Scratch - The Ducks Guts

I have posted previously that I think that Scratch is fantastic. It’s now the Ducks Guts. I downloaded the latest version in preparation for Scratch Day (http://limestonecoast-scratchers.wikispaces.com/Scratch+Day+2010)

It now has string manipulation commands, command to gain input for variables via the keyboard and commands to control lego.

You can create and manipulate lists (arrays)

Linux version now also available along with PC and Mac.

Release notes - http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_1.4_Release_Notes

I believe that there is now no better tool to teach programming available.. Impossible to make syntax errors, only logical errors and programming is about thinking and creativity so it’s the Ducks Guts.

I would love to work with someone who is an authority on the new SACE curriculum statement to determine if we can use Scratch for SACE2.

I would not be surprised if more tertiary/unis pick up Scratch as a way of introducing the thinking around programming via Scratch.

We're in for a hard time

Economic oversteering is the latest Mark Shuttleworth post. He does a great job of explaining the current economic climate and it is clear that the next few years are going to be painful. This is a time of finding ways to improve productivity and reduce expenditure.

With the issues around Vista (instability and resource requirements) and Office 2007 (interoperability) there are many saying that the effort to roll out these products is not worth it. Pain without gain. In this article "Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools" they report

The agency said U.K. schools can consider using Vista or Office 2007 software only when they are buying new batches of PCs. Even then, however, they're advised to take a long looked at alternatives based on Linux and other open source products, such as the OpenOffice.org desktop package.

Makes sense.

At the end of 2006 the following report was published, commissioned by the EU as I understand it. Study on the: Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU

It is 287 pages long. The main recommendation relating to education is found on page 216.

9.5.5. Education: avoid lifetime vendor lock-in for students
The reason it seems desirable to promote the use of FLOSS in education (ICT education and more generally all educational activities that have a bearing on the cultural relationship with information technology) is threefold:

1. It is obviously likely to have a strong impact on the future usage of FLOSS products and the build-up of the related skills.

2. It builds up essential ICT skills rather than the knowledge of specific applications from specific vendors (leading to the current locked-in-for-life situation, where vendor lock-in applies not only to organisations but to individuals who have typically not chosen their software but been provided it for free by schools).

3. It is likely to install an attitude towards information technology that favours the ability to create and actively participate rather than just consume – i.e. the scenarios under which FLOSS is most likely to deliver a strong positive economic and societal impact, by encouraging collaborative prosumer usage and a reflexive attitude on usage and the technology that supports it.

There are some specific references to productivity gains here. "It is likely to install an attitude towards information technology that favours the ability to create and actively participate rather than just consume" is clearly one of those. The technology on its own will not do this IMHO but we are talking about a creative attitude, a thinking process of can do and how can we make this work. Is it my hobby horse of hacker thinking?

There are short term and long term economic advantages. The short term is that schools spend less on software. As the students use this software and leave school, the long term advantages are seen in businesses around the country.

So there we have it. Economic and productivity improvements possible for Australian Schools - doing our bit to reduce the hard time ahead.

All the best for Linux.conf.au starting today in Melbourne. I am sure that the Education Mini.conf happening today will be talking about openness in education not only in terms of software but more broadly in terms of content and collaboration.

The Ellsberg Paradox, school and trust

Leigh posted "Fear paralysis, Ellsburg paradox and what’s in a name" and referred back to a previous post "What’s in a name? Why some succeed and others fail". Basically the Ellsberg Paradox means that we will tend to choose in favour of things that we know about, hence Leigh's words 'Fear paralysis". He believes that this is a factor that inhibits people choosing FOSS. I agree. People tend to favour the things that they know about and have learnt with which is why it is important that schools provide the chance for students to experience FOSS as well as the proprietary products in school. I think that we should be learning with the free stuff first so that the risk is in taking up the stuff that costs a lot.

As I watched the short video that Leigh pointed to about the Ellsberg Paradox it triggered some thinking about one of the fundamental things we are trying to teach in school. We have this innate mechanism which inhibits our ability to go into the unknown and yet education is really all about taking people into the unknown. Taking a risk, moving into the unknown, conducting experiments and the like. This to me points to the importance of teachers being trust worthy.

In my post "Play with Stuff" I talked about challenging kids and the whole post was about taking risks. I think that having seen the video, the Ellsberg Paradox is the mechanism that we are wanting to play with and learn to control so that we can get to a point where we are more likely to venture into new ground.

As my grandfather often said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".

Playing with stuff

Two related posts

• Bill Kerr - 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do. The 9 minute TED Talk video is worth watching. How do kids learn how to be safe when taking risks?
  
• Chris Betcher - School 1977 vs. School 2007 Makes the point that we are possibly over reacting to some things.

This conversation is very much about developing creativity or hacker thinking

Things I like to do:

Have students take apart old computers. I do not allow

• CRT monitors and computer power supplies to be disassembled because of the electrical charge that could be stored in the larger capacitors in those devices.
• disassembly of computers with leaking capacitors
• stress that capacitors are not to be bashed

Have students try to making working computers from old computers/bits.

Students get a real kick out of the disassembly of FDD, HDD and CD drives. The magnets and shiny platters in HDD are particular points of interest.

Removing the cover on a HDD and seeing it work on a live computer

Doing things with kids that are psychologically and physically challenging. eg. Taking young kids down the side of the Valley Lake from the the Potters Point Lookout (Mount Gambier). It is very challenging for kids and sometimes we get tears. The realisation that turning around and going back could be as hard as continuing on down is a hard lesson. Understanding that the only way of succeeding is for us to make it work. When we have completed this descent kids generally feel great pride in their achievement but do not want to do it again and then after a while generally/always change their minds and want to do have another go.

Letting my kids drive the car.

Taking my grandson camping and playing with the fire.

Creativity

How to Write Remarkably Creative Content
While this post is focussed on writing, creativity is creativity in whatever field and the concepts are transferable. The following quotes connected for me

Inspiration from other sources is what creativity is all about. It seems that many people believe creativity involves pulling a completely brand new idea out of thin air. In truth, creativity is an adaptive process that consists of looking at the same existing thing everyone else is and thinking about it differently.

A uni lecturer left feedback on one of my assignments many years ago that went something like "few of us are able to say truly original things" and then went on to say that i had done this and it was a very good piece of work. This has always tickled me. It was a psychology assignment of some sort and as I was also studying biology. I was able to see some connections between the subject areas and use them in that assignment. I would not see this as original but it was creative.

Look in unlikely places for connections and angles that can enhance your content. If only one aspect of another subject area meets your needs, roll like Michelangelo and get rid of the parts that don’t belong.

Couple this thinking with some of the thoughts of Mark Shuttleworth in his talk for SFD. He made it clear that he looked at the areas of the world that were changing for opportunities and for opportunities to make a difference. These are places where new connections are being made - ie creativity.

How to maintain creativity

I've not long posted "How to rejuvenate IT Studies" where the key seems to be to focus on creativity.

Then by magic is this post Staying Motivated and is all about developing and maintaining creativity. The site is for website developers but what is being said is transferable to other creative endeavours.

Whether your chosen medium is pictures or language, food or formulas, everyone has the capacity to be creative in their work. But we can often lose our motivation to create, making it difficult to stay focused and excited on a project. So how does one keep their creative well from drying up?

The post is divided into two sections.

1. Getting started with creativity
2. Maintaining creativity

This could be useful for those coaching jobs in class where you are trying to keep things moving as well as maintaining my own health in this area. I think I need a cheat sheet on the wall for this.