All about Alice.org

I am just about finished reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pauch. It has been an interesting read. The book was written as he was dying from cancer and wanted to leave some thoughts for his three children all under the age of six.

One thing I came across in the book is alice.org.

When I read about alice I thought of my sister. So this post is for you babe!
My sister is fourteen years old and is amazing at archery and wants to be in the olympics someday. She's already winning contests so she's on her way. She also loves to compose piano music. And she loves computers and programming.

Hence the alice connection. So what is alice.org?

It is a FREE educational software package that teaches computer programming in a 3D atmosphere.

Why 3D? Because they wanted kids to enjoy it. Specifically they wanted teenage GIRLS to enjoy learning about computer programming. They found that girls didn't get into the game programming like boys did. So they invented a way to teach programing through storytelling. But it isn't just for girls.  It's a revolution in computer science pedagogy. And it is available to anyone in middle school, high school, or college-with different levels for free.

Cool huh?

It is a free gift from Carnegie Mellon University and it was started by Randy Paush.

It looks like he gets to keep living through his dream of teaching others to love what he did. If you've got kids, you'll want to check it out-you can start here to learn more about it.

Have a fun learning Little Project!

The Unplugged Dilema and some Paint

I've been having an internal debate about how much time I am comfortable with my kids being "plugged in." So far T.V. time doesn't exist at our house. In part, I'm too cheap to pay for it. And the other part is that I don't think it is PBS's job to get my kids "ready to read." I feel like children need hands on exploring and discovery. I think kids learn more effectively that way.

BUT

Our world is so defined by technology. I used it to blog today. You are using it to read this today.

SO.

I want my kids to be comfortable with the tools that technology offers.

WHICH MEANS

Kids need to be exposed to technology tools in order to learn how to use them. Jay has asked more often about getting on the computer. So far he just wants to explore the keyboard and see how it works.

NOW

I just came across a starting place for us. It is called, "Tux Paint." Tux Paint is an award-winning art program created and designed for kids. And it is free to download and use. It is similar to "Kid Pix," which is an art program I used as a kid. I'm looking at it as another learning tool. Another way to "play" with numbers, colors, shapes, etc. This "plugged in" time doesn't replace anything else we are doing. But, I'm hoping that it will compliment our other experiences and also give Jay some new tools and an opportunity to grow some new skills.

Whatever your personal "plugged in" preferences, Tux Paint is worth a look :)

Click HERE to go to the Tux Paint home page.

Have some fun with a technology related Little art Project :)