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Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

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Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#51

Post by pasiaj »

fidotron wrote: post #19

Cynic hat on . . . I'm not sure I get this. Looks like an effort to promote an illustrator more than actually achieve the stated aims. The reasoning is simple: Alan Kay and others have repeatedly demonstrated kids have a far greater aptitude for this stuff than is generally accepted. The packaging in this manner isn't the problem, the problem is the programming environments around today don't tend to do anything the…

I got to know Linda in business school in 2005. I worked on a big group assignment with her for a year. She's got this natural joy about her that if feel she can inpire anyone about anything.

She founded Rails Girls in 2010 and joined Code Academy a few years ago so she has way more experience introducing people to programming than she does on doing illustrations.

I believe getting people inspired is the best way to get them to learn. My two cents is that she was inspired by _why's work and tries take that approach further.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#53

Post by ogreyonder »

Quarrelsome wrote: post #25
brador wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like and support the intent, but I feel the execution will be a let down in terms of usability. How is it possible to teach even the basics of programming in 32 pages? How would you explain a simple FOR loop to a child through a story?

..... Forgetful George was crying in the corner. "What's wrong?" quizzed Ivy Iterator. "It's too complicated" moaned George, he continued: "Mr Main has asked me to deliver all of these invites to the birthday party but I keep forgetting which people I've given invitations to. I gave Sam three invites and Polly hasn't got one yet, it's no use! I can't remember which invite is which!" "Don't worry" said Ivy, "lets work…

This is excellent. You're on to something, why not write more?

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#54

Post by fit2rule »

MartinCron wrote: post #46
fit2rule wrote: post #16

Want to know how to teach kids to use computers? Give them an 8-bit machine from the 80's, and all the books for the thing that you can find. My kids have an old 8-bit machine .. and they love the thing. They can type in their own BASIC programs from tons of sources, or load up a hundred games and other educational apps from a disk that I know won't contain anything weird or offensive .. on a machine with no access t…

I've been thinking about the doing the exact same thing but have been afraid that the kids would ignore it and go back to playing Minecraft.

I think the most important thing is to make sure they have an ample library of software for the machine .. in my case, we have almost everything that was ever developed for the Oric/Atmos, and recently got it set up so that its very, very easy for the kids to play with ..

My kids complained about 'not having enough dots on the display' and "why are there no good games on it - like Super Mario", but once I showed them a few of the classics (Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy), they got right into it.

Most important of all, however: play with the machine with your kids, too. This is a great way to get them interested - you do the typing, they do the reading. ;)

Good luck!

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#56

Post by nicolethenerd »

judk wrote: post #22

Why do you need a kickstarter before you write a 50page book? Just set up a preorder list, and bill when ready to ship the printed books.

Would you have heard of her book if she didn't have a kickstarter?

That's why she needs a kickstarter.

It's a marketing tool, possibly moreso than it's a crowdfunding tool.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#57

Post by deveac »

fidotron wrote: post #19

Cynic hat on . . . I'm not sure I get this. Looks like an effort to promote an illustrator more than actually achieve the stated aims. The reasoning is simple: Alan Kay and others have repeatedly demonstrated kids have a far greater aptitude for this stuff than is generally accepted. The packaging in this manner isn't the problem, the problem is the programming environments around today don't tend to do anything the…

>So, hope that theory is wrong, but it sets off too many alarms for now.

Yes. The the alarms bells are far too numerous when the co-founder of Rails Girls ("Our aim is to give tools and a community for women to understand technology and to build their ideas."), and community manager at Codeacademy expands her mission of education and inspiration to children via a book tailored to them.

Alarm bells everywhere.

Thankfully, you've caught the issues and rang the (many) alarms before the book has even been written. Very efficient.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#58

Post by saraid216 »

brador wrote: post #14
vanderZwan wrote: post #3

I think it could be a great way of repackaging programming education in order to reach out to a different demographic, and we'll have to try out to see, so I wish this project all the best. Having said that: > The book will be hardcover, 8x8 inches and 32 pages. The activity book is 16 pages and paperback. I don't see how you could cover even just the basics mentioned on the Kickstarter page in so few pages without g…

I like and support the intent, but I feel the execution will be a let down in terms of usability. How is it possible to teach even the basics of programming in 32 pages? How would you explain a simple FOR loop to a child through a story?

You ought to read Lauren Ipsum sometime. Most of the book is taken up by story; the actual explanations of each concept takes very little space.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#60

Post by chaostheory »

fidotron wrote: post #19

Cynic hat on . . . I'm not sure I get this. Looks like an effort to promote an illustrator more than actually achieve the stated aims. The reasoning is simple: Alan Kay and others have repeatedly demonstrated kids have a far greater aptitude for this stuff than is generally accepted. The packaging in this manner isn't the problem, the problem is the programming environments around today don't tend to do anything the…

Presentation and the packaging matter. It really matters to programming right now because of the image problem it has for the masses: "it's a well paid janitorial occupation for socially inept, nerdy looking males". Anything that helps break that perception helps.
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