alice-teacher s Digest, Vol 46, Issue 5 (Susan Stein)

Wed May 7 17:10:59 EDT 2014

Regarding question from Susan in Vol 46 Issue 5, I completely agree with the response from Marilynn regarding using Alice 2.x vs. Alice 3.x.  Don't worry about students who have done some Java programming.  That probably means they are aware of the need for syntax considerations such as semi-colons and braces.  Alice eliminates those needs.
In terms of teaching principles and concepts, there is a lot more to be learned from a semester with Alice than there would be from two semesters with Java (obviously my opinion - based on some experience - here).
If you are beginning with sixth graders, you might consider starting out with Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) and then transitioning to Alice.
        Phil Funk

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Subject: alice-teachers Digest, Vol 46, Issue 7

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re:  Alice 2 or 3 for middle schoolRe: s Digest, Vol 46,
      Issue 5 (Susan Stein)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 11:17:18 -0400
From: Susan Stein <susan at susanstein.org>
Subject: Re: alice-teacher Alice 2 or 3 for middle schoolRe: s Digest,
        Vol 46, Issue 5
To: Marilynn Huret <mhuret at mindspring.com>,     Alice educators
        <alice-teachers at lists.andrew.cmu.edu>
Message-ID: <536A4E7E.9010500 at susanstein.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

I do have the occasional student who is already programming in Java.

> Marilynn Huret <mailto:mhuret at mindspring.com> May 7, 2014 at 10:19 AM
>
> If you are introducing it to middle schoolers, Alice2 would be most
> appropriate since it involves language and abilities geared to that
> age group. alice 3 is not an upgrade, it is a more enhanced version
> leading to development in java.
>
> Marilynn Huret
>
> mhuret at mindspring.com <mailto:mhuret at mindspring.com>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: alice-teachers-request at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> >Sent: May 7, 2014 9:32 AM
> >To: alice-teachers at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> >Subject: alice-teachers Digest, Vol 46, Issue 5
> >
> >Send alice-teachers mailing list submissions to
> >alice-teachers at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> >
> >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> >https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/alice-teachers
> >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> >alice-teachers-request at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> >
> >You can reach the person managing the list at
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> >
> >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> >than "Re: Contents of alice-teachers digest..."
> >
> >
> >Today's Topics:
> >
> > 1. Re: Alice 2 Workshop -- Introduction To Alice (Susan Stein)
> >
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >-
> >
> >Message: 1
> >Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 08:45:06 -0400
> >From: Susan Stein
> >Subject: Re: alice-teacher Alice 2 Workshop -- Introduction To Alice
> >To: Alice educators
> >Message-ID: <536A2AD2.5090209 at susanstein.org>
> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> >Hi Don,
> >
> >I teach middle school technology (6-8th grades), I want to
> >incorporate Alice into my curriculum next year. So I was wondering if
> >it would be better for me to take Alice 2, Alice 3, or both. I'm a
> >beginner and have very little experience with Alice.
> >
> >Thanks
> >Susan Stein
> >
> >> Don Slater
> >> May 7, 2014 at 8:15 AM
> >> June 28th-July 2th, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
> >>
> >> Registration Page:
> >>
> https://web.campusservices.cmu.edu/conferences/registration.taf?ID=201
> 4alice
>
> >>
> >> Carnegie Mellon will host an Alice 2.4 Institute for middle/high
> >> school and college instructors. Alice,an innovative 3D programming
> >> environment developed at Carnegie Mellon University, is designed as
> >> an instructional tool for teaching and learning computational
> >> thinking and introductory programming concepts. With Alice,
> >> students learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of
> >> creating animations, videos, and simple games.
> >>
> >> Alice 2.4 features a new set of 3D models from the Garfield?
> >> comics, courtesy of Paws, Inc. This workshop will explore the Alice
> >> 2.4 programming environment as an effective and engaging tool to
> >> introduce students in middle school through first-year college to
> >> fundamental programming concepts and Computer Science. We will also
> >> explore how Alice 2.4 can be used in multidisciplinary K-12 classroom settings.
> >>
> >> This workshop will be presented by nationally recognized curriculum
> >> experts in Alice.
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> alice-teachers mailing list
> >> alice-teachers at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
> >> https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/alice-teachers
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