the course. At the high school level, if you want students to be able to
take the AP then the sooner you get them into Java the better. However,
there are many who feel that Java is not the best language for introducing
students to programming - particularly if you're not trying to prepare them
to be computer science majors or to take the AP. Scripting languages like
Python are much more accessible to many students. If you have PCs then you
can get all of Microsoft's development tools for free. Microsoft Visual
Basic allows students to create usable applications very quickly and also
supports object oriented programming. An added bonus is that VB is widely
used in the IT industry (as of course is Java).
You may want to take a look at the Computer Science Teachers Association
site (http://csta.acm.org/). They are a sub-group with the ACM.
Mark Whipple
Instructional Technology Specialist
Kennedy Middle School
Natick, MA
On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 7:40 PM, Catherine Wyman <cwyman@xcp.org> wrote:
> What grade level are you teaching? For Intro to Programming, Java sets
> them up well for AP computer science. I tried Objective C this year and
> perhaps it was my text, but it really was too far over their heads. (It
> couldn't have been their instructor! ;-)
>
> Good luck!
> C
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Dec 3, 2010, at 4:48 PM, James Gapp <jgapp@harborday.org> wrote:
>
> > I was wondering if anyone had some ideas for teaching programming. In the
> > past I taught Basic and Pascal - but these are a little out of date. SO
> > because not programmed for a while is there a good resource to learn them
> > and WHICH should I start with C, C+?????
> >
> >
> > Thus far I have found "scratch" which is certainly good but maybe too
> > elementary.
> >
> > Thank you in advance.
> >
> > --James
> >
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