Hi everyone,
Scott Wallace & Rita Freudenberg pointed me to the recent thread on squeak-dev about Squeak, Etoys, and the future. Quite a good read. Even missed a lunch meeting because I was so caught up with it. For the last six months, I've been helping to create Squeakland Foundation, the spin-off from VPRI to champion Etoys and education. As a group, we've talked quite a bit about the issues raised in this thread. Who's we? http://squeakland.org/about/people/ Until now, we've been mostly getting our act together, planning Squeakfest Brasil and Squeakfest USA (squeakfest.org), and creating new educational materials. VPRI has been a big part of this process, spending considerable time & money helping us become self-sufficient, along with helping us retain the spirit that led to the creation of Squeak and Etoys. Our goal is to become much more collaborative in our decision-making, with both educators and developers. So let's start now ... here's the view from Squeakland. Please respond with as much passion and rancor as you like. We want to hear all sides. In my opinion ... ** Etoys has been extremely successful. There are many, many examples of inspiring work around the world. I came to VPRI's attention because of my work at Waveplace, where last year we trained many teachers and kids in some difficult places, like Haiti and Nicaragua. I've lived and breathed Etoys, teaching adults & kids, experiencing first hand what it's like to have a whole room hitting the same stumbling block at the same time. But here's the thing ... with the right mentoring they *get through* the stumbling blocks and reach the "light bulb" moment when they experience mastery and become hooked. Our first-hand experience has been overwhelmingly positive. But never mind words ... what's missing from this talk are the children themselves: Have a look here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=80 (six minutes) or here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=94 (thirty seconds) The look on the girl's face in the longer video (around 5:32) really tells the whole story for me. Transformation. ** Etoys is more than visual programming for kids. Squeakland's focus is to teach *with* Etoys. Towards that end we've begun work on a full-spectrum course that uses Etoys to help teach what teachers already need to teach: language arts, social studies, science, math, etc. We want to help the whole school, not just the computer lab. More here: http://confluence.immuexa.com/display/sq/Squeakland+Courseware and here: http://www.etoysillinois.org/library.php ** Etoys is very effective for younger children (6 to 12 years old) Our recent focus has been largely for this age range, as we believe Etoys has benefits over Alice and Scratch. It's also the age when the most profound transformations can occur, when creative problem solving can be reinforced in ways that last through a child's whole education. ** Squeakland Foundation can help teach both Squeak and Etoys When choosing the name for the new organization, we purposely kept "Squeak" in the name because we believe in the transition from Etoys to Squeak, and foresee a future where the efforts of Squeakland will help teach & inspire Squeak as well. We see Squeak as a natural extension of Etoys ... many educators and administrators have expressed interest in this. Yes, Alice and Scratch are suited to teaching programming to middle schoolers and high schoolers, but so is *Squeak*, with the right focus and training materials. We'd like to help paint this picture ... the "what next?" when kids outgrow Etoys. Please help us. ** Etoys could use improvement We're well aware of the stumbling blocks for new users of Etoys. A colleague once described Scratch as "low entry, low ceiling" and Etoys as "high entry, high ceiling". Much of our discussions have centered around lowering the barriers to entry, which includes user interface fixes, better tutorials, better documentation, etc. When I first met Alan Kay, I told him Squeakland needed a better website. He quickly responded, "Maybe you could help us with that." (How could I say no?) Now I put it to you ... "maybe you could help us with Etoys" ... we genuinely need your help. Your work will help inspire children from around the world, like the little girl in the Nicaragua movie. Please let us know you're out there by clicking "contact" on squeakland.org. You can also look over our evolving wiki & issue tracker & newsletter: http://wiki.squeakland.org http://tracker.squeakland.org http://squeakland.org/news/newsletter/ If something seems to be missing, it's because we're waiting for you. Thank you for your time, Timothy -- Timothy Falconer Squeakland Foundation http://squeakland.org 610-797-3100 |
On Jul 3, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Timothy Falconer wrote: More here: http://confluence.immuexa.com/display/sq/Squeakland+Courseware Make that: (sorry Bert :) |
In reply to this post by Timothy Falconer-3
A few quick points to address points made in the earlier thread:
* As Bert said, we'd love to decouple Etoys from base Squeak, but other things keep coming before this task, such as improving ease of use or supporting OLPC. * Yes, we'd love to bring all Squeakland improvements in the last two years back into the newest Squeak and benefit from the newest Squeak work. Our fork was of necessity (OLPC scramble), not philosophy. * We are actively seeking funds for both education and development. One day we hope Squeak will benefit from our fundraising. * Yes, yes, yes to a facelift for Squeak ... simplify menus, make the visuals fresh, improve usability so that newcomers won't bounce. You'll get no argument from me on this. Someone need only claim the task and gather support. * Yes, unit tests throughout, yes refactoring, but my philosophy is "if you're praying for potatoes, do it with a hoe in your hand." The best commentary is adding some unit tests yourself. And last, I'd like to underline Rita's point .... * We'd love to have you all attend this year's Squeakfest (Aug 10,11,12 at UCLA). You'll get to see educators, hear great experiences, and see a class of children being taught. We're also holding a technical track for Squeak developers. More than this, we'd gladly make room for a roundtable or two about the very issues discussed here in squeak-dev. Squeakfest is a great place to get together and talk about Squeak, particularly since it's being held near VPRI and will have many of the Squeak pioneers in attendance. Come help us make (new) history. Registration and other information can be found here: http://squeakfest.org/usa/ Take care, Tim -- Timothy Falconer Squeakland Foundation http://squeakland.org 610-797-3100 On Jul 3, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Timothy Falconer wrote: > Hi everyone, > > Scott Wallace & Rita Freudenberg pointed me to the recent thread on > squeak-dev about Squeak, Etoys, and the future. Quite a good > read. Even missed a lunch meeting because I was so caught up with > it. > > For the last six months, I've been helping to create Squeakland > Foundation, the spin-off from VPRI to champion Etoys and education. > As a group, we've talked quite a bit about the issues raised in this > thread. > > Who's we? http://squeakland.org/about/people/ > > Until now, we've been mostly getting our act together, planning > Squeakfest Brasil and Squeakfest USA (squeakfest.org), and creating > new educational materials. VPRI has been a big part of this > process, spending considerable time & money helping us become self- > sufficient, along with helping us retain the spirit that led to the > creation of Squeak and Etoys. Our goal is to become much more > collaborative in our decision-making, with both educators and > developers. > > So let's start now ... here's the view from Squeakland. Please > respond with as much passion and rancor as you like. We want to > hear all sides. > > In my opinion ... > > ** Etoys has been extremely successful. There are many, many > examples of inspiring work around the world. > > I came to VPRI's attention because of my work at Waveplace, where > last year we trained many teachers and kids in some difficult > places, like Haiti and Nicaragua. I've lived and breathed Etoys, > teaching adults & kids, experiencing first hand what it's like to > have a whole room hitting the same stumbling block at the same > time. But here's the thing ... with the right mentoring they *get > through* the stumbling blocks and reach the "light bulb" moment when > they experience mastery and become hooked. > > Our first-hand experience has been overwhelmingly positive. But > never mind words ... what's missing from this talk are the children > themselves: > > Have a look here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=80 > (six minutes) > > or here: http://waveplace.com/locations/nicaragua/movie.jsp?id=94 > (thirty seconds) > > The look on the girl's face in the longer video (around 5:32) really > tells the whole story for me. Transformation. > > > ** Etoys is more than visual programming for kids. Squeakland's > focus is to teach *with* Etoys. > > Towards that end we've begun work on a full-spectrum course that > uses Etoys to help teach what teachers already need to teach: > language arts, social studies, science, math, etc. We want to help > the whole school, not just the computer lab. > > More here: http://wiki.squeakland.org/display/sq/Squeakland > +Courseware > > and here: http://www.etoysillinois.org/library.php > > > ** Etoys is very effective for younger children (6 to 12 years old) > > Our recent focus has been largely for this age range, as we believe > Etoys has benefits over Alice and Scratch. It's also the age when > the most profound transformations can occur, when creative problem > solving can be reinforced in ways that last through a child's whole > education. > > > ** Squeakland Foundation can help teach both Squeak and Etoys > > When choosing the name for the new organization, we purposely kept > "Squeak" in the name because we believe in the transition from Etoys > to Squeak, and foresee a future where the efforts of Squeakland will > help teach & inspire Squeak as well. We see Squeak as a natural > extension of Etoys ... many educators and administrators have > expressed interest in this. Yes, Alice and Scratch are suited to > teaching programming to middle schoolers and high schoolers, but so > is *Squeak*, with the right focus and training materials. We'd like > to help paint this picture ... the "what next?" when kids outgrow > Etoys. Please help us. > > > ** Etoys could use improvement > > We're well aware of the stumbling blocks for new users of Etoys. A > colleague once described Scratch as "low entry, low ceiling" and > Etoys as "high entry, high ceiling". Much of our discussions have > centered around lowering the barriers to entry, which includes user > interface fixes, better tutorials, better documentation, etc. > > When I first met Alan Kay, I told him Squeakland needed a better > website. He quickly responded, "Maybe you could help us with > that." (How could I say no?) > > Now I put it to you ... "maybe you could help us with Etoys" ... we > genuinely need your help. Your work will help inspire children > from around the world, like the little girl in the Nicaragua movie. > > Please let us know you're out there by clicking "contact" on > squeakland.org. > > You can also look over our evolving wiki & issue tracker & newsletter: > > http://wiki.squeakland.org > > http://tracker.squeakland.org > > http://squeakland.org/news/newsletter/ > > > If something seems to be missing, it's because we're waiting for you. > > Thank you for your time, > Timothy > > -- > Timothy Falconer > Squeakland Foundation > http://squeakland.org > 610-797-3100 > > > > > |
Timothy Falconer wrote:
> * As Bert said, we'd love to decouple Etoys from base Squeak, but > other things keep coming before this task, such as improving ease of > use or supporting OLPC. Exactly! Several people have ripped out Etoys and parts of Morphic with no problems, but then can't reload them. Given limited resources it is best to just leave Etoys in for now. Edgar J. De Cleene said that it is not as complicated as we are thinking, and in that case we can make this a priority for Squeak 4.1. > * We'd love to have you all attend this year's Squeakfest (Aug > 10,11,12 at UCLA). You'll get to see educators, hear great > experiences, and see a class of children being taught. We're also > holding a technical track for Squeak developers. > > More than this, we'd gladly make room for a roundtable or two about > the very issues discussed here in squeak-dev. Squeakfest is a great > place to get together and talk about Squeak, particularly since it's > being held near VPRI and will have many of the Squeak pioneers in > attendance. Come help us make (new) history. I'll be at the SqueakFest Brazil but won't be able to make it to LA this year. Last week I got to meet a few Squeakers and many potential Squeakers at the International Free Software Forum (FISL) at Porto Alegre (where SqueakFest Brazil will be held). We should always take the interests of people who are affected by our decisions but don't participate in this mailing list into account. -- Jecel |
In reply to this post by Timothy Falconer-3
On Jul 3, 2009, at 6:18 PM, Timothy Falconer wrote:
> * Yes, yes, yes to a facelift for Squeak ... simplify menus, make > the visuals fresh, improve usability so that newcomers won't > bounce. You'll get no argument from me on this. Someone need only > claim the task and gather support. I should add here that this is only my personal opinion. I don't speak in any way for the Squeak Oversight Board. My point is simply to say, "Great idea, why not suggest some specific ideas and see what people say." Tim -- Timothy Falconer Squeakland Foundation http://squeakland.org 610-797-3100 |
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