[IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python

[Thomas C Gilliard]

Sugar-Activity   Python Tute-29  (#4476) looks nice also.
> "Easy to follow interactive tutorial for Python and Pygame."

   http://download.sugarlabs.org/activities/4476/python_tute-29.xo

runs on f16-SoaS v6 (Sugar 0.94.1); XO-1 os833 (sugar 0.94.1) ; and 
sugar 0.88 running in Debian squeeze.

Tom Gilliard
satellit_

On 01/29/2012 09:29 AM, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>
> Hi All…
>
>
> I took a look at this last night and agree with Tabitha that it is 
> definitely not a stand-alone way to learn Python.  I have also looked 
> at, Pippy, and the ebook "Byte of Python" (among others), and the the 
> Khan Academy videos for learning Python.
>
>
> It would be great if some master teacher of CS could put together a 
> course syllabus using these free online resources that we could use to 
> learn this handy, popular language.
>
>
> My programming days ended in the 80s with Pascal. I would love to 
> learn Python and be able to create Activities for Sugar.  But with my 
> busy schedule (and adult ADHD) I really need someone to give structure 
> to my efforts.
>
>
> I'll bet there are lots of other folks out there in the same boat… 
> well… maybe without the ADHD!
>
>
> Caryl
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: itprofjacobs at gmail.com
> Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:08:31 -0500
> To: alan.nemo at yahoo.com
> CC: tabitha at tabitha.net.nz; iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org; 
> sthomas1 at gosargon.com
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python
>
> If you haven't seen Teagueduino yet, it's worth a look as a system 
> that does a good job of making the invisible visible, especially parts 
> of the programming interface that show you the signals/voltages in the 
> chip being set high or low when things run.  The two pictures of the 
> editor in the article below show some of this.
>
>
> http://www.open-electronics.org/teagueduino-making-things-really-simple/
> On Jan 29, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Alan Kay wrote:
>
>     Hi Tabitha
>
>     I don't think the premise of this system is for Python programming
>     to be "discovered" while doing it, and I didn't see any claims for
>     this.
>
>     It simple "makes the invisible more visible" when manipulating
>     computer entities and invoking processes that are usually shrouded
>     at best.
>
>     Systems like Etoys and Scratch need this particular visualization
>     less because they have mostly visible objects that are being given
>     behaviors (and which also in Etoys' case have visible data
>     structures -- e.g. "Holders" etc -- as well). The programmers can
>     see the changes in the already visible objects. (That is partly
>     the point in how they are designed for beginners.)
>
>     But these systems use a lot of parallel invocations, so one could
>     imagine a facility like Bob Balzer's EXDAMS (in the 60s!) that
>     captured all of the behavior for a stretch and allow it to be
>     played forward and backward deterministically to help the
>     programmer understand what was going on and the communications
>     between objects.
>
>     I think the main point here is that it really helps any
>     programmer, and especially beginners, when the computer can be
>     used to aid both their short term memories and abilities in
>     visualizing the consequences of their code.
>
>     A system like the Python visualizer is especially useful for
>     low-level imperative-type data structure munging programming (and
>     Python is often learned in this way).
>
>     Cheers,
>
>     Alan
>
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>         *From:* Tabitha Roder <tabitha at tabitha.net.nz>
>         *To:* Steve Thomas <sthomas1 at gosargon.com>
>         *Cc:* iaep <iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org>
>         *Sent:* Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:29 AM
>         *Subject:* Re: [IAEP] Nice tool for learning Python
>
>         On 28 January 2012 17:28, Steve Thomas <sthomas1 at gosargon.com
>         <mailto:sthomas1 at gosargon.com>> wrote:
>
>             Just found this: http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/
>
>         This tool looks like an amazing tool for someone who already
>         understands programming concepts to teach with but it seems a
>         stretch for someone to learn on their own with this tool by
>         itself.
>         The first example code is "aliasing" but doesn't explain what
>         a variable is, or a function, or a list. It might be possible
>         to discover these concepts using the simulator but it is
>         probably better explained in words.
>         Does anyone know of a suitable ebook or tutorial which the
>         simulator could be used with? Thinking of the cases where
>         there is no one to guide the student.
>         Thanks
>         Tabitha
>
>         _______________________________________________
>         IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>         IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org <mailto:IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org>
>         http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>     IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
>     http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An 
> Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org 
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/iaep/attachments/20120129/ec8e8948/attachment.html>