The "Logo" computer programming language was designed for KIDS,
and MicroWorlds 2.0 for Windows 95 is an easy way to get started! You can even write your
very own computer games!
Here's where you can ask other kids questions about programming MicroWorlds! All programmers, both kids and grownups, always have to ask each other lots and lots of programming questions. Don't be shy!
If you have general questions about MicroWorlds, or about kids and computers in general, the Kids And Computers Virtual Conference is a great place to ask those kinds of questions.
This introduction is the very best and easiest way to learn how to quickly and easily get started on writing your own computer games! And you can even give copies of those games to other kids who don't even have MicroWorlds, so they can play your games on their computers. The documentation that comes with MicroWorlds is kinda boring and not very helpful, so start with this introduction instead!
Old enough to read and use a keyboard, though kids as young as 3 have enjoyed playing with MicroWorlds. If you can use a word processor, then you can program with MicroWords. Kids as young as 7 have enjoyed programming in MicroWorlds.
I’ve given it to my nephews, aged 6 & 9, though I doubt if the younger one will be much interested for a while. At http://www.magmacom.com/~dsleeth/index.html, you can read about Nicole Sleeth (now age 10 or 11, I guess), who’s father started her on programming when she was 6 or 7. You can see some of the MicroWorlds programs she wrote, too.
Kids aged around 16 or so and older might prefer Microsoft Visual Basic -- see http://www.warehouse.com/oasis/binpublic/catproduct.dll?product_id=14583.0 and http://www.microsoft.com/vbasic/prodinfo/learnvb. Alternatively, you could learn Borland Delphi, if you don’t mind having a 99% chance of having to switch to Microsoft Visual Basic to get a job in the real world.
You probably won’t find it in a store (but if you do, please let me know where). You can order MicroWorlds 2.0 for Windows 95 (and also MicroWorlds 2.0 for Macintosh), or a newer version called MicroWorlds Pro here:
If you have a Macintosh, you can get a Macintosh version. The Macintosh version is available at LCSI.
If you have MS-DOS, you can try to find a used copy of MicroWorlds 1.0 for DOS/Windows 3.x. Even though they call it "for DOS/Windows 3.x", this is not a Windows program; instead, it's an MS-DOS program. Like most MS-DOS programs, it runs fine on Windows 3.x -- and probably all other versions of Windows, too. But it doesn't look nearly as good as a real Windows program would. It's still fun to program, though!
You can download a FREE TRIAL copy from Logo Computer Systems. Be sure to download the right version -- they have one for Windows 95 computers, and another one for Macintosh computers.
If you use the free trial version, be sure to copy all the programming code you write in it to a word processor* and save it there, because the free trial version can't save the programs you write with it! If you forget to copy all the programming code to a word processor, you'll lose your code, so be careful!
I'll add exact steps on how to do that as soon as I have time. If you need help now, just email me.
*Or Notepad (Start | Programs | Accessories | Notepad). If it isn't there, try Start | Run, type in "notepad" (without the quotes), and press Enter. If that still doesn't work, try the same with Wordpad instead of Notepad.
Only the Macintosh version comes with a User's Guide. If you get the Windows 95 version, the User's Guide will be in the form of a help file. However, even if you get the Windows 95 version, you can still buy a User’s Guide for the Macintosh version. It includes the function reference. Even though there are some differences because it's made for the Mac version, it's mostly close enough, and a lot more convenient than a help file. You have to buy a set of 5 copies of the Mac User’s Guide at a total of US $30 + $5 shipping. Use the order form at http://el.www.media.mit.edu/groups/logo-foundation/software.html (the Mac User's Guide isn't listed separately there, so just write it down with no Item Code). I have extra copies, so you might be able to talk me out of one. :-)
Are schools in America dedicated to making kids think programming is boring? Of course not -- so why do most of them, if they teach programming at all, teach it only -- or mainly -- in the context of illustrating mathematical and geometric principles? That's great for kids who love math, but how many kids love math? Progamming has a MUCH BROADER APPEAL than math does. If I wanted to convince most kids that programming is boring, I can't think of a better way than how most American schools teach it.
Suppose English was taught only (or mainly) in the context of reading and writing about math and geometry. How many kids would enjoy it? Would that be the most effective way to teach English? Or would it be widely denounced as too ineffective?
In the business world, programming is even becoming an important general business skill, as word processing already is. I can't begin to count the number of frantic callers, when I was an Excel technical support engineer, who desperately needed to program something in Excel VBA. It usually wasn't programmers who were calling, it was accountants, office managers, administrative assistants, salespeople, and others who had previously never dreamed they would have such a strong need to learn programming. I'll never forget one tearful office manager who had been told she would be fired if she didn't learn Excel VBA programming.
It makes me think of the time, long past, when only scribes knew how to read and write, and others did not consider it an important skill for them to learn. Today, reading and writing is an important survival skill. It took many centuries for reading and writing to become so important, but it appears that it's taking mere decades for programming to become an important survival skill.
Though I took a programming class while in school, it never occurred to me then that I might enjoy programming. I did okay at math, but it was hardly my idea of fun. It was years later, programming Excel, that I discovered that programming was terrific fun, and tremendously useful in an administrative job. No, I wasn't programming games, of course. But I wasn't programming showcases for mathematical and geometric concepts, either, which is my point. The close association between enjoying math and enjoying programming exists primarily in the minds of many American educators.
Since programming is becoming an important general business skill, why not teach it in whatever way will get kids most excited about it? For a working person in the business world, what gets a person excited about, say, Office VBA programming is how amazingly practical it can be -- it can make the programmer as productive as 10 or more of his colleagues. He can accomplish things that he previously would never have had time to consider. He can amaze his co-workers and, more importantly, his boss. For kids, though, games, more than anything else, will get them excited about programming. Once they finish school and enter the business world, their programming skills will transition rather easily to practical, business-oriented programming with tools such as Office VBA.
(Oops -- this book has gone out of print! But if it sounds interesting,
you can still follow the link and tell Amazon you hope the publisher reprints it)
Minds in Play:
Computer Game Design As a Context for Children's Learning
How kids learn through game design, how to create a learning environment, how the games
evolve, case studies.
Here's another place that offers it -- Computer Literacy Books:
Minds in Play:
Computer Game Design As a Context for Children's Learning
Let me know if you'd like me to add a link to your page of Microworlds games-related information here!
The Kids and Computers
Pages
Learning about computers, programming Logo, a Java-Powered Logo program you can try,
Montessori and a bulletin board, they are all at this site!
Toe-Tac-Sim,
Tri-Not, and Classic Sim
Play a version of toe-tac-tic which is equivalent to the graph game of Sim -- three in
a line loses.
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You can send me email at gregl@DELETE_THIS_PARTgregl.net (Delete the "DELETE_THIS_PART" before sending).
This page was last modified sometime in the afternoon.
