comments, suggestions and critique most welcome. Nicholas. On 22/08/12 16:06, Vern Ceder wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I just wanted to bring you uptodate on where we're at with the > Education Summit at the upcoming PyCon. This will be a "by > invitation only" event, so if you are interested (and I haven't > contacted you already) or know of someone who would be really good > for and interested in this event, please let me know about that > interest off list. One of our reasons for going with invitations is > that we want to be sure that we get a fair balance between the > various education constituencies in space available, so I can't > guarantee that absolutely everyone who wants to come will be > invited.... But I'll try. > > Also we're looking for a keynote and panelists for the topics > below, so if you know of anyone that you think would be good, > please email me off list. Also if you have any other suggestions or > questions, please let me know. > > There is also a google group for announcements about the summit, so > if you're interested, you should join that group - > https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/pycon-education-summit > > First of all, the summit blurb is the following: > > "In 2013, for the first time ever, PyCon will be holding a Python > Education Summit. This summit will be a gathering of teachers and > educators from the many venues that support the teaching of > programming in Python - schools, colleges and universities, > community based workshops, online programs and government. These > constituencies differ widely in resources and constraints, in > methods, and in goals and aspirations, yet are all working to > address the same issue - a lack of coding literacy - with the same > belief - that teaching programming is needed and that Python is an > excellent way to do that. > > The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders from those > diverse constituencies to learn more about each other's efforts and > gain useful insight from them, to form connections that might > foster future collaboration, to identify common issues and begin > discussing ways to attack them, and to create an enhanced sense of > unity, purpose and community among teachers of Python, wherever > they might be. It is also our hope that the summit will serve as > catalyst for the rest of PyCon to encourage even more interaction - > hallway discussions, open spaces, lightning talks, and sprints. > > Anyone attending this conference will gain a broader understanding > of approaches and issues in teaching Python, will have the > opportunity to contribute to their discussion, and will make > contacts with other teachers of Python from across the community. A > high school teacher might make contacts that allow her to enlist > the support of a community based program while a community > volunteer might gain useful guidance on curriculum design. > > In addition to active involvement in the process of teaching > Python, the only requirement of attendees is engagement. The > morning sessions will include panel discussions that encourage > participation and the afternoon will consist of unconference style > breakout sessions that demand it. So please come willing to learn, > to teach, and to participate." > > Also, I've developed a basic statement of the topics we'll be > covering: > > "As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact > Python education today: engagement, curriculum and teaching. So I'm > proposing that we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. > > Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - > attracting learners and letting them know why they should be eager > to learn Python, recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with > the skills needed to facilitate that learning, and then keeping > everyone involved in the community. You could also call this > "outreach" or even "marketing". Whatever you call it, we need to > attract people who want to learn Python and the people and the > people to help satisfy that need. > > Topics: How are the various education communities attracting people > to their programs? What things can each learn from other programs, > particularly in terms of increasing interest and involvement in > the Python language and community? > > Curriculum - The need for uptodate, accessible and appropriate > curriculum is felt in all aspects of Python education. Community > programs need free and flexible lesson plans and teaching > materials, schools are often reluctant to offer a program without > an established curriculum, and teachers in all areas are often > desperate for curricula that can be leveraged with minimal time and > effort. > > Topics: What curriculum materials are currently freely available > for teaching Python? What means can be used to increase their > quality, coverage and availablity? > > Teaching - Again, teaching is a universal issue. Schools often > have experienced teachers, but ones who don't know Python. > Community programs can find Python experts, but they frequently > have little teaching experience or knowledge. > > Topics: what best practices might community programs follow to > help volunteer teachers do a better job? Are there any teaching > guildes or hints available now? What strategies might help schools > qualify their current experienced teachers to teach Python? How > might we increase the number of qualified teachers generally? > > Underlying themes: The two underlying and unifying themes for the > summit are communication and collaboration." > > Thanks! > > Vern > > -- Vern Ceder vceder at gmail.com , > vceder at dogsinmotion.com The Quick > Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > > _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing > list Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJQP0YpAAoJEP0qBPaYQbb6Oy4H+gI5pyCyXG+icXePhprnEX7R I3zFTdYHKQqmrazS13I5TkIqlPgo3QjHt7fb0W4sZiV9ZRuoj9wBUEzqh5SRSnFA 5k9qUuXIPZhBuwY0NwigBmNPujpFPEOpHyBdcf9xL2zVMpTt4jtrgfFFfkDdrNmq /lejUQKstTam5jDA40u+WHEaqr3futOeZeL2vjcMRh14R05jesij6QoyPkce04Qk dr278rKWXZnkDcKlbeinV/TP8g3hnVX9AZESKojgP5cWgi6z7FjlMXTHprtkLqa4 6+cUnFtLiak9k23uayAoKYCNeSt0T1oHceHcB7nAvGFKrfi4YoQTqt/tqpx5j8g= =vu+y -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From vceder at gmail.com Thu Aug 30 18:48:14 2012 From: vceder at gmail.com (Vern Ceder) Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:48:14 -0500 Subject: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update In-Reply-To: <503F4629.6010705@ntoll.org> References: <503F4629.6010705@ntoll.org> Message-ID: Nicholas, I'd agree that we seem to be pretty much on the same page, right down to the basic rationale. While the summit itself is by invitation (due to space constraints, mostly) the rest of the events will be open and we are planning/hoping to have pretty much the same spectrum. I completely agree that communication and collaboration should be international. But I'm wondering how we might achieve that? I'd certainly be interested gaining whatever insight comes from your eperience and I'd love to reciprocate - I'm just not sure how we might do that. I'm afraid I can't make the hangout due to work schedules. So I hope we can figure out a way to collaborate. I'd volunteer to come to PyCon UK to be a liaison , but sadly that's not practical for a number of reasons... ;) But if any of you could get to our con, you'd be welcome! Cheers, Vern On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 5:53 AM, Nicholas H.Tollervey wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Hi, > > This sounds exactly like what we're doing at PyconUK > (http://pyconuk.org) in a few weeks time: we have an "education" track > full of talks, tutorials, discussion and even an "educational > resources sprint" taking place on the Sunday. > > Our aim is simple: we expect interesting things to happen when we > bring teachers and developers together in an event that is open to all. > > We're having a Google hangout next Tuesday evening (UK time) at which > we'll be discussing / planning what's going to happen. My co-organiser > Alan 'teknoteacher' O'Donohoe gives details here: > > http://teachcomputing.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/pyconuk-whats-in-it-for-me/ > > - From my point of view it is vital that we *don't* work in isolation > and that good education-related stuff happening at the various Pycons > around the world is shared far and wide. > > We, as a Python community, are an international bunch and I don't see > why sharing educational resources and experience shouldn't be an > international effort either (speaking from experience as a teacher in > the UK, too often matters educational are only placed in a local > [national] context - an attitude that needs challenging IMHO). > > As always, comments, suggestions and critique most welcome. > > Nicholas. > > On 22/08/12 16:06, Vern Ceder wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > > > I just wanted to bring you uptodate on where we're at with the > > Education Summit at the upcoming PyCon. This will be a "by > > invitation only" event, so if you are interested (and I haven't > > contacted you already) or know of someone who would be really good > > for and interested in this event, please let me know about that > > interest off list. One of our reasons for going with invitations is > > that we want to be sure that we get a fair balance between the > > various education constituencies in space available, so I can't > > guarantee that absolutely everyone who wants to come will be > > invited.... But I'll try. > > > > Also we're looking for a keynote and panelists for the topics > > below, so if you know of anyone that you think would be good, > > please email me off list. Also if you have any other suggestions or > > questions, please let me know. > > > > There is also a google group for announcements about the summit, so > > if you're interested, you should join that group - > > > https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/pycon-education-summit > > > > First of all, the summit blurb is the following: > > > > "In 2013, for the first time ever, PyCon will be holding a Python > > Education Summit. This summit will be a gathering of teachers and > > educators from the many venues that support the teaching of > > programming in Python - schools, colleges and universities, > > community based workshops, online programs and government. These > > constituencies differ widely in resources and constraints, in > > methods, and in goals and aspirations, yet are all working to > > address the same issue - a lack of coding literacy - with the same > > belief - that teaching programming is needed and that Python is an > > excellent way to do that. > > > > The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders from those > > diverse constituencies to learn more about each other's efforts and > > gain useful insight from them, to form connections that might > > foster future collaboration, to identify common issues and begin > > discussing ways to attack them, and to create an enhanced sense of > > unity, purpose and community among teachers of Python, wherever > > they might be. It is also our hope that the summit will serve as > > catalyst for the rest of PyCon to encourage even more interaction - > > hallway discussions, open spaces, lightning talks, and sprints. > > > > Anyone attending this conference will gain a broader understanding > > of approaches and issues in teaching Python, will have the > > opportunity to contribute to their discussion, and will make > > contacts with other teachers of Python from across the community. A > > high school teacher might make contacts that allow her to enlist > > the support of a community based program while a community > > volunteer might gain useful guidance on curriculum design. > > > > In addition to active involvement in the process of teaching > > Python, the only requirement of attendees is engagement. The > > morning sessions will include panel discussions that encourage > > participation and the afternoon will consist of unconference style > > breakout sessions that demand it. So please come willing to learn, > > to teach, and to participate." > > > > Also, I've developed a basic statement of the topics we'll be > > covering: > > > > "As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact > > Python education today: engagement, curriculum and teaching. So I'm > > proposing that we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. > > > > Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - > > attracting learners and letting them know why they should be eager > > to learn Python, recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with > > the skills needed to facilitate that learning, and then keeping > > everyone involved in the community. You could also call this > > "outreach" or even "marketing". Whatever you call it, we need to > > attract people who want to learn Python and the people and the > > people to help satisfy that need. > > > > Topics: How are the various education communities attracting people > > to their programs? What things can each learn from other programs, > > particularly in terms of increasing interest and involvement in > > the Python language and community? > > > > Curriculum - The need for uptodate, accessible and appropriate > > curriculum is felt in all aspects of Python education. Community > > programs need free and flexible lesson plans and teaching > > materials, schools are often reluctant to offer a program without > > an established curriculum, and teachers in all areas are often > > desperate for curricula that can be leveraged with minimal time and > > effort. > > > > Topics: What curriculum materials are currently freely available > > for teaching Python? What means can be used to increase their > > quality, coverage and availablity? > > > > Teaching - Again, teaching is a universal issue. Schools often > > have experienced teachers, but ones who don't know Python. > > Community programs can find Python experts, but they frequently > > have little teaching experience or knowledge. > > > > Topics: what best practices might community programs follow to > > help volunteer teachers do a better job? Are there any teaching > > guildes or hints available now? What strategies might help schools > > qualify their current experienced teachers to teach Python? How > > might we increase the number of qualified teachers generally? > > > > Underlying themes: The two underlying and unifying themes for the > > summit are communication and collaboration." > > > > Thanks! > > > > Vern > > > > -- Vern Ceder vceder at gmail.com , > > vceder at dogsinmotion.com The Quick > > Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing > > list Edu-sig at python.org > > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) > Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ > > iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJQP0YpAAoJEP0qBPaYQbb6Oy4H+gI5pyCyXG+icXePhprnEX7R > I3zFTdYHKQqmrazS13I5TkIqlPgo3QjHt7fb0W4sZiV9ZRuoj9wBUEzqh5SRSnFA > 5k9qUuXIPZhBuwY0NwigBmNPujpFPEOpHyBdcf9xL2zVMpTt4jtrgfFFfkDdrNmq > /lejUQKstTam5jDA40u+WHEaqr3futOeZeL2vjcMRh14R05jesij6QoyPkce04Qk > dr278rKWXZnkDcKlbeinV/TP8g3hnVX9AZESKojgP5cWgi6z7FjlMXTHprtkLqa4 > 6+cUnFtLiak9k23uayAoKYCNeSt0T1oHceHcB7nAvGFKrfi4YoQTqt/tqpx5j8g= > =vu+y > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig at python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > -- Vern Ceder vceder at gmail.com, vceder at dogsinmotion.com The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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