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The goal of Alice is to change the first experience students get with computer programming
Alice is an easy program to use.
Let me show you how!!
Outline:
• System Requirements• Introduction of Alice• The Alice Approach
– Key Features
• Helps Motivate Students• How is Alice Being Used?
System Requirements:• Operating system requirements:
– Windows ME– Windows 2000– Windows XP – Macintosh OS 10.3 or 10.4
• Minimum PC hardware requirements: – A Pentium running at 500 MHz or better – a VGA graphics card capable of high (16 bit) color – 128 MB of RAM – Video resolution of 1024x768 – A sound card
• Recommended PC hardware requirements: – A Pentium running at 1.0 GHz or better – 16 MB 3D video card (TNT, i810, Rage 128,
GeForce, Radeon equivalent or better) – 256 MB of RAM
Introduction
Creation of Alice motivated by a desire for ease of learning to program
Goal: Change the first experience students have with computer programming
- Remove unnecessary frustration- Provide an environment for students – both
genders – to create compelling programs easily
Basics of Alice
• Removes typing removes frustration and syntax errors
• Students can see the objects – no abstract visualizing required
• Almost all changes are animated – debugging is much less obscure
- You know when you’ve made a mistake as soon as you make it. - Easily undo to correct the mistake
The Alice Approach• Capturing one’s attention is important
when trying to teach them– Alice is a fun program– Best impact
“We feel that providing a more expressive medium in which to construct programs will help to interest a wider audience.”*
*www.alice.org
• Drag-and-Drop• Appeals to wide audience
– Story Telling– Interactive Computer Games– Confidence Builder for those people
who do not find programming very easy
The Alice Approach
Helps Motivate Students
• No syntax-based frustration• Changes are animated – visible
You see what you make; if you make a mistake, immediately undo available
• Promotes creativityIt’s fun to play with and graphically
pleasing
How is Alice Being Used?• Informational course for students
considering a major in computer science and programming
• Transitional course to the computer science major
• Introduction to programming • Computer literacy – problem-
solving component• Pre-AP class for high school
students
Short Little Movie
Conclusion• Why does Alice work?
– It’s an interactive, fun program– Gain experience with a wide variety of
programming elements– It’s FREE!!! (OpenGL)
• Recommendation– Try Alice for yourself. It is a very
easy program to use, and can be great fun! I’ve been able to learn more about computer programming by researching Alice.
Alice Alice CommunitCommunit
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Alice Alice CommunitCommunit
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www.alice.org/community/
Questions??www.alice.org