I'm about to embark (tomorrow in fact) on a Perl revamp of my programming course in a public high school. The last time I did this a couple of years ago it was with Visual Basic. I wasn't too happy with my results since half of the class could not code a program that counted after a semester. And that was after a semester programming simple video games.
I'm going to try to start out focusing on the language connections. Verbs ~= statements and nouns ~=variables and stay clear of a lot of math stuff unless the kids seem good at that end of things. This group I already have taught HTML and the 1st 1/2 inch of CGI + they all have access to a class web server so I plan on having them do some web stuff eventually. Haven't decided what.
As for books, I plan on using Sam's Teach Yourself Perl in 24 hours. I learned a lot from it. It was a great intro to the language.
If there are 2 of us getting started with this, we should compare notes, share assignment ideas over the next couple of months. I will have the beginnings of a web site for the class posted tomorrow. Probably at ghs.gcsny.org/~hsweet/ (I may stick it somewhere else, but
I'll have a link at ghs.gcsny.org/class_sites.shtml. I'd appreciate any feedback. Feel free to use anything there if you think it is helpful.
One of the biggest advantages of Perl over VB is that I can give to the kids the first day of class (I burned some CD's). I did have some kids who showed some ability and interest in VB, but all I could tell them was that they could get it at home if they were willing to fork over a hundred bucks to Bill. No one ever did. I'm thrilled that I can do this and give the little scholors homework!
<address>Ignorance with Confidence</address>
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