Group items tagged

Stripped-down, minimalist but readable programming with an emphasis on visuals; this was originally designed for visual artists to program their own art-generating tools. Coding is done in text, no drag-and-drop GUI to help you, but results are immediate and highly visual. Lots of examples are shared online with source code at OpenProcessing (http://www.openprocessing.org/)

Designed for educational use, Alice gives kids an easy-to-use 3D world environment and introduces them to object-oriented programming. I worked with a secondary IT / programming course that used these tools, and it works great.

"The advantage of teaching in a more integrated way is that the curriculum is covered several times during the year and in a variety of contexts. Students learn and are assessed over longer periods of time; often with a better retention of the concepts studied and are likely more able to attach meaning to the material studied. The crux of the philosophy is meaning. Individual student meaning is facilitated when students are motivated - this can be enhanced by choice. Choice reduces stress because it gives the students a sense of control and often provides a personalized learning program with appropriate levels of challenge."