Re: LOGO-L> Re: Is Logo old technology?

["Bill Kerr" <kerrb@senet.com.au>]

Ken Kahn wrote:
I agree most people like what they already know. This might mean that
teachers won't give ToonTalk the chance it deserves.

and also in another post replying to Tom Woods:
Maybe I should rephrase the question of Logo's obsolescence as "Is Logo
still the best as the first programming language children learn?" I don't
believe so. I think visual/animated languages are more appealing to children
and easier to learn. I think concurrent object-oriented languages provide a
more natural and more powerful thinking tool than sequential procedural
languages.
---------------------------------

I like the way you have rephrased your challenge to Logo, which makes it
more likely I'll get around to looking at ToonTalk, when I get time from
writing reports


With regard to teachers giving TT the chance it deserves: this made me think
of something in a book on "Learning in Science" by Osborne & Freyberg (it's
a book about Childrens Science), which I just looked up to refresh my
memory, I quote:
"Ideas lose status as they become less intelligible, plausible and fruitful.
Conversely, new ideas increase in status as they become more intelligible,
more plausible and more fruitful." (48) [they write more about exactly what
they mean by these terms]

Although I have invested a lot of time in MicroWorlds and it rates well on
these 3 criteria I think I should have a hard look at your alternative. It
would be foolish to think that Logo/MicroWorlds/next evolution will *always*
be the  best first language for kids. From other perspectives I see other
problems, however:

my perspective: the trial you are organising is a comparison with Superlogo
not MicroWorlds (I don't know much about Superlogo)

your perspective (mine too): the actual market for kids programming
languages seems to be shrinking, as more sophisticated pre-packed
simulations, like sim-life etc. come on stream.

-- Bill Kerr


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