alexmojaki

> One interactive component that we use heavily that might interest you for futurecoder is what we call an interactive walkthrough: https://www.learncs.online/best#interactive-walkthroughs. It's like a video but preserving the interactive nature of a playground. Students really like them, and enjoy the opportunity to hear multiple explanations for the same concept when they're stuck. (We're working on popping this out for external use, and have a library in the works that you may be able to integrate with a bit of work.)

Awesome! I've only seen one other place doing something similar: https://scrimba.com/

This is definitely better than ordinary videos, and I like the point about multiple explanations. Although I do personally prefer that futurecoder rarely shows/tells without actually forcing users to run code and see for themselves, so they always have to be engaged. Even when they're told the exact code to run, they occasionally get asked to predict what the output will be, to make sure they're paying attention.

> I have no idea what your educational background is, but if you ever want a stable position that supports your educational innovation, consider applying for a teaching faculty job: https://go.cs.illinois.edu/teaching-faculty-hiring. (Currently our openings require a Masters degree.) We need more creators in computer science education.

It'd be great if I could be paid to work on futurecoder or something similar full time, and I've tried finding a way to make that happen before. But now I've just started a dream job at https://ought.org/ (working with AI, not education) and it'd be very hard to compete with that.

I don't have a Masters and I prefer to create things that are infinitely reusable rather than teaching directly. But thanks for the suggestion!

Comment · 3 years ago

> Sorry if I was unclear but this was in no way a criticism of your excellent product. It is truly fantastic.

Thank you! I don't think you were unclear and I didn't read any criticism in your comment, I'm not sure why you thought I did. I was just sharing and adding to the conversation.

Comment · 3 years ago

Thanks!

To run multiple lines of code, use the editor, not the shell. If you only see the shell, it's because it's hidden at the beginning of the course for beginners. See the table of contents (https://futurecoder.io/course/#toc) and skip to the page "Variables > Writing Programs" or after.

Or click the 'fullscreen' icon in the top right to enter 'IDE' mode in which everything is enabled, as the debuggers are similarly introduced gradually. Equivalently, go to https://futurecoder.io/course/#ide, or click "Just code" on the homepage.

The issue for tracking multi-line input in the shell is here: https://github.com/alexmojaki/futurecoder/issues/268

It's something I'd like to have, but it's not a high priority, and I don't think it needs to be.

Comment · 3 years ago

I'll also add that it has been copied and rehosted, with my help. There's a slightly customised French version here: https://futurecoder.forge.aeif.fr/

This version is meant for maximum user privacy. firebase has been disabled completely so you can't sign up or login and nothing is stored online. There's also no google analytics.

The code is in https://forge.aeif.fr/futurecoder/futurecoder.forge.aeif.fr It's essentially just a mirror of the main repo with its own build process and configuration.

Comment · 3 years ago

Thanks! I'm sure there's lots of good stuff out there but I'm afraid I have no plans to generalise to other programming languages myself. Many of the special magical features of futurecoder are things I specifically built in Python and wouldn't even know how to replicate in other languages.

Comment · 3 years ago

futurecoder was actually translated to French by three teachers working for the French Ministry of Education to use when teaching the maths/programming subject 'NSI'.

I love maths myself but I've made a strong effort to avoid maths in examples/exercises so that the course is approachable to students who don't like maths. The first page is a special exception as it lets users immediately try something familiar (like 1+2) without needing to introduce strings or any other new concepts.

Comment · 3 years ago

I very strongly believe that it's better to start with an easy language. Sure it's easier to learn Python after C++ than it is to learn C++ after Python, but a harder language will most likely frustrate and discourage beginners. I think it's a plausible risk that they might give up on programming and never want to try again.

Comment · 3 years ago

Others have suggested autocomplete before. I opened https://github.com/alexmojaki/futurecoder/issues/120 in response as a place to talk about it. But in general my opinion is that it would probably actually be harmful to learning for beginners, and I'd need to see evidence to convince me otherwise.

Here's my favorite explanation why: https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/a/634

Here's another similar discussion: https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/questions/5777/python-...

alexmojaki

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