[Yr11 Information Technology] [Oz-teachers] Program android phones

[Roland Gesthuizen]

"Teach yourself how to program by making computer games" is a free book
worth sharing and using in the classroom.
      http://inventwithpython.com/

You can either buy a hard copy from Amazon or just download the full PDF as
I did for my ebook reader :-)

Regards Roland

On 14 July 2010 21:38, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.
>      http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/scratch
>
> 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.
>      http://delicious.com/rgesthuizen/python
>
> Regards
>
> On 14 July 2010 20:54, Bruce Fuda <bruce.fuda at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Sybille and others,
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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,
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> Bruce
>>
>

-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"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
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