Monday, June 14, 2010
Alice: Using software to teach software
There is this program called Alice, which is not exactly a game, but its game like and it is used to teach computer programming concepts to beginning programming students. It has a 3D environment in which students interact with and can create stories, games or videos. The original intent of the software was to help encourage more females to participate as computer programming majors, but it has since been adapted in many schools to encourage an overall boost in participation (Alice.org).
At SIIT where I teach, we implemented Alice in our programming stream starting this past year. So far it has been successful. The students enjoyed the 3D environment and I do believe it prepared them for their first true programming class. Coming into their first programming class they had knowledge of objects and loops and conditions, all computer programming essentials. I have also read about students as young as grade six being introduced to the software. So it does have a really wide audience.
I’ve included some samples of what Alice is capable of creating. The end results are pretty cool, although judging by the comments on YouTube, the last one must have taken quite a bit of time to create. If you've seen the Saw movie, check out the middle one, it's pretty funny.
Christmas Song
Lego Saw
Dragon
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Ohhh... now that looks like fun! And I don't think you need to get to restrictive or technical about what is or is not a game. These kinds of environments are absorbing and learner-centred, and you can use them to build just about anything you can imagine. Some of these examples are very impressive!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Alice. It is an interesting approach to programming. Students can learn the basics of programming such as loops and If/Else statements without really diving deep into coding. You may have to clarify for me, is it a drop and drag approach? I have not personally used it, but I would love to one day. I think it's most appealing for girls as they are the ones that are less likely to learn coding languages. Unlike you and me.. lol.. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteYes it is drag and drop! So its easy to work with and like you said, they can learn all the concepts without talking about code (which often starts to bore the students). Alice does have a few glitches, but I think for the most part it is a fun environment to work with because you actually come out with a finished product (whereas when you start coding, it takes a lot of work to create something as simple as a square sometimes).
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