Alice is literally the best thing since sliced bread! I am not a computer =
science teacher, I work in the fine arts department at St Pius X high Schoo=
l, Albuquerque and have some knowledge of programming from earlier in my ca=
reer. I set out to find a program to introduce my computer art students to =
animation and for me Alice has been a God send. I am in my second year of u=
sing it with high school students a number of who have been doing CS1 and h=
ave found it very useful to add to their CS knowledge.
I purchase text books from the student lab fees ( we charge $50 for a semes=
ter class). There are many books and I have copies of all, The best one is=
probably Starting out with Alice, but it is too expensive for general issu=
e. I have standardized on Alice in Action by Joel Adams. I buy these from A=
mazon.com usually used, but sometimes new as this is the best price. I hav=
e freshman through senior in the same class, so I use the book and all the =
other available help and tutorials that are found in Alice and on the Alice=
web site. Each student works at their own level, more or less individually=
, as I find this works best for animation. I also encourage co-operative le=
arning between groups of students for the sharing of ideas that they come u=
p with. Using it for game design gets brilliant results.
No doubt other teachers work in a variety of differing methodologies, but t=
his works for me and my students. I recommend What Video Games Have To Teac=
h us About Learning And Literacy by James Paul Gee. Also Don't Bother Me Mu=
m I'm Learning by Marc Prensky as reading for this type of teaching method=
ology.
If I can help you further do not hesitate to contact me.
Michael Knight
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