davidfraser / clipbit

Children Learn Intuitive Programming By Incovenient Typing

About ClipBit

Children Learn Intuitive Programming By Interesting Typing

Background

Many programmers today started programming because as children they had access to one of the early home computers. These typically comprised of a keyboard which also contained the CPU, memory etc, and an output that connected to a TV. Significantly, they didn't come loaded with existing programs, but you could get books and magazines with program code listings. By typing these into the computer, you could make it operate. Through the act of typing in these programs, experiencing what they did, and having to correct any mistakes, children were aware of the underlying code and began to form an intuitive understanding of what it meant.

Nowadays, many readily available electronic devices including cell phones (even the basic ones), contain processors more powerful than those computers. However the trend towards ease of use has meant that there is no exposure to code. This means that children are missing out on a potential gold mine of explorative learning.

Goal

The goal of this project is to provide a set of programs for children to type into a computer. Ideally this computer should be made available to them with only the ability to type in these programs. The programs should be provided ideally in a book, and they will contain minimal instructions on how to type them in, and what they do, but no traditional instruction in how computer programs work. That can be provided to them as they ask questions or struggle with things that they are trying to create themselves

Finding ClipBit

You can download a printable copy of the latest version from this page, or browse a public version on the web at clipbit.readthedocs.org. To contribute to the project or suggest changes, go to the github page.

Nature of programs

The programs should be:

• As simple to type as possible (i.e. lean towards short variable/function names)
• Fun for children to interact with
• Ideally good examples of logically structured programs
• Possible to change in small, incremental, yet interesting ways

Licensing

clipbit documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 South Africa License, and clipbit code (outside of the training material) is licensed under the MIT license. For more information, see the LICENSE.rst <LICENSE> file in this directory.