[Etoys] A low floor "Paint" door into eToys

[Caroline Meeks]

Hi,

I was playing with Paint and it wasn't very satisfying, there are much more
fun painting programs including for Linux.  My goal is to go into a school
where kids who have used KidPix and give them a drawing program that they
won't think is "lame".   But I also want it to be usable to a younger
sibling that hasn't used a computer very much.


Ed pointed out that eToys has great paint tools.

We discussed this on IRC and the desired use case is.

A young child wants to draw.  They open up an icon that clearly says "I want
to draw".  What this opens is a UI or "room" in eToys with a UI that is a
lot like the Paint program.  After the young child has created that drawing,
or maybe 6 months later, it should be easy to move on and do more.  But when
I start it can't be too easy to pull up a zillion buttons that confuse me.

the hope is to create classic low floor - high ceiling.  Make it easy for
the kid who is at the stamp pad state to move seamlessly over a couple of
years to making eToy projects.

Is creating a new UI for eToys the right way to do this? Is sugarizing Tux
Paint better?


I will be doing a pilot of Sugar on a Stick next Sept in a Boston Public
School and this is just one item of many important ones, so  I'm hoping to
be a cheer leader not a leader in making something happen.

thanks,
Caroline



-- 
Caroline Meeks
Solution Grove
Caroline at SolutionGrove.com

617-500-3488 - Office
505-213-3268 - Fax
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