-> SK>I must say that I am shocked to here such an argument against
-> SK>programming (why teach it as who really needs it nowadays) coming
-> SK>from both you and Ron McDermott.
-> I'm not sure I said exactly that?  My thinking was more
-> along the lines of interest and future programming trends
-> (I think we're going to have programs writing programs
-> for the most part, with an object-oriented wysiwyg bent).
Sorry, I'm not meaning to put words in your mouth.
While I agree that programming in the future will probably look quite
different, I wasn't recommending teaching programming with the idea that
"learning how to program" was the end product. Rather I saw the process
and the exposure to math topics and problem solving as the outcome and
the gain. I don't know that I'd even teach, maybe, writing lines of
code. How about just having them play with the turtle and learn how to
create designs? The problem solving in such a thing can be quite
complex, and it is an integration of art and math (geometry), and it
appeals to some of the other learning styles (for instance, kinesthetic
learners can be taught to act out as the turtle accoring to commands,
which could help them relate to the visual representation on the
screen).
-> I grant that there are some aspects of logo which would be
-> beneficial; I find it hard to say the same about
-> programming in basic, pascal, etc, FOR THE AVERAGE STUDENT.
OK, I can agree with that. I know that some students would be completely
disinterested in traditional "programming", and I don't really see it as
a required topic for all students.
-> Now maybe if we're talking programming Web pages with things
-> like animation and REALSOUND, we could get something going!
I'm surprised that you even equate that with "programming". Nowadays
more and more software is coming out, and also Web page "templates",
such that it is not really necessary to know HTML in order to create a
Web page.
Hmm, maybe Leona will comment on this? I thought she was going to take a
course in Web page creation this summer. Have you gotten around to that
yet, Leona? ;-)
Sheila
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