Hey there!
Maybe it is because I have been up since 3 am with a sick child, but my brain is tumbling over ways to teach material so that it is both exciting and accessible. Imagine my delight when I came across the Arduino Blog and his discussion of cards designed to teach computer programming. Now I am OLD. My first programming experience was with Basic, then with COBOL and since then, I have fallen down a maze of rabbit holes. That is not the best way to learn a subject, though it can be a lot of fun. Now my sons are interested in learning programming -- quite simply, they want to create Games for Nintendo. We started with ALICE , moved onto GameMaker and Scratch but weren't entirely satisfied. I then discovered PHROGRAM . The previous programs are free. Phrogram you have to buy. On the other hand, of the four, Phrogram seems to have click with my sons. It was designed for children from the get go and, according to the site:
"you can try products that minimize code and use graphics in a "drag-&-drop" environment, like Alice and Scratch. These may appeal to very young learners, of if you want your program to tell a story, but they are not much like what programmers actually do and they won't show you what real programming is all about ... that's what makes Phrogram different. Phrogram's "plain language" approach makes it easier to understand, read and write code. Its commands are concise and the tools are easy to master. And, because Phrogram is built on Microsoft's powerful .NET Framework, your programs can do much more with much less code."
For whatever reason, Phrogram seems to work best for us. My 9 year constantly reminds me that 'I need to study programming today, Mom' -- something that cannot be said for most of his other subjects (Laugh). That said, after what I read at the Arduino blog ( a blog recommended by a friend of mine who used to work for NASA) and what I have seen at the Complubot site, I think I am going to add a little variety to our Programming courses. The idea that one can learn using cards is nothing new -- Many math programs recommend the use of card games ( I am thinking in particular of RightStart here) and it just makes good educational sense that something that is enjoyable to do will be retained better than something viewed as 'work.'
This idea, that 'fun' = effective learning has been picked up by some colleges as well. At Palomar college, Instructors are using Legos to teach computer programming. Marlboro has a syllabus for such a class available as well. The Legos being utilized are the Mindstorms robots (for which, it turns out, there are a variety of programming languages available!), a product that my six year old has been lusting after for as long as he can remember. Mindstorms is a bit advanced for him but it turns out that Lego, 'wise in the ways of the force', has an answer for that. Their WeDo program is designed for early Elementary kids. I haven't dived into that particular pool just yet, I admit. Part of me trembles at the thought of Weird Science coming to my house (Grin) but maybe for his birthday....
WeDo and Mindstorms are for the future. Complubot's card game has yet to be released but the idea... the idea is a great one and I may have to work on creating a similar approach using the Phrogram's system as the model... Hmm. Funny what tired brains can conceive.
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