Squeakfest 2013 in Uruguay
23 May, 2013
It’s that time again. Time to pack up the kids and join us at SqueakFest 2013. Don’t forget to bring your XO computer!
If you can’t make it please consider a donation to help cover travel costs: Donate
For more information see: Squeakfest 2013
From Rita:
There will be a Squeakfest again in Uruguay at June, 7th – 9th, this time in Atlantida. Etoys will cover the major part of the event, but there will also be workshops in Python, turtle art and robotics. After all, Uruguay is the country with XO-laptops in every elementary school and teachers are using the software which comes with Sugar.
http://squeakfest2013.weebly.com/
From our education team, Randall Caton and myself are going to present Etoys workshops. This year, I’ll introduce Kedama. I’m looking forward to an inspiring event!
If you want to help or know someone who would like to, I created a crowdfunding page to collect money to help to cover our travel cost. Please share as you like!
http://crowdfundedu.com/fundraiser/educators-to-squeakfest
Greetings,
Rita
New Release of Physical Etoys
6 April, 2013
Hi everybody (and sorry if you receive multiple copies),
It’s been a while since our last version but we’re proud to announce a new release of Physical Etoys.
You can download it from here: http://tecnodacta.com.ar/gira/projects/physical-etoys/
This new version includes:
* Full support for the DuinoBot kit (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1689254125/multiplo-create-your-own-robot).
* New objects such as the Timer and the IR receiver.
* More example projects to help you get started.
* And of course, lots of bug fixes and minor UI enhancements.
All in all, this version is much better than the previous and we hope you would enjoy it as much as we do :).
Thanks!
Richo
Imagine Invent Inspire – Etoys
25 March, 2013
Don’t miss the new Etoys book: http://wiki.squeakland.org/index.php/LearningWithEtoysI3.
Etoys is:
- an educational tool for teaching children powerful ideas in compelling ways
- a media-rich authoring environment and visual programming system
- a free software program that works on almost all personal computers
All school children should have the opportunity to engage with computers in the most meaningful way. Learning to think and using the computer to discover and work with powerful ideas is the knowledge of true value. The community of Etoys users is working toward the dream of having all students become computer literate. This book only covers a small portion of those items. As you and your students learn some of the basic techniques, you will find more and more uses for them. The process of learning Etoys is just that, a process; the learning is on-going even though projects are begun and finished. Students will enjoy becoming experts and sharing their knowledge with others in the classroom.
Imagine this: A group of learners want to visualize what they Imagine so they go to Etoys to Invent their dreams and Inspire each other by building on their various Etoys projects. Today’s learners need this kind of experience to be prepared for the future.
For more information about Etoys visit www.squeakland.org
Powerful Ideas
14 March, 2013
Casey mentioned:
Speaking of Pythagoras, Alan Kay demos a visual proof for the theorem that’s super easy for just about anyone to understand right away using Etoys in his TED talk, which is worth a look:
Pythagoras Formula in Squeak Etoys
13 March, 2013
Bert posted a youtube video as a response to a newbie question:
For her third language she chose Squeak, since she knew that Scratch was written in it. I would like to have her write the “Hello Pythagoras” program using Morphic objects, in a visually appealing way. So far I have had some trouble finding a tutorial that covers relevant information. I am sure I can figure this out by poking around long enough but if anyone has a pointer to documentation that might help, or a similar example, that would be great and much appreciated
Here is Bert’s terrific answer!
The Software Architecture Group at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (who have produced a great online Seaside tutorial and associated book) have recently been involved in using Etoys in the classroom. They kindly sent us this report about the experience of two of their members when introducing Squeak and Etoys to high school students.
The Weekly Squeak 