When I first began in a computer literacy class (state-mandated middle
school level) as the instructor the textbook was ten years old and BASIC
programming constituted 90% of the book. I was a believer in applications
myself and never used the book except for a short one-day lesson on some
of the "basics" of BASIC.
When I left the classroom the new textbook had exactly one paragraph on
BASIC, but the book was still relegated to the locker for the year (it had
some interesting modern computer history, but little of practical hands-on
experience). I'm a firm believer in creativity and tremendous software
variety in computer courses. YMMV.
Russell Smith rssmith@tenet.edu rssmith@camalott.com
Region 14 ESC Abilene, Tx Edtech Consultant, Certified teacher, Journalist