Etoys documentation TOC
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Hi all,
as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So let's start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS Manuals. It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing manuals and books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. Here are my suggestions: 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and start etoys on different operating systems) 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, flaps) What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look like: http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it to Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start writing:) Greetings, Rita -- Rita Freudenberg FIN-ISG Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg http://isgwww.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/isg/rita.html _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
Re: Etoys documentation TOC
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On Sep 3, 2009, at 7:01 AM, Rita Freudenberg wrote:
> Hi all, > > as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So > let's start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS > Manuals. It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing > manuals and books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. Here > are my suggestions: > > 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) > 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and > start etoys on different operating systems) > 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) > 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) > 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, > flaps) > > What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later > add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for > TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look > like: > http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart > > What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it to > Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start writing:) It's a good list. So this would be more of a reference manual than a getting started guide? (with tutorials) We could link back to the Etoys unit of the courseware for the gentler intro. Tim _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
Re: Etoys documentation TOC
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In reply to this post by Rita Freudenberg
On Sep 3, 2009, at 7:01 AM, Rita Freudenberg wrote: > Hi all, > > as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So > let's start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS > Manuals. It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing > manuals and books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. Here > are my suggestions: > > 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) > 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and > start etoys on different operating systems) > 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) > 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) > 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, > flaps) > > What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later > add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for > TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look > like: > http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart > > What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it to > Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start writing:) Also, just want to highlight that we actually do have some documentation (with even a big PDF): http://squeakland.org/tutorials/guides/ Kathleen's work is concise and useful, and should be used where possible in the FLOSS version. Tim _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
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In reply to this post by Timothy Falconer-3
On 03.09.2009, at 13:23, Timothy Falconer wrote: > On Sep 3, 2009, at 7:01 AM, Rita Freudenberg wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So >> let's start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS >> Manuals. It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing >> manuals and books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. >> Here are my suggestions: >> >> 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) >> 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and >> start etoys on different operating systems) >> 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) >> 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) >> 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, >> flaps) >> >> What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later >> add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for >> TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look >> like: >> http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart >> >> What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it >> to Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start >> writing:) > > It's a good list. So this would be more of a reference manual than > a getting started guide? (with tutorials) IMHO that would be much harder to write than a reference manual. It's still desperately needed of course but we should start simple. The reference manual also serves another purpose: it defines the boundary of what we consider officially supported, and what not. As you know there is much more in Etoys than is easily accessible on the surface. If it's documented, we try hard support it. If not, you may still use it but can't rely on to work in future versions. - Bert - _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
Re: [etoys-dev] Etoys documentation TOC
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In reply to this post by Rita Freudenberg
On Thursday 03 Sep 2009 4:31:55 pm Rita Freudenberg wrote:
> 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and start > etoys on different operating systems) IMHO, we should separate technical reference from learner's reference. Installation is something that is done once while learning happens all the time. Existing guides (e.g. Powerful Ideas, help) use a prescriptive style (press this, do this etc.). Many beginners get into a mechanical action mode. IMHO, children (and teachers) need a conceptual style that helps them transition from real world to digital world. A lesson I learnt the hard way :-(. Nowadays I introduce Etoys as a kit containing thousands of 'tiny powerful automatic computers'. They have a button panel (halo buttons) and keyboard (for text entry) but no 'form'. We paint a shape or stick a graphic label to recognise and manipulate them. These computers can memorize stuff and follow instructions but they have no will or consciousness of their own. So we have to "think" for them and give them right instructions. We can also get two or more "computers" to work together as a team ("pick up your heading from wheel's heading", align next to, move towards etc). Such a team of computers can be used to tell a story ("water cycle"), calculate magnitudes ("if I walk 10 units north and then 10 units east, how far am I from the starting point?") or model things around us ("seeds on a sunflower") to discover patterns. I hope I am too off the mark here. Originally, the term "computer" referred to a smart person who did calculations. Later, electronic machines were designed to mimic their operations and these were dubbed "automatic computers". Subbu _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
Re: [etoys-dev] Etoys documentation TOC
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In reply to this post by Rita Freudenberg
On 2009-09-03 13:01, Rita Freudenberg wrote:
> Hi all, > > as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So let's > start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS Manuals. > It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing manuals and > books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. Here are my > suggestions: > > 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) > 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and start > etoys on different operating systems) > 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) > 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) > 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, flaps) > > What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later > add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for > TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look like: > http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart > > What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it to > Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start writing:) > > Greetings, > Rita > http://tracker.immuexa.com/browse/SQ-96 The nice thing with it is that if you take a UpdatingScreenShot of a script for example and add in your BookMorph or text you don't have to make a new screenshot if you change the script or language because it updates :-) So if we keep the documentation internal in Squeak as long as possible this could maybe be helpful. Karl _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
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In reply to this post by Timothy Falconer-3
Timothy Falconer wrote:
> On Sep 3, 2009, at 7:23 AM, Timothy Falconer wrote: > >> On Sep 3, 2009, at 7:01 AM, Rita Freudenberg wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> as you all know we don't really have an Etoys documentation. So >>> let's start writing it. As I wrote earlier I propose to use FLOSS >>> Manuals. It is used by the olpc and sugar community for writing >>> manuals and books. To get started we should have a TOC outline. Here >>> are my suggestions: >>> >>> 1. Introduction (short description what etoys is about) >>> 2. Getting started (technical description on how to install and >>> start etoys on different operating systems) >>> 3. User Interface (painting tools, halo, viewer ...) >>> 4. Tiles (describing every available tile) >>> 5. Objects (everything from the supplies bin and object catalogue, >>> flaps) >>> >>> What am I missing? Of course we can have subchapters and also later >>> add main chapters if we find out we need it. Here is the manual for >>> TurtleArt so you can get the idea what our documentation could look >>> like: >>> http://en.flossmanuals.net/turtleart >>> >>> What do you think? If we come up with a TOC outline I can send it to >>> Anne Gentle from FLOSS manuals to set it up and we can start writing:) >> >> It's a good list. So this would be more of a reference manual than a >> getting started guide? (with tutorials) that clear. >> >> We could link back to the Etoys unit of the courseware for the >> gentler intro. > > Also, just want to highlight that we actually do have some > documentation (with even a big PDF): > > http://squeakland.org/tutorials/guides/ > > Kathleen's work is concise and useful, and should be used where > possible in the FLOSS version. it at one place. And since it is a reference manual, it will be shorter than other materials, but complete. As Bert pointed out "it defines the boundary of what we consider officially supported, and what not." Rita > > Tim -- Rita Freudenberg FIN-ISG Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg http://isgwww.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/isg/rita.html _______________________________________________ squeakland mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland |
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