"Teach yourself how to program by making computer games" is a free book worth sharing and using in the classroom.<br> <a href="http://inventwithpython.com/">http://inventwithpython.com/</a><br><br>You can either buy a hard copy from Amazon or just download the full PDF as I did for my ebook reader :-)<br>
<br>Regards Roland<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 14 July 2010 21:38, Roland Gesthuizen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rgesthuizen@gmail.com">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Bruce is right to suggest using Scratch to teach the basics of programming. I still use it with my senior students. It is a whole new world to explore when kids plug in a USB scratch board.<br> <a href="http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/scratch" target="_blank">http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/scratch</a><br>
<br>Python has a lot going for it as an introductory language for teaching programming to students. I have some research that I can share with anybody interested that works though this. Python is easy to learn, cross platform and powerful. Can even run off a USB key. Just check out what NASA and Google are doing with it. We also use it on the OLPC laptops. Check out ANUGA, a python hydrodynamic model by ANU and Geoscience Ausralia I have seen used by students to manipulate a 3D model of a tsunami wave. Here are some resource links.<br>
<a href="http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/python" target="_blank">http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/python</a><br><br>Regards <br><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 14 July 2010 20:54, Bruce Fuda <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bruce.fuda@gmail.com" target="_blank">bruce.fuda@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">Sybille and others,<div><br></div><div>I also use Scratch as a lead-in to Python and PHP (depending on the subject) with my students because it eliminates the most frustrating aspect of any programming language - the peculiarities of syntax. I use it in Year 6s as the only programming "language" they use, in Year 8 alongside very simple Python activities, and in years 9/10 in units exploring both web dev and application programming.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The great thing about using it is you can set very simple tasks with it (make the cat bounce up and down), or you can use variables and event triggers extensively which allows you to develop very challenging and complex problems and activities for the students to solve,</div>
<div><br></div><div>If you're going to be teaching VB to kids with no experience, I'd recommend using Scratch to introduce control structures and variables - it's graphical, and it shows good program structure in ways that are not too dissimilar to the coding standards used in most full-blown languages.</div>
<div><br></div><div><font color="#888888">Bruce</font><br></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<br><a href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>
<br>"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead<br>