[Bluej-discuss] formatter extension?

[Lon Levy]

Thank you, Aryeh.  This is a controversial point among some, but your views are shared by others.  I am among those who believe that giving the students powerful tools before they are able to do things themselves is foolish.  Giving a child a calculator instead of having the child learn to multiply and divide is harmful.  

On the other hand, there are some tools, like the UML-like diagrams of BlueJ that are appropriate ... helping the student to understand without doing the work for her or him.  Students will grow beyond BlueJ and eventually be ready for powerful tools.  There's no need to rush the process.

Regards,

Lon.

Lon Levy, MS-CSEd
Computer Science Teacher
Volunteer Computer Club Advisor
Oregon High School
608-835-1316
LXL at oregon.k12.wi.us
cs at levytree.net

non somnos requiem

>>> "Aryeh M. Friedman" <aryeh.friedman at gmail.com> 10/13/07 11:49 AM >>>
Sorry to be a nay sayer but such an extension sounds like it would do
more harm then good to the student.  If they don't learn when to indent
and ***WHY*** they are missing a very important step in understanding
the logic of control flow.