[Its.an.education.project] Is there some toy computer that comes with a programming language?

[Edward Cherlin]

On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 12:26 PM, info at olpc-peru.info
<info at olpc-peru.info> wrote:
> Hello,
>
>  I would thank if some of the guys (girls?) here can tell me if you know
>  about some
>  toy computer that comes with a programming language ?

I can give you a long list of low-cost computers that don't come with
a programming language preinstalled, but can support a number of
available languages, among them APL (my own project), BASIC, FORTH,
LISP, and many others. Almost anything that can run one of the really
tiny Linux distros (DSL, Puppy...) can run Free versions of many of
them. You can put a programming language into a watch or an OpenMoko
cell phone.

I-APL is a complete ISO/ANSI standard APL in 29K. We put it on the
Apple II, the BBC Micro, many other education computers, most CP/M
systems, the Sinclair ZX-80, and other 8-bit computers, and any 16-bit
or better computer with a reasonably standard C compiler. I have the
source code, and intend to GPL it. A quick search shows

sigscheme 53K
tinyscheme 52K
yforth 35K

and other larger language packages.

>  I have dig on google and I didn't found it.  Maybe some of you know
>  about it.
>
>  My idea is to learn WHAT have happened to those machines in the previous
>  year?
>  where they have been used? what results got the teachers and pupils ?
>
>  I don't know if the results that we can find will be positive, negative
>  or neutral.
>
>  been a programmer I have told all my life that not all people can be a
>  programmer...
>  but... what results get all the kids (the normal, not the "programming"
>  skillfull ones)
>  when you put a toy "computer" with computer programming capabilities.

It is certainly true that not everyone can become a C++ programmer.
(Alan Kay: "I invented Object-Oriented Programming, and C++ wasn't
what I had in mind.") Actually, *any* first grader can use APL for
arithmetic,

   0 1 2 3 + 1
1 2 3 4
   +/0 1 2 3 4
10
   +\0 1 2 3 4
0 1 3 6 10
    ×/1 2 3 4
24
   ×\1 2 3 4
1 2 6 24
   !1 2 3 4
1 2 6 24

and any third grader can learn to program in any of several languages.
I have references for a number of studies on this topic, and others
here have many more. It would be useful to compile a proper
bibliography and write some survey articles for the journals.

>  Language? anyone... it would be interesting to do comparison about what
>  a child
>  got from "Basic" language (Kemeny and Kurst) or from Logo... or you name it.

Definitely. We should find a partner to set up a serious research
program in Constructionism, including the use of the full range of
sharp tools that we have available or can dream up. Smalltalk, Logo,
APL, and Forth need to be included, and I would welcome anything else
that can be shown to expand student's horizons. However, there is
evidence that BASIC contracts the mental horizons of its users.

>  Best regards,
>
>  Javier Rodriguez
>  Lima, Peru
>
>  _______________________________________________
>  Its.an.education.project mailing list
>  Its.an.education.project at tema.lo-res.org
>  http://lists.lo-res.org/mailman/listinfo/its.an.education.project

-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay