Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Computer Programming - Online Classes? & More ?

DS11 is interested in computer programming, and I'd like to find something online for him to use as an after-school enrichment. I am a little clueless not only about where to find him something, but also about *what* to look for. A long long long time ago (in what seems like a galaxy far far away) I actually worked as a computer programmer, and I had a minor in computer science in college, but that was the dark ages and so much has changed since then, I am clueless.

Here's what ds has had re computer experience:

He's taken a few computer summer camps where they did animation programming using Bryce, and he's used Scratch. At school he's completed a one-semester course in MicroWorlds - it wasn't really "taught" by the teacher - the students worked their way through the full set of tutorials and now he's programming in it.

He's also worked with NXT robots for years, has one at home and he's proficient at programming them.

He hasn't had an html experience, but he's not really interested in making web pages, he's more interested in building animations and creating games.

I think he'd enjoy something that got into really really basic programming (not BASIC lol - if anyone is old enough to remember that!), but something fundamental, kwim?

Any ideas?

polarbear

I can't believe I'm going to recommend this but, here I go... how about a Java programming book? There are lots of sites online that can help him learn it, and he can make actual programs, or games, or even android apps.

My ds (also 11yo) has taken three programming related classes online through NUMATS Gifted Learning LInks. He has generally had positive experiences with those courses. He is now working through an Xcode tutorial on his own, which is also working well, but dh has a lot of programming experience and can help out when he gets stuck.

epoh/amy - Do you think that ds needs any background knowledge in HTML or other programming to learn Java? I had a brief intro to Java years ago, but I was really proficient in HTML etc (at that point in time lol!). I am clueless now re what the prerequisite knowledge would be to pick up Java.

I think he'd do well with learning from a book - I'll take a peak at a Java programming book when I'm at the bookstore and see if it looks like he needs any other type of background

Thanks!

polarbear

amylou, thanks for the NUMATS recommendation - it's good to hear that other kids have had positive experiences with the courses. We'd love to enroll ds in one of them but.... first I need to get him into an achievement test to get into the program (I have achievement test anxiety *for* my ds, so haven't officially signed him up for Explore or anything like that yet - he's 2E and is challenged with some very simple things such as reading math signs correctly, so even though he's working way ahead of grade level and has high ability scores, he sometimes struggles showing that knowledge on achievement tests... which means I... in turn... struggle with anxiety over even signing him up for them!). I guess I need to get over myself, huh?

Thanks!

polarbear

You don't need to know HTML to play with Java. I suspect you're confusing Java with JavaScript here, which is a common mistake. They're two very different animals.

I'm not sure there are any prerequisites to learning Java other than being able to parse technical documentation and desire.

Just speaking for myself, my desire would be based on a particular project I want to build, and it may very likely turn out that the Java language isn't the best tool for the job. So just think on that for a bit, because you may be putting the cart before the horse... unless of course the project is simply, "Play with a new language."

The essay "Computer languages for kids" at http://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/computer-languages-for-kids/ may interest you.

...

"If I were starting from the beginning with a kid who had no previous programming experience, I�d start with Scratch, then segue to Python, and from there to C and C++. If the kid wanted to take the AP Computer Science Exam or create web applets, a detour through Java would be useful. If the kid wanted practical skills, HTML and JavaScript are worth adding, as there is still a large demand for web developers, even young ones. Alice might be useful as a transition to Java, but it has too much focus on data structures to be a really friendly intro. Neither the Logo nor the LISP dialects appeal to me much as programming languages or teaching languages: they seem more designed for theoretical elegance than for producing readable programs."

FYI, programming in general often fails spectacularly because of a misplaced sign, incorrect syntax, poorly constructed logic, etc. It is PAINFULLY dependent on attention to detail. This could be an opportunity for him to work on his greatest weakness, or it could be an opportunity for spectacular meltdowns... or both.

The O'Reilly books are so amazingly well written I personally don't think any prior knowledge is *required*. Once you've learned any programming language, learning subsequent languages is always easier.

Personally, Pascal is probably the easiest to learn, but it's so boring and you can't really do much "fun" with it. Java is a bit more fun because there are a lot of things you can do with it. C/C++ is the same way.

Honestly, if he's interested in that, I would find an old computer, and download the Ubuntu disk and tell him to get going. Have him install Ubuntu and figure out how to configure it and how to install apps, and then he can work on basic scripting, or go straight into learning whatever programming language he wants. I recommend Ubuntu because it's a whole lot easier to find all the compilers (for free) than with Windows, plus, Ubuntu is pretty easy to install, and there is a ton of documentation on it on the web. And if he really gets into programming, he'll want at least a passing understanding of *nix.


ETA: the thing with signs, if he uses a decent editor to create his scripts, it will color code things and have validation, so it should make it fairly easy for him to catch any mistakes. I am really bad with typos, but even just the basic vi color coding helps me find most of them.

(i am a professional *nix nerd, btw)

I agree that aspiring programmers should learn how to use Unix.
Since Mac OS X is a Unix operating system, an alternative to installing Ubuntu is to buy a Mac.