[AG-TECH] Programming course via the AG, advice sought ...

[Darran Edmundson]

Hi All,

Next month I'll be teaching an introductory python course via
the AG to 12 participants scattered around Australia (2 students
maximum at any one node).  I've taught the material before - no
problem there - but never via the AG.  My normal way of teaching
programming courses is:

1) 5-10 minute discourse by me on some topic
         2) set a related task that takes about 10-15 minutes, students
             work individually but are encouraged to ask questions.
        3) stop and discuss when 2/3 of students are done.  Explain my
            solution, ask for other approaches,  bring everyone up to  
speed
           (remember, 1/3 of class didn't finish) and synchronize  
everyone
           to my source file.
        4) Back to Step (2) until we've developed a meaningful piece  
of code
5) Back to Step (1) ....

In terms of interaction:
    - need to see student's editor and code output for 1-on-1 debugging
    - occasionally show a student's solution on class projector
    - I often stand and point at code on the class projector and draw
      on the whiteboard

Given the above, I'd really appreciate hearing from people who
have taught a programming (or similar) course via the AG.  How
to adjust my teaching style and/or configure the AG to best
teach such a course?  I look forward to hearing about your
experiences ...

Cheers,
Darran.

Darran Edmundson (darran.edmundson at anu.edu.au)
ANU Supercomputer Facility Vizlab
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600
tel: +61 2 6125-0517  fax: +61 2 6125-5088