[Yr7-10it] programming curriculum

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Thanks all .. Scratch also has me curious .. almost GameMaker with training
wheels that can even off a USB key. I might give it a tryout with my
students. :-)

Over the January break, one of my students attended a summer school at NSW
University. She was really motivated by the use of Python and her team built
from scratch, an Internet search engine. Python has a good future in our
classrooms (esp vpython <http://vpython.org>).

   - A Python programming competition
<http://www.pythonchallenge.com/>on the Internet.
   - A physics-based puzzle
game<http://www.partiallydisassembled.net/nelly/>written in Python for
PyWeek 2. Features over 15 levels, a "free-play" mode
   and an integrated level editor.
   - A game programming exercise and
challenge<http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2259.asp>,
   this chap created a role playing game from scratch in 40 hours using python
   and a suite of free software.
   - A research paper that compares eleven programming
languages<http://www.it.uu.se/research/group/upcerg/Publications/proceedingsKoliCalling2006/research2.pdf>which
are currently used in introductory courses. The comparison suggests
   that Python is one of the most suitable languages to be considered for use
   in the classroom.

We live in interesting times :-)

Regards Roland

On 15/05/07, Peter Ruwoldt <ruwoldtp at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 14/05/07, Paul Sijpkes <paul.sijpkes at aanet.com.au> wrote:
> >
> > Good evening list,
> >
> > I am in the process of developing a curriculum for a Year 10 elective in
> > programming.  I have done some initial research and found that there is
> > an
> > enormous range of options from the more popular products eg. Gamemaker
> > and
> > Visual Basic to Python, Ruby, BlueJ, Robocode (very cool!) to just
> > scratch
> > the surface.
>
>
> Great idea. Use 'Scratch'. Absoutely perfect. http://scratch.mit.edu/
>
> I believe that a good grounding in Java or a C based language is probably
> > beneficial but I don't want to overwhelm the students with an overly
> > technical approach.
>
>
> You're right.  Scratch could be the fun way to provide an excellent
> grounding.  It is also freely available.
> http://waraku.blogspot.com/2007/03/scratch-mobile-phones-and-podmo.html
>
> Here are some other links relating to Scratch
> http://del.icio.us/search/?fr=del_icio_us&p=scratch&type=user
>
> Then again, I don't want them to be purely based in
> > Microsoft products and GUI development.
> >
> > Could anyone else share their ideas and experiences in what works and
> > what
> > doesn't?  Your wisdom and feedback is much appreciated!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Paul Sijpkes
> > The Knox School
> >
> >
> --
> Free and Open education for all
>
> Peter Ruwoldt
> Grant High School
> Hosking Avenue
> MOUNT GAMBIER  SA  5290
>
> P. 08 87263107 (Do not leave voice mail)
> F. 08 87250173
>
> ruwoldtp at granths.sa.edu.au
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-- 
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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