[Year 12 SofDev] Python Version

Fri May 29 07:22:18 AEST 2015

Kent,

I haven't used Alice here because our technicians hate installing stuff
that is additional to the Edustar image and Alice used to require a couple
of network tweaks on the user machines. I haven't looked into it for a
couple of years.

We introduce the kids to Scratch in year 7, some of them take to it, most
don't. "I don't get it sir". We have a very large migrant population many
of whom have been trained as rote learners in their countries of origin, so
thinking outside the box is even harder for them than for locally educated
kids. "What's the right answer" is their standard approach. These kids seem
to find their way into classes for "good girls" and hit a brick wall later.

I've played with Codeacademy (I really don't like it, I think it's a
pedagogical vacuum), Lego Mindstorms (fairly successful), my own HTML
materials and last year I found Prof. Craven's ProgrammArcadeGames site. I
really like it but the girls find it more challenging than codeacademy but
more rewarding.

No magic bullets I'm afraid, still looking! On another track we've gone
GAFE and sites.google combined with drive.google is opening up new horizons.

Laurie Savage
https://sites.google.com/a/pvgc.vic.edu.au/mr-savage/home

On 28 May 2015 at 19:37, Kent Beveridge <kbeveridge at stbc.vic.edu.au> wrote:

>  Hi laurie,
> Spotted your note on Alice.
> Oddly enough, it's mainly the girls of my classes who are doing the best
> stuff with Alice. A couple of boys are doing well too.
> I hadn't given that a thought till your response here as I try to
> encourage both always.
> It is however, still providing some thinking challenges.
> Can I ask if you use it and what tasks work best with your groups...I am
> trying hard to keep IT going here, but face many challenges.
>
> Kent Beveridge
> Teacher
>
> On 28 May 2015, at 10:36 am, Laurie Savage <08327998 at pvgc.vic.edu.au>
> wrote:
>
>   My year 9 girls did a couple of hours of Alice at one of Therese Keanes
> student days at Swinburne. They liked it a lot.
>
>      Laurie Savage
> https://sites.google.com/a/pvgc.vic.edu.au/mr-savage/home
>
> On 28 May 2015 at 08:58, Kent Beveridge <kbeveridge at stbc.vic.edu.au>
> wrote:
>
>>  Just as an appendix...I am not taking a VCE group presently...none
>> elected IT at VCE level for 2015.
>> My Python class is in fact a year 9 crew...but the link is still a great
>> one ....we are just about to move into the graphical applications
>> stuff....the menus also have video training as part of the link, it's a
>> complete package. I like it.
>> Ps...I am using ALICE for the first time  and it's not too bad but is
>> taking some getting used to. The tutes are great and the assessment tools
>> are handy too...used at year 8.
>>
>> Kent Beveridge
>> Teacher
>>
>> On 28 May 2015, at 8:49 am, Laurie Savage <08327998 at pvgc.vic.edu.au>
>> wrote:
>>
>>     I second Kent's recommendation. I've used Prof. Craven's
>> http://www.programarcadegames.com/ site with a couple of classes now, it
>> uses 3.x and it's one of the better courses around. Python 2.x and 3.x live
>> happily side-by-side on Windows or Linux but need a little bit of tweaking
>> on Mac. The site talks about how to do this.
>>
>>  I had a lot of fun, and my kids enjoyed making old-school text adventure
>> games. They will end up with a full Windowed GUI that uses classes and
>> objects.
>>
>>      Laurie Savage
>> https://sites.google.com/a/pvgc.vic.edu.au/mr-savage/home
>>
>> On 27 May 2015 at 13:10, Nayak, Jayanti S <
>> nayak.jayanti.s at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>>
>>>   Hi,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I want to teach programming concepts using Python programming language
>>> to my Year-10 students. I haven't taught python programming before.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I noticed that the desktop computers in our school have Edustar image
>>> with Python 2.5 version. On their website however, they have two versions
>>> - 2.7.10 or 3.4.3. Now I am confused which one to use.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If someone is using python, could you tell me which version would be
>>> recommended. What are limitations with Python 2.5?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Ms. Nayak,
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> 97 Robinson Street, Horsham VIC 3400
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