[Bf-education] Blender for kids

Monique m.dewanchand at atmind.nl
Sun Aug 16 12:37:41 CEST 2015


Hi all

I'll be at the BConf in Octobre. I propose a roundtable discussion on 
this subject.
Topics:
- Learning content for kids: approach and format.
- Licensing and availability
- challenges
- Other?

Who wants to join?

Kind regards,
Monique

Op 13/08/15 om 05:43 schreef Peter Koppatz:
> Hi  all,
>>
>> I think that if you explain date types well, then it is easy for them.
>> Explaining that you have objects and things that you can do with 
>> these objects is the first step.
>> Then give concrete examples. No need to get into the technical 
>> details. Whole numbers VS number with point in them is good enough.Or 
>> lists and dictionary are also easy when explained in simple terms. Of 
>> course the age of the kids makes a huge difference.
>>
>
> I agree. Most Python courses are explaining datatypes in the first 
> place. But kids are interested in constructing and discovering new 
> worlds. So starting with many datatype specific code, inclusive a 
> print(„hello world“) is in my opinion the wrong way to go for kids. 
> Therefore  in our course material you will find the Python and 
> datatype specific parts at the end. By the way most python tutorials 
> are for Python 2.x and we need Python 3.x in Blender. More important 
> (Blender is perfect for this task) is to explain what is an object and 
> how can I create and manipulate objects.  It depends on the age where 
> to start. It would be possible to deliver a prepared set of objects, 
> so construction new objects is the goal. Have a look at the molecule 
> example[1] or you can focus on programming from the beginning [2,3], 
> as you can see in this example there is no basic Python datatype 
> involved, there are only objects, loops and functions (ok lists are 
> involved, but you don’t have to explain it with all corner cases in 
> the first place). In one course an 10 years old boy played with the 
> checker (Halma-Figur) and moved the sphere to the other end of the 
> cone and surprise after an rotation a new object was created, an ice 
> cream with a scoop! I was surprised because I was fixated on the Halma 
> figure. It was fun. And thats the main goal of every beginner 
> tutorial, fun, freedom in constructing and manipulating of objects.
> The next step is the  animation of objects, but in my opinion, this 
> task is not possible in two days (thats the usual length of a course), 
> because it is difficult for a beginner and you need more time for this 
> task. But again my focus is teaching python with fun and print is not 
> fun! Blender is fun :-)
>
> Just my two cents.
>
> Peter
>
> [1] 
> http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/school/ca_chemistry/ca_chemistry_molecules.html
> [2] 
> http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/blender-basics/d_composed_pices/da_simple_pice.html
> [3] 
> http://pymove3d-en.sudile.com/stations/blender-basics/d_composed_pices/dc_complex_pice.html
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 9:40 PM, Monique <m.dewanchand at atmind.nl 
>> <mailto:m.dewanchand at atmind.nl>> wrote:
>>
>>     Hello Peter,
>>
>>     Thank you for sharing.
>>     When it comes to python, personally I wouldn't start with
>>     explaining data types. I've seen some kids struggle with this.
>>
>>     What is your experience?
>>
>>     Rgds,
>>     Monique
>>
>>     Op 11/08/15 om 22:02 schreef Peter Koppatz:
>>>     Hi Monique,
>>>>
>>>>     Past months I've been asked to give Blender workshops to kids
>>>>     between 8
>>>>     and 16 years old. I searched for Blender teaching material but
>>>>     couldn't
>>>>     find much. I decided to use some simple models from Blendswap
>>>>     and hide
>>>>     the majority of buttons in the UI. Surprisingly this worked
>>>>     better than
>>>>     expected.
>>>>     The kids were very enthusiastic and could perform the tasks
>>>>     pretty well.
>>>>     At the end I was asked how kids could continu learning Blender.
>>>>
>>>>     This motivated me to start an open website/platform in NL to
>>>>     teach kids
>>>>     more on technology, especially Blender & Python. But what is a
>>>>     good
>>>>     format for teaching Blender to kids?
>>>>     Can we teach Blender to kids in a same manner as kids are
>>>>     thaught math
>>>>     or grammar?
>>>>     Are there tutorials or program lessons available for kids?
>>>>     Is anyone working on this and willing to cooperate?
>>>
>>>     The „Python Software Verband (PySV)" started in 2013 a
>>>     programming contest for kids in Germany[1]. I have written a
>>>     collection of tutorials to teach and prepare interested kids.
>>>     The focus is programming with Python! There was always a great
>>>     interest in using and translating the existing german version.
>>>     So I started to reorganize the course material and switched to
>>>     use the english version as a master. Now other people can
>>>     translate the english version to other languages. The course
>>>     material is available at bitbucket[2], and Transifex[3] is used
>>>     for translations. The prototype of the new multilingual version
>>>     is available at http://pymove3d.sudile.com
>>>     <http://pymove3d.sudile.com/>.
>>>     The new structure and the translation is a work in progress, and
>>>     a little bit a mess, because my english is very poor.
>>>     Nevertheless you could either help to finish and develop the
>>>     existing material or improve the english version or use parts of
>>>     the course material as you like. There are also some open
>>>     problems due to the course material in different languages. I
>>>     have some ideas but not a real solution e. g.  for short videos
>>>     and screenshots (with text added on the images). SVG could be a
>>>     solution. Suggestions and help is always appreciated.
>>>
>>>     If you have further questions, ask me.
>>>
>>>     Kind regards,
>>>
>>>     Peter
>>>
>>>     [1] http://pymove3d.pysv.org/ (German only)
>>>     [2] https://bitbucket.org/pkoppatz/pymove3d-en
>>>     [3] https://www.transifex.com/pysv/
>>>
>>>>
>>>>     Kind regards,
>>>>     Monique Dewanchand
>>>>     At Mind
>>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>>     Bf-education mailing list
>>>>     Bf-education at blender.org <mailto:Bf-education at blender.org>
>>>>     http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-education
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Douglas E Knapp, MSAOM, LAc.
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