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> there is no need to spend any money on software these days (f/oss) I think FOSS should be considered, but more important is that they study which software ge

> there is no need to spend any money on software these days (f/oss) I think FOSS should be considered, but more important is that they study which software gets the best results and pay for that if needed. Also, let's remember that FOSS often is not user-friendly and most students have nothing close to the typical aptitude found on HN, nor the interest, nor the expertise and years of experience. Most will not grow up to be professionals in the IT industry. Emacs and Vim probably aren't going to yield the best results, for example.

dsfyu404ed 11y ago
O-O_language + $free_IDE is good enough for the vast majority of educational programming. There are free gui "intro to intro to programming" drag + drop IDEs/teaching tools available as well. IMO there is no need to pay for programming related software in an educational environment
- hackuser 11y ago
  Have you seen any research on this subject, or do you have expertise with teaching K-12?
  - hdctambien 11y ago
    I use Java and jcreator in my classroom. Both free. There are also free tools that help students get a grasp of concepts before mastering the syntax (bluej, scratch, alice) There are also packages that help with teaching, karel J robot comes to mind. I also use codehs.com as a supplement for my class.
    - hackuser 11y ago
      Great, thanks. Any thoughts on what works and what doesn't, more generally? Also, what do you teach and to students of what levels of aptitude and skill?