At Christmas, Bj told me he really wanted to learn Java -- with the only programming experience being NXT-G for LEGO's Mindstorm robot kit. I searched around and found an "Intro to Alice" class at Wake Tech's Online classes. It's put out by Carnegie Melon as a way to encourage more kids to take Computer Science -- geared toward highschool and college students as an intro to Java and programming. They have a PowerPoint presentation about it that gives some of the justification -- and explains some of the differences between Alice and Storytelling Alice.
We've just finished the first of 6 weeks of the class but Bj loves it! It gives the structure of programming but with 3-D animation at the same time so there's immediate feedback. My next task will be to figure out how to download his videos so they can be shared with friends on youtube!
1 comment:
Linda,
The twins are loving Alice too! They will actually go there and work on it as opposed to an online game. Scott had Luke involved last night. They made some cool stuff. It's quite a helpful class.
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