User:Jwmh/Class Drafts/Previous notes and thoughts
Old notes and thoughts on the course have been moved to this location.
Still useful for reflecting & refining, but no longer of immediate use. I'm pretty clear now on what I'm teaching (see the parent page -- the curriculum -- for current details & layout.
-- Jwmh 18:27, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
The below content is from February 13, 2013:
Overview (draft)
As I continue to reflect, it occurs to me that this can(should?) be split into three (3) sections, another way:
- i. Hardware
- ii. Software Concepts (Non-UI)
- iii. Software Visualization & Interaction (UI)
Number 2 would include things like the filesystem: Files, Folders, and Applications; etc.
Number 3 would be how you go about interacting with it.
But, eh... how to describe certain concepts without showing what they look like?
And really, wouldn't the Login window (visual UI) come before other concepts...???
Or maybe it does make sense to teach concepts first, then show what they look like??
If so, then... is it worthwhile to halt visual learning, to go back to discuss abstract concepts about files/folders, and *then* show what they look like? (I really think the concept of this should be demonstrated with books, first....)
The below content is from.. an earlier date?
Volume I: Familiarization with the interface
[or, "Getting to know the basics"]
This should entail only the *bare necessities* for operating a computer:
- physical care (e.g. heat=bad, liquid=bad, grounded surge protector = good, ...)
- poweron / login / poweroff
- using the keyboard and mouse
- understanding the folders, files, and applications
Note that this doesn't cover the use of any specific applications (such as a web browser or a word processor), but rather familiarization w/ the interface as a whole.
- NB: currently this below content seems only applicable to the WIMP / Desktop model. Is this appropriate? (initial instinct is to respond, "yes, and necessary, at least in present-day").
However, how do we expand / generalize for smartphones? ... The usual case for teaching abstractions is, Start with specific cases, then the rest (generalized) can follow. So may not be possible to teach 'only' the abstract (which we knew as soon as we started talking about UI conventions:windows/menus/etc, didn't we?).