- My name is Katrin Becker. This is my blog. It is about Digital Games, Educational Technology, Computer Science, Academia, and sometimes Rural Life and other notions. Comments are welcome but will be edited as necessary to maintain relevance.
Quote for the Day
“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) But “That's funny …"”
by Isaac Asimovtags
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Category Archives: Computer Science
Teaching Introductory Programming: We’re Doing It Wrong (still)
I just read Mark Guzdial’s excellent post on some of what’s wrong with how we teach introductory programming courses. Question Everything: How We Teach Intro CS is Wrong The notion that we should be modeling expert behaviour when teaching programming is … Continue reading
Is Computer Science Dead?
Just heard on Mark Guzdial’s blog that “Georgia Tech’s College of Computing is now considering a proposal to remove Smalltalk from the required curriculum in favor of C++.” This is another nail in the coffin of CS. There is great … Continue reading
Look out SMART Technologies – the writing may be on the wall, and it isn’t yours.
In Today’s MIT Tech Review: A Better, Cheaper Multitouch Interface A new pressure-sensitive pad could improve large and small touch screens. I’ve thought for some time that the SMART Technologies’ White Board which is marketed so vigorously to Alberta schools … Continue reading
Rant about faculty webpages.
KEEP THEM CURRENT!!!! Sheesh. How can someone claim to be “with it” technologically when their webpages were last updated a YEAR ago? These are modern times. And your webpage is your public face. Do it right. First, if you are … Continue reading
Chalk up another one for FaceBook
Thanks to the mini-feed from FaceBook, I saw this Blog from Mark Guzdial. It is a MUST READ for anyone concerned about the enrollment malaise the computer science departments continue to face. http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNKUURHQRKBJYSU Here’s an excerpt: “Colin Potts, a professor … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Computer Science, Teaching & Learning
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Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything really new when it comes to presenting text, but this one looks like it has a lot of potential. Here is a link to the original article (the samples below come … Continue reading
Software Ethology, a new approach to design and analysis
I have recently been working on a new methodology for the analysis of commercial video games in order to uncover mechanisms used to support learning. I am calling this new approach Instructional Ethology. It combines structural analysis based on black … Continue reading