Hi Kirby, Andre, everyone,
Sorry for the late reply - things have been busy here...
I was also thinking we need a short mention and a link on the edu-sig
home page to some info about the PyCon education/poster session.
I haven't pitched this to the PyCon organizers yet, so we don't need to
act immediately, but I'm thinking/hoping to have something more formed
by the middle of the summer. Then we can link from the the edu-sig page
to a wiki page on the PyCon site.
The general idea is to provide a space at PyCon for educators to show
off what they've been doing with Python, whether or not they can attend
PyCon. This not only would raise the profile of Python in education, but
would also give us all a target to aim for and a way of
recording/sharing our gains.
Right now what I'm thinking about suggesting/asking for is:
1. Display space in fairly public place. I'm thinking space for posters,
a few tables for demos, some standing-around-and-talking space, etc.
2. Offer poster spots to anyone with an educational project, whether
they can attend or not. Of course, if they can attend and stand around
their poster during a designated session time, so much the better. OTOH,
if they can't attend they might be able to recruit a stand-in from those
attending, and at the very least they will be able to get the word out
about what they are doing.
BTW, I would see a "poster space" being anything from a chunk of wall
space for displaying a couple of posters to some table space for demos,
etc. The details of that will depend on what the PyCon organizers will
be able (and willing) to offer.
Other ideas include graffiti posters for attendees to add projects,
notes and comments, ala PyOhio (see
http://wiki.python.org/moin/PyOhio2008/PosterSession), encouraging
lightning talks, and submitting a "State of Python in Education" talk
for consideration in the regular program.
Cheers,
Vern
kirby urner wrote:
Another thought is maybe edu-sig page is appropriate place to
provide contact info for Vern Ceder. The thought there is to have
someone to help coordinate a more academically flavored poster space
wherein we showcase interesting applications of Python where the
sponsor (helping pay for hotel floorspace) might not be a private
company booth exhibitor but a university or NGO or publisher or
whatever.
User groups might have their own contests why not?
I'm not saying the edu-sig page should get into all this, as it aims
to stay brief and uncluttered, just thinking we need some way to
suggest the "science fair" aspect of future Pycons (the idea
originates with Steve Holden in response to BOF-expressed desires to
get teachers more involved, Pycon having a predominantly business
flavor, with Jeff Rush going so far as to suggest a whole separate
EduPycon, which idea I've continued to float, as worthy of
consideration, including in edu-sig threads why not?
These slides from some random GIS conference in Oregon, where I talked
about Python (familiar through ESRI), show what a conference is like
when split between private companies and academia, I'm sure a familiar
site to most of you already, just not quite what Pycon has been like
(which is where Vern comes in):
http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/04/gis-2009.html
Somewhat unrelated, I'd welcome any comments on my What is a Scripting
Language? answer, something I might point to in a kind of FAQ mode
(emailed question about Python being "a scripting language").
BTW I'm glad the edu-sig page still points to Software Carpentry under
Miscellaneous (where we also link to my stuff) as I think we're also a
gateway for system administrator types who choose a non-CS degree path
(similar to the math track people we're tagging with the aforesaid
title mentioned below).
http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2009/04/whats-scripting-language.html
CP4E and/or P4E never meant turning everyone into CS majors right? We
should make sure that the "education" in edu-sig is far broader than
CS departments reaching out, advertising they teach in that language
(among others), although they're welcome to do that of course (we
welcome "converts" or whatever).
Kirby
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:15 AM, kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> wrote:
Both, per the back cover:
"""
Some students may choose to study AP Computer Science in high school,
or major in CS in college. Others may decide to go into math,
science, law, art, social sciences, or humanities. Regardless of your
goals, Mathematics for the Digital Age and Programming in Python will
help you gain a better understanding of the computerized world around
you.
"""
... definitely looking at high school in Oregon, on a math track, not
a CS track per se, as the Silicon Forest lobby here is working with
our state legislature to have discrete math alternatives that segue to
college and private industry tracks, e.g. we could use this in place
of Algebra 2.
Kirby
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:12 AM, Andre Roberge <andre.robe...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:07 PM, kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> wrote:
http://www.skylit.com/mathandpython.html
I have desk review copy, think many will appreciate the quasi-seamless
blend of old and gnu world typographies, i.e. sigma and set notation,
with concepts of iterator, types, functions etc.
Would this be appropriate for high school students, or as a first CS course
for non Computer Science majors ?
André
Reminiscent of 'Concrete Mathematics' though less difficult and
explicitly Python based.
For those training to read algebra, higher math, this is a friendly
introduction (no cartoons or comics though -- gets you prepared for
the somber dryness of the ambient literature).
Kirby
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