BBC BASIC for Windows
General >> Support and Promote >> Resource or forum for teachers and pupils http://bb4w.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=support&action=display&num=1391252750 Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by Richey on Feb 1st, 2014, 10:05am
Richard, just thinking about programming being made compulsory in English primary schools and if there might be some opportunities there to get teachers and pupils to use BB4W - would it be useful to set up a 'school' / teacher / pupil section to the conforum or maybe even a separate conforum / site to act as a resource for them, or somewhere they can post questions, examples of work, etc.? I know they could use the existing conforum sections (assuming there are no age limits) but maybe a more dedicated / school / age specific resource might prove attractive to teachers, pupils and parents...somewhere they know where to go to specifically to share ideas, experiences, showcase work, etc...just thinking how to promote BB4W instead of them going to Python by default...
Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by admin on Feb 1st, 2014, 11:17am
would it be useful to set up a 'school' / teacher / pupil section to the conforum or maybe even a separate conforum / site to act as a resource for them, or somewhere they can post questions, examples of work, etc.?
I'm afraid you're somewhat out-of-touch, because exactly that has existed for quite a while:
If you know of any teachers who might be unaware of that group please feel free to pass on the link. All UK secondary schools have received a mailshot, but there are too many primary schools for that option to be viable/economic.
Richard.
Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by Richey on Feb 2nd, 2014, 10:18pm
Ok thanks Richard - perhaps those of us with primary school age children can all mention it to the teachers.
I'll send an email to Michael Gove and Huw Lewis (Welsh Minister) - don't know if it will help but they have probably at least heard of BBC BASIC (maybe even used it!) - not sure the same can be said of Python.
I know that many schools are using Raspberry PI but I'm not sure about the availability of BB4W on that platform as a means of getting it further into schools?
I have heard that the BBC and considering another project aimed at encouraging computer programming:
I wonder if that might be another opportunity to promote BB4W?
May all be dead ends but just trying to think of different possibilities... Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by admin on Feb 2nd, 2014, 11:14pm
I know that many schools are using Raspberry PI but I'm not sure about the availability of BB4W on that platform
If you choose the RISC OS option for the Operating System then ARM BBC BASIC (BASIC 5) comes installed as standard. If you choose Linux (which is more popular) there may be a version of Brandy that will run, but I'm not certain.
I would like to see somebody take an interest in BBC BASIC on non-Windows platforms, to investigate exactly what is currently available, where it can be obtained, how it is installed and what features it has. Any takers?
I am also looking for somebody who knows how to program in C or assembler on a (x86) Linux platform, with a view to porting BB4W. If interested please contact me privately.
Richard. Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by bbcchris2000 on Feb 9th, 2014, 7:36pm
Hi, In post 1101 Richard wrote
"I would like to see somebody take an interest in BBC BASIC on non-Windows platforms, to investigate exactly what is currently available, where it can be obtained, how it is installed and what features it has. Any takers?"
I currently have a version of Brandy loaded into an Axim X5 running on a PPC 2003 O/S. It can be downloaded from this web site http://www.g7jjf.com/brandy_for_wince.htm .
The current development does open a screen and basic program listings can be typed in and run. There is no select, copy and paste features: there is one folder it can load and save from, it doesn't appear to have any way to surf other folders: the bottom portion of a program listing gets covered up by the Axim X5's on screen keyboard.
These limitations make it more or less useless for me to use in any serious way. I have been in touch with the developer and in his response he stated that he no longer has any hand held computers to test with and I got the general feel that he is no longer interested to continue development.
Hope this information is helpful.
I also hope someone can continue the development. The idea that some Bbcbasic4windows program listings can, with a little modification, be run on a hand held PC does appeal to me.
Regards Chris
Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by freeman69 on Jun 17th, 2014, 11:08am
The idea was inspired by the forthcoming changes to the national curriculum. The content may be a little advanced, but as a youngster I would have wanted access to a similar resource.
Any feedback can be directed to freeman69@gmx.com
Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by JGHarston on Jun 28th, 2014, 4:41pm
I've had a quick skim through the examples, and none of them need line numbers, and their use is distracting and misleading. Re: Resource or forum for teachers and pupils
Post by freeman69 on Jun 30th, 2014, 09:55am
@JGHarston: Perhaps you've noted that the examples are on a website that contains explanations and references to the code - otherwise I don't use line numbering because its unnecessary. BB4W can show/remove line numbering quite easily.
