ftp.whtech.com/ftp.whtech.com.tar/ftp.whtech.com/articles/archives/limanews.exe/TI101_8.TXT

Text File | 2006-10-19 | 16KB | 453 lines

 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
 LIMA NEWSLETTER -- 1993

     ~~~~~ TI-101 ~~~~~

     OUR 4/A UNIVERSITY

     by Jack Sughrue
     Box 459
     E.Douglas MA 01516

      #8 EUNICE AND THE KIDS

     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^or

     LIFE AMONG THE LOGOPHILES

     In this last session, Class, I
 wanted to spend some time explaining
 why the TI is still the best
 educational tool you can have in your
 homes or classrooms for young and old
 children.  And everyone in between.
 By old, I mean in the 90's.  Sister
 Pat Taylor's learners even include
 Centenarians!  To learn more about
 this extraordinary woman and her
 extraordinary group of elderly
 computer buffs, write to her at 1050
 Carmel Drive #456, Dubuque, Iowa,
 52001.  I don't know if Sister Pat
 calls her very active TI devotees an
 official user group, but they are.
 And they are probably the only All
 Nun User Group in America (The ANUGA
 Group of Iowa?).
     And, yes, Class, I checked our
 map here at the university and there
 really is a place called Iowa.
     Sister Pat is one of the two most
 active TIers with whom I have ever
 had the opportunity to correspond.
     The other does officially operate
 the only All Kids TI User Group in
 America.  No, not AKTIUGA,
 Mr.^Shakespeare.  It is the Oakland
 UG from Maine.  And the enegetic and
 ingenious leader is Eunice Spooner
 (Webb Road, Box 3720, Waterville ME
 04901).  Though the group puts out a
 newsletter that includes delightful
 programs written by the students and
 though the kids take field trips to
 the Computer Museum in Boston and
 though there is a highly developed TI
 computing program in the schools as
 well, I am not going to discuss any
 of those achievements by
 Mrs.^Spooner.  Except to say they and
 others are considerable.
     Instead, I want to focus this
 particular class on a particular
 specialty of that remarkable woman:
 LOGO.
     Now, don't shake your heads and
 shut down, as if LOGO were beneath
 you.  Especially you, Ms.^Bronte, who
 keep pestering me about adult stuff.
 I can guarantee all of you - those
 with little kids somewhere,
 including inside of you, and those
 who were born elderly - that LOGO can
 fit everybody's need to learn, to
 discover, to create, to explore, to
 develop the intellectual discipline
 of logical reasoning.  There just is
 not another tool like it.
     The computer is the perfect tool
 for the learning that only LOGO can
 provide. The TI LOGO II, as you will
 see, is our perfect educational
 tool.
     I'd like to begin our last
 session together by reading a recent
 review (ah, nice alliteration there)
 from NEW-AGE/99 about Eunice's video
 tape package:
    "There is a great video now
 available to TI owners: the
 full-length LOGO video done by Eunice
 Spooner (RFD 1, Box 3720, Webb Road,
 Waterville, ME 04901).  It is
 wonderful! It also comes with a disk
 full of lots of the items she demos
 and a hardcopy listing of the items
 and footage for easy tape locations.
    "Eunice is a certified elementary
 teacher and it is obvious on this
 tape.  She's terrific: kind, patient,
 step-by-step logical, no panic; and
 she makes everything seem easy and
 fun.  Which it is, if you do the
 things she suggests.
    "I always liked LOGO.  Then I put
 it away for a long time.  After
 viewing this tape and trying her
 programs, I discovered I   LOGO.
    "If you own LOGO, get this package
 instantly.  At $10 it is a total
 steal.  And it is used as a
 fundraiser to support the only ALL
 KIDS TI USER GROUP IN THE WORLD! If
 you don't own LOGO, buy it instantly.
 (It's on sale everywhere CHEAP! Years
 ago I paid $119 for my first,and
 recently bought an unopened boxed one
 for $15.) But, new or used, pick one
 up for this video/disk set alone.
 You'll rediscover the joys of
 computing and the real fun (and
 learning, which is why it is fun) of
 your remarkable 4A.  Don't delay."
     But before I discuss
 Mrs.^Spooner's extraordinary LOGO
 adventures, I'd like to give you a
 bit of LOGO's history.
     A few years before the 4A was
 born, MIT Professor Seymour Papert
 formed a team to create a powerful,
 high-level computer language
 specifically designed for educational
 purposes involving some of the ideas
 from the field of Artificial
 Intelligence.  Papert was a disciple
 of (and worked with) noted Swiss
 pyschologist Jean Piaget, the Father
 of Developmental Learning (creating
 learning environments in which
 learners learn naturally in the same
 way we all learned to walk and talk).
 Papert's classic book, MINDSTORMS,
 defines these ideas and explains the
 computer/learner relationship that
 led to his creating LOGO, still the
 most effective educational language -
 tool, if you will - that has ever
 been created.  The book is still in
 paperback print.  It should be in
 every computer buff's library, along
 with THE SECRET GUIDE TO COMPUTERS,
 which we mentioned a few sessions
 ago.
     When TI asked Papert to create an
 enhanced version (with music,
 sprites, and the like, peculiar to
 the TI), the field testing and the
 results thereof made TI history.  It
 is a singular module in that it, in
 effect, allows each user to create
 his/her own PERSONALIZED computer
 language.
     What can LOGO do?
     Well, you can write programs with
 it.  You can write text with it that
 can rewrite itself in poetic ways.
 You can draw with it, including
 making animated films.  You can use
 it for math activities, for
 problem-solving, for puzzles, games,
 logic activities, for creating
 musical scores.  It does use all the
 various built-ins we take for granted
 on our TI's.  For example, you can
 create a unique design in the turtle
 drawing mode and animate it; then
 create a pile of new sprites (beyond
 the few that are built in); then
 create bigger piles of new "tiles"
 which make up the character sets.
 Now, with your newly created animated
 design as background (with instant
 colors of your choice for back and
 foreground), you may now set those
 sprites you created loose.  Each of
 the 32 sprites can be set in motion
 at different speeds, in four
 different directions at the same time
 (using word terms like "EAST" or
 directional numbers), and each can be
 color defined from the TI's 16 color
 palette.  All this, Class, can be
 done easier than in any other
 computer language.  As a matter of
 fact, the learner takes him/herself
 through the stages needed to achieve
 these very complex routines.
 According to the philosophy of the
 LOGO developers, "LOGO has no
 threshold, no ceiling." The beginner
 can immediately do meaningful,
 exciting things with the program,
 while the most adept can do some very
 advanced things.
     And now we come back to
 Mrs.^Spooner's tapes.  There are two:
 the one described earlier in the
 NEW-AGE/99 review and a second done
 at the recent Lima faire and part of
 Tape #2 (which can be ordered from
 Charles Good, Box 647, Venedocia OH
 45894 for only $5).  This latter tape
 is a gem.  Mrs.^Spooner teaches
 Dr.^Good's first-grade daughter how
 to experience LOGO.  Meaghan had
 never dealt with LOGO before, but she
 sits down confidently at the console,
 while Mrs.^Spooner, in her wheelchair
 behind her, begins the lesson.
     It's the perfect teacher doing a
 perfect job (with a perfect student,
 I might add).  Step by step she works
 Meaghan from the opening "TELL
 TURTLE" through some very
 sophisticated LOGO-ing that I
 wouldn't have believed a six-year-old
 was capable of handling.  And each
 mini-lesson builds upon the previous
 in such a way that Meaghan
 anticipates most of what would be
 happening after a very short time.
     For all of you teachers in the
 room here, I can only say that
 watching such a pro at work is
 certainly inspirational.  I only wish
 the people who made the tape had been
 able to keep the room noises down and
 had been able to get the camera
 closer and in better light.  In spite
 of these preventable problems (which
 I hope they cure next year by finding
 a small, quiet room to tape
 Mrs.^Spooner's teaching activities),
 the tape is one you'll watch again
 and again.
     The tutorial tape and software
 Mrs.^Spooner made for her club's
 release, however, is easy on the eyes
 and ears.  Everything about the
 package is exceptional, including the
 price.  I can't even begin to imagine
 anyone not leaping into LOGO after
 watching just a few minutes of it.
     Don't worry, Ms.^Bronte, you'll
 have a chance to see both of these
 tapes at the end of class.  Then
 we'll all head for the lab, where we
 will all have more than enough time
 to get onto LOGO and play with some
 of the ideas we've learned.
     That's why I save LOGO for our
 last class.  One third of your mark
 will be based on how well you can
 program your turtle to create a
 flower.
     Mrs.^Spooner, by the way, begins
 her lesson with Meaghan and her tape
 tutorial by introducing the turtle
 and explaining how it has to take
 steps forward or back, how it needs
 to be told to move its head in the
 direction it is about to go, how it
 can be made to repeat its little
 learned activities in such a way that
 its expertise allows it to perform
 like no other turtle has ever
 performed.
     Other LOGOphiles, however, think
 it's best to introduce this
 educational program through its
 Sprites and its Makeshape options.
 Still others feel its safest to start
 with the text and math PRINT options.
 Musically oriented types would
 probably feel the music learning
 should come first.
     Having watched many teachers
 introduce LOGO in many different
 ways, including the ultimate
 mind-killer of learning all the terms
 first, I have to concur with
 Mrs.^Spooner.  The turtle seems the
 most logical, the easiest, the most
 fun.  The turtle immediately allows
 the learner control of his/her
 environment with minimum instruction.
     There is so much written about
 LOGO, so many manuals, so many
 tutorials.
     After watching the tapes, look
 through the manuals which come with
 LOGO II and, after playing with the
 program a bit, load some of the
 samples that come with LOGO (disk and
 cassette come with the package,
 which, by the way, can still be
 purchased from TEXCOMP, at fairs,
 from clubs, and from vendors listed
 in newsletters and MICROpendium) and
 just enjoy and marvel.  Call up the
 program and admire its efficiency.
 Then modify it and play some more.
     For the TI?  Yes,
 Mr.^Shakespeare, there's a lot
 written on LOGO for the TI.  The BEST
 OF 99er has some good articles, but
 they're a bit techie and are best
 read after you've used LOGO for a
 long time.
     Look over your book list from
 your notes a couple sessions ago.  In
 there I mentioned THE LAST WHOLE
 TI99/4A BOOK by Paul Garrison,
 ACADEMIC TI by Mowe and Mummaw, and
 Russ Walter's immense SECRET GUIDE.
 These are all excellent sources for
 LOGO-ing and lots of other
 educational and informational items.
 Don't confuse Garrison LAST book with
 THE LAST WORD ON THE TI-99/4A by
 Linda and Allen Schreiber, which is
 really lousy.
     There are many, many other good
 LOGO books, though, some of which
 devote the entire book to LOGO.
     But there are four LOGO books you
 should beg, borrow, or steal for, if
 you come across them:
     TI's PROGRAMMING DISCOVERY IN TI
 LOGO STUDENT GUIDE.  This was part of
 Texas Instruments Computer Advantage
 Club program.  This 32-page 8X11
 workbook is a quick tutorial and
 extremely handy quick reference
 guide, along with a presentation of
 all kinds of neato and peachy-keen
 Procedures (the term LOGO uses for
 Programs).
     Scholastic's LOGO FUN by Pat
 Parker and Teresa Kennedy first shows
 you how one can easily convert Apple,
 Atari, Krell, Terrapin LOGOs to and
 from TI's.  It's 112 pages (8X11)
 have large type, lots of pictures,
 lots and lots and lots of procedures
 and ideas.  It's a super book, but it
 doesn't explore all the unique
 aspects of TI LOGO II.
     A book that goes a lot farther
 along the LOGO line is Donna
 Bearden's A BIT OF LOGO MAGIC:
 Adventures for Intermediate
 Programmers.  This is one of the most
 creative books ever written for any
 computer.  (Actually, there are many
 versions out there.) The "TI"
 identification is on the front cover.
 Reston published our version in hard
 and paper (8X11).  Donna also wrote
 1,2,3, MY COMPUTER AND ME: a LOGO
 Funbook for Kids, which I would also
 highly recommend.  This one, though,
 is a bit more advanced and is unique.
 It's written as a novel about
 Aristotle, a wise old wizard, and
 Little Bit, a mischievous dragon.
 Brad Foster's delightfully detailed
 drawings don't just enhance this
 "novel," but become an integral part.
 The chapter titles should give you an
 idea about how different this book is
 from any like it.  Come to think of
 it, there aren't any like it.  Here
 are some of the chapter titles:
 Elaborate Designs with Simple Shapes;
 Patterns, Tessellations, and Optical
 Illusions; Spider Webs and Other
 Magnificent Designs; Fractured Fables
 and Customized Cliches; An Adventure
 in the Dark Forest.
     This book even teaches you how to
 create quizzes.  This is the one book
 on LOGO I wish I had written.  Ah,
 well.
     And the last book is certainly
 not the least book.  SPRITES, A
 TURTLE, AND TI LOGO by Jim Conlan and
 Don Inman (one of the original 4A
 manual writers) is the best (in the
 sense of complete) LOGO source you
 can buy.  This is also published by
 Reston (which competed successfully
 with Hayden and COMPUTE! and SAMS to
 publish the most and best TI books on
 the market in our 4A's heyday.
     This book, though, is unequalled,
 as far as anything I have seen, to
 make the best use of LOGO.  Nothing
 touches its sections on math, tiles,
 sprites, and the use of joysticks
 with LOGO.  Its 228 pages (6X9) in
 small type are jampacked with
 detailed tutorials on almost all
 phases of LOGO (nothing on music).
     If you could couple some of these
 books with the LOGO manual, you would
 have a whole world to explore with
 your TI, still the best educational
 computer on or off the market.
     Anyway, Class, time is drawing
 nigh.  You've been a good group.
 We'll be watching the Spooner videos
 next before we move to the lab for
 our final session.
     Review all your notes and all
 your cassettes and disks and
 cartridges and texts and magazines
 and newsletters for our final next
 week.
     What?  Yes, Mr.^Shakespeare,
 there was a LOGO I.  Lots of people
 are still using it.  But II has many
 more enhancements.  It's a better
 tool and toy.
     Although your projects are
 important and your lab work and, of
 course, your paper and your final,
 Class, THE most important thing you
 can take from this course is sharing
 your wisdom and newly-gained
 knowledge with some learners in your
 lives.  Bring someone new to the TI:
 a spouce, friend, teacher,
 grandchild, grandparent, seventh
 cousin three times removed, Dan
 Quayle.  Somebody.  They are your
 next generation of 99ers.  They and
 YOU are essential for our future.
 The 4A, itself, of course, is
 indestructable.
     You've been a good class.  Hope
 we meet again.
     Adios.