tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170332600441687813.post4019437279781921512..comments2013-03-23T09:45:51.933-07:00Comments on Advances in Pencil Science: Edu-Python: Python's Killer App?Michael Tobishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229460438349093944noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170332600441687813.post-77678949170179932702007-04-16T22:13:00.000-07:002007-04-16T22:13:00.000-07:00I think there's plenty that's right in your draft....I think there's plenty that's right in your draft.<BR/><BR/>In addition to Seymour Papert and Alan Kay, Kenneth Iverson is another important figure vis-a-vis CP4E as <A HREF="http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~mgr/404/burks/language/apl/camnweb/camn.htm" REL="nofollow">his thrust</A>, like mine, was to make Math Notation(MN) come alive in an interactive environment (per APL & J in his case, more Pythonic in ours).<BR/><BR/>Although Iverson somewhat disavowed Wolfram's status as his protege and/or acolyte (per correspondence I saw on a J list), Mathematica <I>does</I> dramatically illustrate the role of computer software in the domain of math learning and modeling today.<BR/><BR/>Python isn't Mathematica, but nor is it a "just a calculator" either. You can use it, in combination with add-ons, to study cellular automata, fractals, plus traditional <A HREF="http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/cp4e.html" REL="nofollow">basic math topics</A> such as polynomials, polyhedra, group theory, trigonomety, matrix algebra etc. etc.<BR/><BR/>Plus OOP gives a way to supply missing concreteness to math objects, without sacrificing their status as abstractions.<BR/><BR/>Once you get passed the considerable barriers to putting Python in front of a student, ready for action, you come up against the question: what is it we're wanting to learn with assistance from our charming snake? Why do we care about turtles, robots and such? What's the bigger picture?<BR/><BR/>The Shuttleworth Foundation (kusasa.org) writes in terms of developing "analytical thinking". Or call it problem solving abilities.<BR/><BR/>And what are the problems? They're very "real world" for one thing, involve <A HREF="http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2007/04/rebooting-mathematics.html" REL="nofollow">energy and opportunity costs</A> (doing more of this means doing less of that). I'll throw out "model view controller" (MVC) as still an important design pattern. I think you get into that when you start talking about developing for the web. HTML provides a view. There's often <A HREF="http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/geoquiz.html" REL="nofollow">a database</A> in the picture, maybe several, helping store the model. Python helps define the controller.<BR/><BR/>You can show the guts of such a system transparently without going for a fancy framework. Just print HTML directly. So what if ISPs don't support Python cgi? A contemporary classroom should allow students to manage their own free and open source server, as we did at West Precinct in Hillsboro that time ("Adventures in Open Source" with <A HREF="http://collord.net/" REL="nofollow">Jerritt Collord</A> and myself as instructors).<BR/><BR/>Rather than repeat myself endlessly, I'll just trail off by saying Python needs a context, doesn't necessarily supply one all on its own. Nor is Sugar (the GUI) nor a laptop computer in and of itself sufficiently "contextual" to guide our choices of emphasis and focus when it comes to curriculum writing for the emerging shared future.<BR/><BR/>The questions go deeper than that e.g. "what is school really <I>about</I>?"<BR/><BR/>The positive spin here is this question really is pretty open ended. I'm not trying to close down discussion by leaving it here.<BR/><BR/>However, per my own <A HREF="http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/04/declassified-letter.html" REL="nofollow">CP4E curriculum writing</A> it's quite certain that students are learning Python because they're wishing to develop their analytical and problem solving skills around specific content and/or real world challenges.<BR/><BR/>Mathematical techniques and algorithms, pivotal concepts, remain a proper focus for these investigations, always have, always will. And the positive spin here is: lots of backward compatibility with pre-computer wood pulp texts, even if they're out of print and/or just get shared around in electronic format.<BR/><BR/><BR/>KirbyKirby Urnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12114860457655013242noreply@blogger.com