Raspberry Filling said:
I've had a few request to know more about the manual's structure so I'll make a posting on our Facebook page.
Not all of us facebook....
Mjiig said:
I've actually been thinking about creating a programming "quest" that gives you one very simple programming problem to start with after a basic introduction (modify this program so that it prints out the product not the sum), and the output of that program allows you to unlock later problems. This goes on, creating a chain learning effect. Once you get to a certain level the problem could be to write an implementation of a simple decryption program that's needed to unlock later problems.
I've had similar random thoughts, but I doubt my programming skills would be up to the task. I can see something like this being really really cool. (Imagine a game, where the puzzle to pass to the next level involves writing a program to calculate something... You'd want to make sure that there was a decent amount of gameplay as well, so that it wasn't just code, achievement, code, achievement...) The early problems could probably be solved mentally, so kids understand how their code relates to "the real world"... Then you could progress to problems that would be fairly difficult to calculate by hand. You could have quests, where you explore a world looking for clues. (it doesn't have to be 3D — 2D would suffice) Imagine a 2D dungeon game, where the books/scrolls/scrawled notes you pick up don't magically let you through doors, they just give you instructions that can be put together to make a program that will calculate the answer to a puzzle. (You could have a library, where you could access all the instructions that you'd collected. You'd probably want them to automatically sort themselves into a cohesive collection of topics as you found them.) Using Skyrim style games as a metaphor, the books and notes you find are usable code instructions, and the crafting or enchanting tables are code interpreters or text editors that let you create code to put through interpreters.
Let me know how you go/if you need help with anything. (I only know basic Python, so don't expect me to help you with complicated coding problems... =P)
daviewales said:
Mjiig said:
I've actually been thinking about creating a programming "quest" that gives you one very simple programming problem to start with after a basic introduction (modify this program so that it prints out the product not the sum), and the output of that program allows you to unlock later problems. This goes on, creating a chain learning effect. Once you get to a certain level the problem could be to write an implementation of a simple decryption program that's needed to unlock later problems.
I've had similar random thoughts, but I doubt my programming skills would be up to the task. I can see something like this being really really cool. (Imagine a game, where the puzzle to pass to the next level involves writing a program to calculate something... You'd want to make sure that there was a decent amount of gameplay as well, so that it wasn't just code, achievement, code, achievement...) The early problems could probably be solved mentally, so kids understand how their code relates to "the real world"... Then you could progress to problems that would be fairly difficult to calculate by hand. You could have quests, where you explore a world looking for clues. (it doesn't have to be 3D — 2D would suffice) Imagine a 2D dungeon game, where the books/scrolls/scrawled notes you pick up don't magically let you through doors, they just give you instructions that can be put together to make a program that will calculate the answer to a puzzle. (You could have a library, where you could access all the instructions that you'd collected. You'd probably want them to automatically sort themselves into a cohesive collection of topics as you found them.) Using Skyrim style games as a metaphor, the books and notes you find are usable code instructions, and the crafting or enchanting tables are code interpreters or text editors that let you create code to put through interpreters.
Let me know how you go/if you need help with anything. (I only know basic Python, so don't expect me to help you with complicated coding problems... =P)
This sounds like a good idea - and the type of thing that could be very easily collaborated on. Define an interface for a 'quest' - I guess all you really need is a hash of the correct answer to compare against a given answer - as well as perhaps a model solution. The quests can be self contained, and simply added to the game as they become available. Download them like apps, rate them by difficulty and specify prerequisites.... I'm thinking like the game Uplink, but not (cr/h)acking
My exams are in 4 weeks, but after that I might just set up a github for it... if someone else hasn't already
In response to your request for feedback, here are my opinions:
....
(I've done a few minor edits fixing spelling and rearranging sentences to make more sense. =D)
Mjiig said:
I've actually been thinking about creating a programming "quest" that gives you one very simple programming problem to start with after a basic introduction (modify this program so that it prints out the product not the sum), and the output of that program allows you to unlock later problems. This goes on, creating a chain learning effect. Once you get to a certain level the problem could be to write an implementation of a simple decryption program that's needed to unlock later problems.
I've had similar random thoughts ... Imagine a game, where the puzzle to pass to the next level involves writing a program to calculate something. The early problems could probably be solved mentally, so kids understand how their code relates to "the real world"... Then you could progress to problems that would be fairly difficult to calculate by hand. You could have quests, where you explore a world looking for clues. (it doesn't have to be 3D — 2D would suffice) Imagine a 2D dungeon game, where the books/scrolls/scrawled notes you pick up don't magically let you through doors, they just give you instructions that can be put together to make a program that will calculate the answer to a puzzle. Using Skyrim style games as a metaphor, the books and notes you find are usable code instructions, and the crafting or enchanting tables are code interpreters or text editors that let you create code to put through interpreters.
I've started writing course notes on Version Control at http://elinux.org/Version_Control
Please pitch in
). I'm happy to generate some content if this post gets a positive response. Just let me know.h4ppycl0wn wrote:I see a lot of discussion about programming here but what about networking and explaining some internet fundamentals? Most future applications are going to have to interact with networks on some level.
If you give the server real internet connectivity you can even push things further with installing a proxy e.g. squid. OK, the Pi's resources aren't really up to it... .
Joefish wrote:It'd be useful, but it's quite advanced. It's also at least three distinct subjects:
1) Socket communication
2) Server programming
3) Software-as-service architecture
There are more basic things to teach first, though simple peer-to-peer communication could be a good one to introduce fairly early. You could let kids develop their own solutions as to how to manage networks of multiple communications (e.g. client/server, managed peer-to-peer) if they need to, rather than dictate one straight away.
Picking a standard port number for inter-Pi communication may be a good idea to try to keep things under control...
. So, a set of tutorials explaining what happens to get a device talking IP to IP on a network and across the internet would be useful.. then we let the kids run wild defining applications that can talk IP.
markb wrote:If you are going to be teaching kids networking, shouldn't we use IP v 6 as that's what they will be dealing with in the near future