Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids • Hacker News Board

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#21

Post by technomancy » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 9:15 PM UTC

wccrawford wrote: post #2

Nice, but there's still quite a stigma attached to 'nerd'. Many kids will avoid the site just because of that.

I suspect the site itself is targeted towards parents.

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#22

Post by aroberge » Fri, Sep 16, 2011, 1:10 AM UTC

You might want to add rur-ple (http://code.google.com/p/rur-ple); it is similar to Guido van Robot (and was inspired by it). However, 1) it uses Python (instead of a more limited, Python-like inspired language); 2) it has more lessons and exercises than Guido van Robot; 3) it provides an embedded programming environment to go beyond the robot's world.

A second addition to consider is GvR online (http://gvr-online.appspot.com/ui/index.html), an online version of Guido van Robot.

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#23

Post by breadbox » Fri, Sep 16, 2011, 2:12 AM UTC

So -- has anyone here actually used any of these languages? Or better yet, given them to an actual child? Any feedback?

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#24

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Sep 16, 2011, 2:15 AM UTC

breadbox wrote: post #23

So -- has anyone here actually used any of these languages? Or better yet, given them to an actual child? Any feedback?

[deleted]

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#25

Post by aroberge » Fri, Sep 16, 2011, 2:15 AM UTC

breadbox wrote: post #23

So -- has anyone here actually used any of these languages? Or better yet, given them to an actual child? Any feedback?

I know that the developers of Guido van Robot were getting positive feedback from users. And I got emails from parents and teachers using rur-ple. One high school teacher has actually used it every year since I first wrote it in 2004.

Re: Happy Nerds: A collection of learn-to-program resources for kids

#26

Post by citizen428 » Fri, Sep 16, 2011, 6:50 AM UTC

aroberge wrote: post #22

You might want to add rur-ple ( http://code.google.com/p/rur-ple ); it is similar to Guido van Robot (and was inspired by it). However, 1) it uses Python (instead of a more limited, Python-like inspired language); 2) it has more lessons and exercises than Guido van Robot; 3) it provides an embedded programming environment to go beyond the robot's world. A second addition to consider is GvR online ( http://gvr-online.…

Thanks, added both of them :-)