na, na, na, na -- snap, snap, na na na na ...
on
What is 'IT'?
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· Score: 1
I don't want to judge anyone's lifestyle choices, but isn't this an awful lot of fuss to make over an ordinary disembodied hand? Oh, no, maybe I'm thinking of THING.
One of the biggest problems with the change to Java is the high school teachers' attitudes about it. I heard that this change was likely to happen back in July at an AP sponsored workshop.
Since the school year started there has been a lot of griping and bitching on the APCS listserv about how wrong it is to change. Many of the complaints from the teachers were things like:
I just learned C++ -- now I gotta go learn Java?
AP can't do this unless they wanna a pay for the new software and texts (like Java costs so much more than C++)
By the time we get all the Java syllabus and course materials together and proofed, some other language will be the horizon. (True.)
Who cares -- I can retire before then.
Very few teachers objected to Java based on the types philosophical issues being discussed on/.; but nearly all of the Java supporters had good basis for their points.
Don't get me wrong -- I am a high school APCS teacher who teaches 4 or 5 other preps depending on the semester.
I can respect that teachers will have to spend some (uncompensated) time and effort.
I also acknowledge that compared to many others in CS jobs, most teachers get paid far less. Many teachers are forced to spend so much time with paperwork, meetings, and committees that finding time to keep up with changes is hard.
Personally, I don't think that Java is any worse than C++ for the purpose of learning basic concepts and algorithms, but I don't necessarily think it is significantly better either. My biggest problem with the switch is that the unfortunate students who take APCS in 2003-2004 may be dealing with a lot of annoyed, disgruntled or inexperienced teachers. In the short term it will make it even harder for schools to find qualified people to teach AP.
Of the teachers who thought the change was a good idea, many of them already knew some Java. They may be right, but I wish that as a group teachers would spend more time discussing how to deal with the change, not just how it will affect them personally.
I guess I'm agreeing with posts that wonder why we have to specify a language at all. The only good answer I can come up with for that is: arbitrarily picking a language makes the test easier to write and easier to grade. And the APCS being a for-profit part of the ETS, I'm sure that cost efficiency is a factor in the decision.
Before anyone replies that ETS just does what the teachers on the commitee recommend, try convincing ETS to allow the students to pick which language at the time of the test. Hmm... I could teach kids Commodore Basic or 6502 assembler. Let those test readers try to decipher 10 X=PEEK 59468:POKE 59468,(X XOR 2)
As far as teaching engineering/problem solving instead of coding, I know that kids will groan out loud if I tell them they will be learning about concepts and algorithms, without much application to real programs.
How about a list of three languages that local teachers and students can choose from?
Like so much in education -- I guess teachers and students will just have to do the best they can with mandates imposed upon them.
Better than this are the SmartMedia or Compact Flash add on backs for your current Palm. My IIIx is wearing the Axxpac (admittedly an unfortunate name for a product)device that allows me to view photos from the SmartMedia card that my digital camera uses. There is even GPL'd ftp software software so that I can send my photos to the web using my Nokia 6190 the TDK Gobal Pulse. Sorry that this post has turned into a commercial, but I spent a long time figuring out how to get photos from Palm in to web wirelessly.
I wouldn't want to choose which brand of digital camera based on what my Palm used for memory. SmartMedia also makes it a lot easier to fit ebooks into the Palm. (Applications won't run from Axxpac either though.)
As a Missouri alum, I noticed that it's Mississippi State that is actually working on this technology. We may not know anything about speech recognition, but at least we give credit where it's due.
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Good idea. Actually works better with lycopodium powder or corn starch that has been dried out in the oven.
This is news? Come on. People have been posting stories spelled randomly on Slashdot for years.
So if what I think is funny is not funny someone with mod points, no one else ever gets to see it?
Probably will change the value of gravity and spark widespread protest and unhappiness. Or maybe no one will even care ...
One financial analyst has just upgraded Applix.
I don't want to judge anyone's lifestyle choices, but isn't this an awful lot of fuss to make over an ordinary disembodied hand? Oh, no, maybe I'm thinking of THING.
Since the school year started there has been a lot of griping and bitching on the APCS listserv about how wrong it is to change. Many of the complaints from the teachers were things like:
- I just learned C++ -- now I gotta go learn Java?
- AP can't do this unless they wanna a pay for the new software and texts (like Java costs so much more than C++)
- By the time we get all the Java syllabus and course materials together and proofed, some other language will be the horizon. (True.)
- Who cares -- I can retire before then.
Very few teachers objected to Java based on the types philosophical issues being discussed onDon't get me wrong -- I am a high school APCS teacher who teaches 4 or 5 other preps depending on the semester. I can respect that teachers will have to spend some (uncompensated) time and effort. I also acknowledge that compared to many others in CS jobs, most teachers get paid far less. Many teachers are forced to spend so much time with paperwork, meetings, and committees that finding time to keep up with changes is hard.
Personally, I don't think that Java is any worse than C++ for the purpose of learning basic concepts and algorithms, but I don't necessarily think it is significantly better either. My biggest problem with the switch is that the unfortunate students who take APCS in 2003-2004 may be dealing with a lot of annoyed, disgruntled or inexperienced teachers. In the short term it will make it even harder for schools to find qualified people to teach AP.
Of the teachers who thought the change was a good idea, many of them already knew some Java. They may be right, but I wish that as a group teachers would spend more time discussing how to deal with the change, not just how it will affect them personally.
I guess I'm agreeing with posts that wonder why we have to specify a language at all. The only good answer I can come up with for that is: arbitrarily picking a language makes the test easier to write and easier to grade. And the APCS being a for-profit part of the ETS, I'm sure that cost efficiency is a factor in the decision.
Before anyone replies that ETS just does what the teachers on the commitee recommend, try convincing ETS to allow the students to pick which language at the time of the test. Hmm... I could teach kids Commodore Basic or 6502 assembler. Let those test readers try to decipher 10 X=PEEK 59468:POKE 59468,(X XOR 2)
As far as teaching engineering/problem solving instead of coding, I know that kids will groan out loud if I tell them they will be learning about concepts and algorithms, without much application to real programs.
How about a list of three languages that local teachers and students can choose from?
Like so much in education -- I guess teachers and students will just have to do the best they can with mandates imposed upon them.
This day will be known in history as the November Pearl Harbor. The day that the decline and fall of the USA began.
An event like this happened in 1998 too. Whatever beings are launching these things need to figure out that Redmond is further south.
I may be a little weird, but, I just like to read the stories and comments.
Better than this are the SmartMedia or Compact Flash add on backs for your current Palm. My IIIx is wearing the Axxpac (admittedly an unfortunate name for a product)device that allows me to view photos from the SmartMedia card that my digital camera uses. There is even GPL'd ftp software software so that I can send my photos to the web using my Nokia 6190 the TDK Gobal Pulse. Sorry that this post has turned into a commercial, but I spent a long time figuring out how to get photos from Palm in to web wirelessly. I wouldn't want to choose which brand of digital camera based on what my Palm used for memory. SmartMedia also makes it a lot easier to fit ebooks into the Palm. (Applications won't run from Axxpac either though.)
As a Missouri alum, I noticed that it's Mississippi State that is actually working on this technology. We may not know anything about speech recognition, but at least we give credit where it's due.