[IAEP] Etoys or Scratch?

[Mike Lee]

Caryl,

You have almost a white paper in Steve's amazing reply--much of which I
have experienced first-hand.

In developing the first grant proposal with Lubuto Library to secure
funding to enable children in Lusaka, Zambia and local teachers to author
their own lessons, we chose Etoys over Scratch almost three years ago.
Though both programs were/are widely used and cross-platform (starting with
Sugar!), Etoys files launch into a cleaner interface that is ready to
present pre-programmed interactive content. Scratch opens into a
multi-paned integrated development environment from which you have to
manually start a full-screen playback window.

I had doubts about the learnability of Etoys in the non-technical
environment of a Zambian community library, but I was blown away when we
received the 700 lessons structured by the teachers, and illustrated and
assembled by the students. It took 18 months to accomplish the body of work
with ad hoc support from me via Skype and emails. Kathleen Harness of Etoys
Illinois provided some initial guidance and her help guides were very
useful.

If I were starting from scratch today to create interactive lessons that
embodied a balance of authoring ease, language localization, post-release
maintainability and cross-platform runtime, I wouldn't use Etoys or
Scratch. I would start with the new EPUB3 ebook format and use rich media
overlays which would be an approach that most satisfies all of the
previously enumerated criteria. The "whys" around EPUB are way too much to
get into here in an email.

We can do a Skype call or Facetime if you want to hear more about the
Lubuto Project. Below are a couple links you might find interesting...

Production notes - December 2010
http://www.scribd.com/mike_lee_7

Some screenshots of the lessons in production
http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&w=48600098314%40N01&q=lubuto&m=text

Mike




On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 10:33 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  Hi All...
>
> FYI. I was a disaster volunteer with the ARC for 10+ years until I got too
> involved with OLPC.  I no longer have the time for things like going on
> extended (3-weeks minimum) deployments.  As part of my volunteer work I was
> a disaster preparedness instructor. I am very aware of their policies and
> regulations and see no problem with this proposed project.  I did not plan
> to use their name and/or materials. We will "reverse engineer" them (think
> Linux vs Unix).
>
> This project would be meeting 2 needs: 1) The need for a
> "simple-and-fun-to-do" introduction to programming activity for upper
> elementary and middle school young people and 2) The need for a
> computer-based (offline) disaster preparedness activity for young people to
> go along with a disaster network Contributors Program project that is in
> the planning stages.
>
> We would be using something similar the what the ARC uses in its classes
> and literature: http://rdcrss.org/KNUMO
>
> I am not here to discuss the merits of doing this.  All I asked was would
> it be more appropriate to have the youth use use Etoys or Scratch and why.
>
> Thanks to those of you who have answered that question.  It is really
> appreciated. If others have helpful suggestions about the programming
> aspects of this proposed project, I would welcome them.
>
> Cheers!
> Caryl
> ------------------------------
> From: greenfeld at laptop.org
> Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2012 20:01:41 -0500
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] Etoys or Scratch?
> To: droujkova at gmail.com
> CC: cbigenho at hotmail.com; iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org;
> support-gang at laptop.org
>
>
> Note that I did not state that professional programmers had to do this,
> although the way various states are leaning, licensed professional
> programmers may be required to do something like this in the United States
> within the next few years.
>
> I spent roughly 10 years doing volunteer ARES/RACES/emergency
> communications work.   And from that work I know that practices vary by
> region, and tend to change over time.
>
>
> With disasters, there can be more misinformation than real information.  I
> clearly remember one of the major cable news networks cutting away from a
> news conference after the September 11 attacks.  The mayor of New York was
> asking people not to spread rumors.  What was the news station breaking out
> of the press conference to report?  A rumor, which they actually said was a
> rumor.
>
> Now I do not know who this guide is targeted for.  Different regions of
> the world tend to encounter different disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes,
> landslides, etc.).  And each targeted country may also have specific
> information relevant to it.
>
>
> If this guide just repeats information found in various reputable sources,
> that may be safe, regardless of who makes it.  But reputation can sometimes
> be a tricky thing to judge.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 7:31 PM, Maria Droujkova <droujkova at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> I am very concerned about undue professionalization of every aspect of the
> life, versus the maker/DIY/crowdsourcing approach.
>
> Kids need to share their very imperfect ideas about serious life issues -
> disasters, health, parenting, science... They need to share openly, and in
> a space where discussion can happen. They also need to learn to check and
> re-check anything they see in open spaces.
>
> Cheers,
> Maria Droujkova
> 919-388-1721
>
> Make math your own, to make your own math
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 7:27 PM, Samuel Greenfeld <greenfeld at laptop.org>wrote:
>
> Although I cannot recommend a platform, I recommend being highly cautious
> about who generates and who edits material for a program which teaches
> disaster preparedness.  Legal disclaimers will not be able to protect the
> author(s) if the information is blatantly incorrect, or even slightly
> misinterpreted.
>
> Even the experts cannot always agree about what is best and the best way
> to present it.  For a United States based example, compare www.ready.gov&
> www.reallyready.org.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 6:27 PM, Maria Droujkova <droujkova at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> I would not use these programs. I would actually use Prezi.
> The simple answer to "Why" is the professional look of end product.
> Scratch and Etoys apps look childish (on purpose!!!) - like their names
> imply, the idea is to mess and play with things.   I just would not take
> disaster preparedness info seriously if it were presented in such way.
>
> However, if you are thinking specifically about GAMES about disasters (and
> humor), I would go with Scratch. Mostly because of the ease of upload and
> remix, and large user base.
>
> Cheers,
> Maria Droujkova
> 919-388-1721
>
> Make math your own, to make your own math
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 1:22 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com>wrote:
>
>  Hi Folks…
>
>
> If you were going to build an educational piece about disaster
> preparedness for possible *cross platform* worldwide distribution would
> you prefer to do it in Scratch or Etoys and why?
>
>
> The end product would need to be able to have animation, sound, possible
> narration, interaction and all that sort of thing. The text and sound in
> the end product would be translated into many target languages. The project
> might be done by youth with little or no prior programming experience.
>
>
> I am tending toward Scratch because it is easier to get started and I
> really like the ease and quality of animation and the sound capabilities.
>
>
> What do you all think?  And please, no simple "+1"s. I am very interested
> in the "whys".
>
>
> Caryl
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/20120305/a363a950/attachment-0001.html>