[Edu-sig] when and why should kids learn Python?

[David MacQuigg]

Great to see progress in adding CS to the curriculum.  CodingBat look
vastly improved since I was last involved.  It's predecessor, JavaBat, was
the inspiration for PyKata.  PyKata would have been Codingbat plus the
ability for teachers to select their own exercises, or create their own, an
even have a home-page making it look like their own website.
Unfortunately, the urgencies of my day job didn't leave time to finish
PyKata. https://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2015-July/011283.html

I'm disappointed at the Python community for not better supporting
educational efforts.  Ruby seems to be surging ahead of Python in
popularity.  This seems like a step backward to me - Python with a bit of
Perl ugliness added back in.

On Sat, Oct 28, 2017 at 1:09 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> This Codepen is dual purpose in that the company I work for (one of them)
> teaches with it, so I can say I'm promoting / recruiting for one of our
> other (not Python) classes.
>
> https://codepen.io/pdx4d/full/RjwrvG/
>
> Ironically though, I'm actually coming to the conclusion that the "game
> card" is over-played, by which I mean, we take kids' love of computer games
> and suggest their hearts' desire is just a heart beat away.
>
> But that's not so:  knowing how to code well enough to make games of real
> interest (to them), takes time.  Lots of other tasks are more realistic:
> making art, slide shows, ads, stories... along with rather simple game-like
> activities.
>
> But you've gotta focus on a lot of syntax and semantics first.  We need to
> be up front about the need for concentration and practice.  Programming is
> "hard fun". You don't learn Python in just a few hours, especially not if
> it's a first lexical (not block-based) language.
>
> The tiny games and game fragments that are within range, *may* be enough
> to galvanize an ongoing interest in coding, but in a minority of cases.
>
> Instead there's a sense of betrayal, of bait and switch, as "game
> development" is oversold.  Simple animations would be fine if that's what
> we offered.  Storyboarding and cartooning with Python -- makes sense.  But
> the games they play incessantly, day in and day out, are often multi-user,
> plus they're slick and well thought-out.
>
> I'm more of the school of thought that if Learning to Code is to become a
> mature aspect of the everyday curriculum, it'll need to merge in a lot of
> math topics.  Bootstrap is already a big step in this direction.  I see
> many signs that this merger is well underway.
>
> In sum, I'm for using Python when there's related age-appropriate math we
> might code around, such as the Sieve of Eratosthenes or prime factoring.
> Functions, plotting, geometry... all good.
>
> I'm against using Python as a "game development platform" with kids who
> are too young to understand that their favorite computer games are not good
> examples of what they'll be able to code any time soon.
>
> My belief is CS has for so long has been an after school "computer club"
> activity, that it still feels a need to pander, sell itself.  Math, on the
> other hand, is a required non-elective subject between you and a high
> school degree.
>
> Now that coding has emerged as more of a priority in our culture, thanks
> to many factors including industry pressure, it's starting to count towards
> math credit in some cases, and maybe becoming a tad less obsequious in
> recruiting?
>
> The curriculum at Stuyvesant High School in New York City seems
> appropriately serious, not all that game-oriented.  They're more Racket /
> Scheme based than Python, and were that way prior to Bootstrap and/or
> CS4ALL.
>
> They do have some Python content though, judging solely from their website.
>
> I followed their link, under resources, to http://codingbat.com/python
> which I'm liking, though it's small.
>
> Kirby
>
>
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